It’s been a big night in dirty south hip-hop, as the music of Houston rap duo UGK faced off against that of Memphis’ 8Ball & MJG on the Verzuz stage tonight. Representing UGK was one-half of the duo, Bun B, who is originally from Port Arthur, Texas. Before kicking of the hotly-anticipated Verzuz, Bun took time to honor the victims of the school shooting.
“Before we get started, [DJ Greg] Street, if that’s alright, I wanted to take a moment of silence,” said Bun to the crowd. “21 seconds of silence to honor the 21 victims of the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. If you have a hat on, I ask that you take your hat off.”
The room then went silent for a full 21 seconds.
Before calling for a moment of silence, Bun shouted out his late bandmate, Pimp C. “You already know we doing this for the Pimp,” he said.
Earlier this week, Bun took to his Instagram story (per iHeart) to call for change in regards to gun laws. “Let’s see what we are really made of as a country now,” Bun said. “They’re killing our babies! How many more have to die before we make some real changes?”
You can watch the full Verzuz here.
8Ball & MJG is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.