Tuesday was the 10-year anniversary of the death of the late great Houston hip-hop legend DJ Screw, also known as Robert Early Davis.DJ Screw brought a new style of music to the hip-hop culture. He took sounds from different musical genres, let people express their artistic ability and slowed the music down.
The screwed and chopped music grew swiftly around the Houston area. DJ Screw had a studio in his home where local people came and recorded music and he will screw it chop it and put it on a tape and called it a “Screw Tape.”
Screw tapes in Houston were like the mix-tape game nowadays. People who couldn’t get on the radio will go to screw house and record a screw tape and play it from the sound system of their cars.
People from all over the Houston are caught on to the “Screw Tape” era.
Known rappers like Lil Ke Ke, Fat Pat, Lil Flip and Z-ro were just regular people before the late great DJ Screw.
DJ Screw paved the way for just about every rapper to come out of the city of Houston and if he didn’t he had an influence on them.
Screw and chopped music was different, yet creative. The way he slowed the beat down and chopped the music up caught the attention of not only to Houstonians, but also the nation. He has done early work With Pimp C Bun B to DJ Quick, 2 Short and many more.
I wish DJ Screw was a live today so he could see the impact he had on hip-hop culture.
The screwed up lifestyle has spread throughout the nation. It was more than just music. It was more of a culture.
If you see someone with a double Styrofoam cup, then most likely he/she is a fan of the screwed up lifestyle.
Houston is the city of syrup, which is a form of drink that slows you down, so every-thing Houston everything is at slow and cool paste and the Music expressed that.
Now if you look on TV America’s favorite stars have adapted the Screwed Up Life style form artists like Lil’ Wayne and Drake Drizzy Rogers to NFL athletes in Ja’Marcus Russell and Jonny Jolly.
I just wish he was alive to see what he has done in the Hip .Hop culture.
Screw music went from not getting play on the radio to being a big form of music that everybody loves.
So next time you say you don’t like screw music that’s saying you don’t like a piece of hip-hop. R.I.P., DJ Screw.