Houston Rap Scene

Author: Andrew Regan Houston, Texas is home to one of the most prominent and independent hip-hop scenes in the world, largely influencing both gangsta rap and the larger southern hip-hop community. The man credited with being the central figurehead for the uprising of hip-hop is the late DJ Screw (real name Robert Earl Davis Jr). Screw was the creator and pioneer of a new style of hip-hop, which was christened “screwing” after its creator. This method involves the key tracks of a cut being slowed down when remixed. DJ Screw began making mixtapes of the slowed-down music in the early 1990s. Originally, this process involved mixing two copies of the same record, slowed down either on the turntables using pitch shift or later through use of an after-mixer device. Phasing, flanging and echo effects were originally the result of the two records being played at millisecond intervals. Many Houston area artists, such as Big Love, Willie D and Ganksta NIP began to incorporat