As we celebrate the unparalleled career of the legendary Robert “DJ Screw” Davis Jr. during the week of his passing almost a quarter century ago, we decided to explore some of Houston’s most revered artists and how their career was founded and expanded due to their connection to DJ Screw. As the known originator of the famous “chopped and screwed” sound and the leader of H-Town’s Screwed Up Click, Screw released more than 350 mixtapes before his untimely passing in 2000. With chopped and screwed as his signature sound, he made tapes which he sold out his Screwed Up Records and Tapes store in Houston, solidifying himself as a businessman and a music innovator.
Here are just some of H-Town’s most respected artists that admittedly wouldn’t be where they are today if it weren’t for the foundation laid by the late DJ Screw.
Houston-born emcee and activist Trae Tha Truth, along with longtime collaborator Z-Ro in their group ABN, made their ascension in the game as members of the legendary Screwed Up Click, with the 44-year-old dropping 11 solo albums, over 25 mixtapes and now serves as VP of T.I.’s Grand Hustle Records. Trae is also well known for his philanthropy as the founder of both Angel by Nature, a charity aimed at helping the impoverished youth of Texas.
Named Houston’s “freestyle king” by Screw himself, Lil Flip got his break in the game when Screw heard his debut album The Leprechaun on H-Town based label Sucka Free Records and put him down with the Screwed Up Click. Four years later, Flip signed a deal with Sony Urban Music and dropped his third album and first double-disc CD U Gotta Feel Me, which contained the popular single “Game Over(Flip”, earning him his first platinm plaque of his career.
Even though Pau lWall repped North Houston and was under Michael “5000” Watts’ Swishahouse Records, his most popular singles, 2005’s “Sittin Sidewayz”, which samples a line from Big Pokey’s verse on DJ Screw’s “June 27th” and Mike Jones’ “Still Tippin” remix featuring Screwed Up Click’s Lil Keke and Big Pokey, set the tone for the duration of Wall’s career. Today, Wall is also an accomplished and proficient mixtape and party DJ, known for producing mixtapes in the famous chopped and screwed style, which was invented by DJ Screw.
Originating from Houston, Texas, and as one of the founding members of the “Original Screwed Up Click,” Big Moe started out in music by freestyling on DJ Screw mixtapes like many of his Houston peers. Big Moe’s debut album, City of Syrup, dropped in 2000). The title was a nod to Houston’s reputation for drinking codeine-laced syrup called “lean” or “sizzurp”, which Moe pours from a Styrofoam cup on the album’s cover.
DJ Mike “5000” Watts
In the mid-1990s, chopped and screwed music started to move to the north side of Houston by way of Swishahouse Records founder DJ Michael “5000” Watts. A rivalry between North and South Houston over the true originators of chopped and screwed began to arise, but Michael “5000” Watts always gave credit to DJ Screw as the originator of chopped and screwed music, although Watts has been a proponent of the slogan “screwed and chopped” instead of “chopped and screwed”.
Following the death of DJ Screw, his musical influence spread all over the southern United States. Later in 2000, the Memphis-based group Three 6 Mafia came out with their song “Sippin’ on Some Syrup”. The song debuted as a minor hit but later became one of Three 6 Mafia’s most popular songs.
The 2007 documentary film Screwed in Houston details the history of the Houston rap scene and the influence of the chopped and screwed subculture on Houston hip hop. In 2011, University of Houston Libraries acquired over 1,000 albums owned by DJ Screw. Some of the albums were part of an exhibit in early 2012 and, along with the rest, went available for research in 2013. Today, the chopped and screwed music genre has been added to all forms of streaming services including iTunes, Spotify and has crossed over to receive mass mainstream appeal.
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