Southern Hip Hop - Houston

Houston

Preceding the early 1990s, most Southern hip hop was upbeat and fast, like Miami bass and crunk. In Houston, a different approach of slowing music down, rather than speeding it up, developed. It is unknown when DJ Screw definitively created "screwed and chopped" music: although people around Screw have indicated any time between 1984 to 1991, Screw said he started slowing music down in 1990 and also in Tulsa Oklahoma Dj Dinero And Dj Z-Nasty helped popularize Chopped And Screwed music in the Mid South. There is no debate, however, that DJ Screw invented the music style." He discovered that dramatically reducing the pitch of a record gave a mellow, heavy sound that emphasized lyrics to the point of almost storytelling. After messing around with the sound for a while Screw started making full length "Screw Tapes". At first the music was only referred to as "Screw music", was limited to the South Side of Houston, and was seen as laid-back driving music. As Screw's tapes started to gain popularity he started selling his tapes for around $10. Screw was known to feature some of Houston's most renowned rappers from the South Side. This eventually led to the formation of the Screwed Up Click. Between 1991 and 1992, there was a large increase in use of purple drank in Houston. Purple drank has been considered to be a major influence in the making of and listening to chopped and screwed music due to its perceived effect of slowing the brain down, giving slow, mellow music its appeal. DJ Screw, however, repeatedly denounced the claim that one has to use purple drank to enjoy screwed and chopped music. Screw, a known user of purple drank, said he came up with chopped and screwed music when high on marijuana. In the mid-1990s, chopped and screwed music started to move to the North Side of Houston and to such people as DJ Michael "5000" Watts and OG RON C. It wasn't long until a rivalry between north and south Houston started over who were the "originators" and who were the "adopters". Michael "5000" Watts always gave credit to DJ Screw as the originator of chopped and screwed music. It is also believed that Michael "5000" Watts came up with the term "screwed and chopped". As time passed and a younger generation got into the style, there became less worry over who was an originator of the style and who was an adopter. In the late 1990s, with the help of P2P groups such as Napster, chopped and screwed music spread to a much wider audience.

As the spread of Southern Rap continued the year 2000 became a breakthrough year for one founding group. UGK made a high-profile guest appearance on Jay-Z's smash hit "Big Pimpin'" and also appeared on Three 6 Mafia's hit "Sippin' on Some Syrup". Both of these collaborations greatly increased their reputation, and helped fuel anticipation for their next project. Jive Records failed to capitalize on this new-found interest in the duo, as their fourth album, 2001's Dirty Money, came and went with little fanfare.

Swishahouse was founded in North Houston in the late 1990s by Michael '5000' Watts and OG Ron C as a response to the popularity of chopped and screwed music from Houston's south side. The label began by distributing mixtape series such as Before da Kappa, After da Kappa, Choppin Em Up and Fuck Action (which featured chopped and screwed versions of R&B songs). Acres Homes/Northside/Homestead are where many of the current/former artists hail.A song that originally appeared on the compilation album The Day Hell Broke Loose 2, Mike Jones' "Still Tippin'", achieved mainstream success in 2004, leading to Swishahouse signing a national distribution deal with Asylum Records. Jones released his major label debut, Who Is Mike Jones?, on Swishahouse/Warner Bros. in April 2005; the album was certified platinum that June.Aftermath A&R Angelo Sanders said that the great advantage to independents like Swishahouse is that, "They're able to get their product out on the streets to specific regions at a greater speed than a major ... They're able to flood that whole Texas market with a product before the majors are able to notice what is going on out there."Paul Wall's major label debut, The Peoples Champ, on Swishahouse/Atlantic, was released in September 2005, eventually topping the Billboard 200. Before embarking on his rap career and while still at school, Wall had worked in the Swishahouse office. In 2006, rival label Dope House Records and Swishahouse teamed up to release South Park Mexican's ninth album, When Devils Strike. A chopped and screwed version was also released.

• Kirko Bangz
• Bun B
• Pimp C
• Chamillionaire
• The Color Chanin' Click
• Devin the Dude
• E.S.G.
• Fat Pat (rapper)
• Big Hawk
• Mike Jones (bitch)
• Lil' Keke
• Lil' Flip
• Lil' Troy
• Big Moe
• Scarface (rapper)
• DJ Screw
• Screwed Up Click
• Slim Thug
• Paul Wall
• Z-Ro
• Lil Boss
• Jay-Ton