Travis Scott, UGK, Megan Thee Stallion and Geto Boys. Collage by Jackie Lay / NPR.
Suzanne Cordeiro / Pam Francis / Wealthy Fury / Richard Shotwell/Getty Photos / AP
cover caption
toggle caption
Suzanne Cordeiro / Pam Francis / Wealthy Fury / Richard Shotwell/Getty Photos / AP
Travis Scott, UGK, Megan Thee Stallion and Geto Boys. Collage by Jackie Lay / NPR.
Suzanne Cordeiro / Pam Francis / Wealthy Fury / Richard Shotwell/Getty Photos / AP
The bond between Texans and hip-hop runs as deep as blood. I ought to know: I stay in San Antonio now, however I grew up in a small city known as Seguin, just a little over two hours west of Houston. My mother and my older brother, and subsequently my sister and myself, turned early champions of Houston rap; our familial connection was solidified by way of prolonged automobile rides that became impromptu recitals of our favourite hits from the area. This summer season, I tagged together with my sister to a efficiency of native rap acts at a nightclub in our hometown. The artists — Citta ThaFatMac, OTB Fastlane, King Cairo and Huge Tyme 940 — are from throughout the state, however as I watched every of them carry out, I could not assist however file their units like a proud mother. Their charisma and supply jogged my memory of Houston acts from years and a long time previous: musing on jewellery and mortality with the identical widescreen immediacy, and serving rugged Southern appeal by way of drawls and twangs that stretch like rubber bands.
Whereas I wasn’t based mostly in Houston correct, the overwhelming majority of the music I can ever keep in mind flowing out and in of my ears as a toddler was from the Bayou Metropolis. I used to be born in 1989, just some years after James “J. Prince” Smith based the influential Rap-A-Lot Information. Prince was and is the guiding hand of Texas hip-hop, and expertise sprung forth from this label virtually instantly with acts like Ganksta N-I-P and the Geto Boys. Their lyrics and imagery have been hard-hitting and visceral, and centered on conveying the experiences of underprivileged Black males scuffling with the pressures of their surroundings. The dependable strategy of the Geto Boys’ frighteningly relatable 1991 single “Thoughts Enjoying Tips on Me” established the group as originators of horrorcore, however its results on how psychological well being is seen and mentioned within the tradition would stretch far additional.
When you understand Texas rap, it is clear why small communities are so related to Houston: The state’s most revered acts, UGK and DJ Screw, have been based within the close by nation cities of Port Arthur and Smithville. However Houston’s sound was too massive and too daring to not snake out to metropolitan cities like Dallas, San Antonio and Austin. Native son DJ Premier turned a bastion of East Coast hip-hop when he relocated to New York, transporting the self-starter power of the town and making use of it to his much-heralded works with Nas, The Infamous B.I.G. and his personal Gang Starr. Nearer to house, New Orleans’ Grasp P, probably the most prolific label heads in hip-hop historical past, sketched out his file firm goals through the blueprint supplied by J. Prince and Rap-A-Lot.
Texans appear to stay in our personal little impartial world as a result of, for the longest time, we needed to: With the South ignored for entire chapters of hip-hop’s historical past, artists from the underside of the map have been pushed to discover ways to write, produce, market and distribute their very own materials. However that system will get out what it places in, and cyclically extends these efforts outward. Just like the West Coast’s love affair with funk, Houston rap liberally traded notes with soul, R&B and the blues. You may hear it in reworkings like UGK’s “Inform Me One thing Good,” which interpolated the 1974 Rufus and Chaka Khan tune of the identical identify; H.A.W.Ok.‘s “Roll Up a Blunt,” which samples Tony! Toni! Toné!’s “No matter You Need”; Chalie Boy‘s tackle Zapp & Roger’s “Pc Love”; and E.S.G.‘s “Sweet Coated Tour,” a spin on Soul for Actual’s “Sweet Rain.” These artistic, usually extremely witty flips introduced an instantly identifiable taste to Houston’s sound. That individual model of confidence — marked by a profound curiosity, and a want to achieve a wider swath of listeners — has been a vital issue propelling Houston rap because it broke into the mainstream.
Texas hip-hop really discovered itself in 1996. That is the 12 months we have been blessed with Ridin’ Soiled, on which UGK waded into emotional territory (“One Day”) as usually as they barred out over raucous manufacturing (“Homicide”), the Geto Boys’ prescient The Resurrection, and DJ Screw’s definitive 3 ‘n the Mornin’ (Half Two). Screw dominated Texas within the ’90s alongside his coterie the Screwed Up Click on, which included residing legends like Lil’ Keke, Z-Ro and Lil Flip. He was a grasp of massaging and manipulating the sound of a tune, from manufacturing to lyrics, till he remodeled its that means into one thing else totally. He completed this by chopping, or repeating sure phrases for punctuated impact, and screwing, slowing the music right down to a snail’s tempo. By mixing conventional turntablist methods with this new type, Screw gifted Houston hip-hop its personal subgenre.
The results of Screw’s artistic obsession was an onslaught of molasses-slow mixtapes — which, it was rapidly agreed, are ideally skilled in “slabs.” An acronym for “sluggish, loud and banging,” slabs are vibrant, candy-painted vehicles, sometimes with sizable rims and trunks that wave open to disclose winking messages in glowing neon. The homeowners of those slabs usually “swang,” or drive in a crisscrossing, blended sample down streets, highways, anyplace with a stretch of highway. Generations of Houstonians have most well-liked to take heed to chopped and screwed music on the go, sitting in their very own private ardour initiatives.
Screw and his cohort have been proud representatives of Houston’s Southside, they usually had a substantial, albeit rivalrous, affect on OG Ron C and Michael “5000” Watts of the Northside, who created their very own label, Swishahouse. The inspiration laid by Screw and firm set the scene for Swishahouse artists just like the charismatic Mike Jones to see a business breakthrough within the mid-aughts. Two of the primary albums I ever purchased with my very own cash got here out in 2005: Who Is Mike Jones? and Z-Ro’s Let the Reality Be Instructed, the latter of which was launched through Rap-A-Lot Information. To a teenaged Kiana, the 2 initiatives embodied two sides of Houston that I had grown to know and love: Jones was the younger buck relying on distinctive catchphrases and boundless swagger; Z-Ro was a solemn, headstrong MC who dove into his feelings with abandon.
The native tradition was on full show in music movies like Jones’ “Nonetheless Tippin’,” which options Swishahouse contemporaries Slim Thug and Paul Wall. As soon as they turned part of the common rotation on BET, a nationwide fascination was inevitable: Slim Thug’s Already Platinum and Paul Wall’s The Peoples Champ, alongside Chamillionaire‘s The Sound of Revenge and UGK member Bun B‘s Trill, rounded out an enormous breakout 12 months. This takeover delighted not simply hip-hop followers from Houston, but in addition small-town people like me, who have been used to seeing solely the coastal rap capitals represented in mainstream media. Seeing our individuals stuffed us with an pressing sense of delight and belonging.
New artists from the town contain each the residing and resting OGs of their initiatives and concert events; every one that enters this artistic area feels a degree of accountability to achieve again and pay the inspiration ahead. This admiration is on show in Monaleo‘s 2021 homage to Yungstar‘s “Knocking Photos Off the Wall” and Megan Thee Stallion‘s One thing for Thee Hotties mixtape from the identical 12 months, which featured earnest assist from Houston legends of each game-changing period. Today, youthful Houston artists like Megan, Travis Scott and Lizzo have risen to new, zeitgeist-conquering ranges, pushing past native notoriety to a type of omnipresence. Different artists like Don Toliver and KenTheMan have develop into quick fan favorites, beginning the Houston assist cycle anew.
Even these exterior of Texas are wanting inward, intrigued by the enchantment of the state’s musical exports. Victoria Monét’s current single “On My Mama” encompasses a heavy pattern of Chalie Boy’s 2009 hit “I Look Good,” and Younger Thug’s “Cash on the Dresser” pays homage to Pimp C, interpolating the late rapper’s verse from 2007’s Grammy-nominated “Int’l Gamers Anthem.” And allow us to not neglect Drake and A$AP Rocky, who each launched globally acknowledged careers off of the slowed-down Houston sound. At present, you will discover a chopped-and-screwed model of almost each style of music, from nation to cumbia.
My sister and I vividly keep in mind listening to the chopped-and-screwed model of UGK’s Bootsy Collins-sampling 1996 tune “Diamonds and Wooden” as youngsters, each at house and through these lengthy drives to nowhere particularly. As pre-teens, we noticed slabs swang down the hilly highway resulting in my grandmother’s home each weekend like clockwork: As nightfall fell, one automobile would sneak across the nook within the distance, after which one other shortly after, till there was an extended braid of them weaving down the road, blasting the newest Screw tapes. This was lengthy earlier than we had sufficient cash to purchase our personal Houston hip-hop data — not to mention go to the town. We immersed ourselves in these moments, identical to different small towners did, and nonetheless do; it is our approach of taking in Houston’s osmotic tradition from afar. By persevering with to nurture the acts that sprout out of the town, we additionally give the mini Houston-esque scenes which have cropped up throughout the state room to search out their very own approach. Houston will all the time be the guts of Texas hip-hop, however whenever you seek for its pulse, you may discover it beating in every single place.
The place to start out with Houston rap
- Geto Boys, “Thoughts Enjoying Tips on Me” (1991)
- DJ Screw and Lil’ Keke, “Pimp tha Pen” (1996)
- Lil’ Troy, “Wanna Be a Baller” [ft. Fat Pat, Yungstar, Lil’ Will, Big T and H.A.W.K] (1998)
- Fats Pat, “Tops Drop” (1998)
- DJ DMD, “25 Lighters” [ft. Lil’ Keke and Fat Pat] (2001)
- Mike Jones, “Nonetheless Tippin'” [ft. Slim Thug and Paul Wall] (2005)
- Bun B, “Get Throwed” [ft. Pimp C, Z-Ro, Jeezy and Jay-Z] (2005)
- Z-Ro, “Mo Metropolis Don” (2005)
- UGK, “Int’l Gamers Anthem” [ft. Outkast] (2007)
- Megan Thee Stallion and Beyoncé, “Savage” (Remix) (2020)
