Rolling Stone Article

[largeTEXAS]

Screwballs

Forget the Bronx or Compton -- the hottest sounds in hip-hop are coming straight outta Houston

By GAVIN EDWARDS

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/i...eregion=single1

"It's not enough to say that Houston is hip-hop's Seattle," says Todd Moscowitz, president of Asylum Records, which in recent months has signed up literally dozens of artists in Houston, many in partnership with the local label Swishahouse, home to Jones, remixer Michael "5000" Watts and Houston's token white rapper, DJ Paul Wall. "The music culture is so deep. It's a whole lifestyle -- the car culture, the way they dress, the jewelry in the mouth -- that's part of what captivates people."

[bachanon]

great. houston's music culture is hip-hop, no, better yet, screw? gee, how nice to be known nationally as the center of screw car culture. murders and gang activity abound in sweltering houston. no wait, there's more. a national music scene, based here, that has come from the abundant misuse of prescription cough syrup. how exciting.

[sevfiv]

Wall goes on: "Screw music is more of a religion. DJ Screw fans -- we call them screwheads. If you tell them you don't like the music, they will fight you and you might get shot at."

The latest models of grilles, though, are essentially high-end retainers that slip over your teeth. They're doing well all over the South, but they're especially popular in Houston. Wall got into the business because he wanted to be able to afford his own grille

how embarrassing <---insert grille herr

edit - how does something so silly get so freakin popular? anyone? anyone?

[kjb434]

Great, that puts another stigma on Houston.

[citykid09]

I hear that over seas in England, Paris and other cities They use Houston's Scerw Music to screw Techno.

[RedScare]

Great, that puts another stigma on Houston.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Y'all get over yourselves, please. What are the other stigmas, home to rednecks, suburban sprawl, massive evangelical churches, Enron, and the biggest group of Bush supporters in the country?

[sevfiv]

home sweet home!

[MidtownCoog]

I do agree with part of the article:

He says that screw music reflects the local vibe, which is laid-back: "You gotta have that cutthroat mentality in New York. But the average life of a Texan is not that intense. He can look at life slowly.

[sevfiv]

slowly because of the codeine

[MidtownCoog]

We drive like we are on codine.

[kjb434]

Well, people on here are always complaining left and right about this city. I'd figure I'll drop my optimism for a second and feel what it's like to be depressed all the time and worry about all this stuff.

I really don't care about that designation. I hear any of that music while driving in town or those cars all pimped out. I guess I just don't run in those circles.

I'd rather ignore the perceptions people have of our city because talking about them will just keep it going. Most of this city aren't the stereotype people mention. The same with many other cities like New Orleans, Dallas, New York, LA. And most of you can put some to those cities.

Anyway, what is hip-hop? Bad music I guess, but that is suggestive also.

[sevfiv]

how does something so silly get so freakin popular?  anyone?  anyone?

the answer to my own question:

the car culture, the way they dress, the jewelry in the mouth -- that's part of what captivates people

captivating, indeed!

[nmainguy]

Now my eyes are BLEEDING...I'm sticking to Architecture, guys..more my forte and does not include codine [which makes me throw-up anyway]

[RedScare]

All popular music has a drug or alcohol laced undertone. Doesn't make the music better or worse. Most good artists come from poor or dysfunctional backgrounds, as well. It's hard for rich, happy folk to create music with soul. That's just the way it is. The people who appreciate this music don't think it gives Houston a bad name.

As to perceptions, the cities that are considered fun, vibrant, hip and all those other cool words, are those cities with a diverse population and an active arts and music scene. And yes, Hip-hop is part of the arts and music scene.

I can assure you that the topics that often seem most popular on this board...how nice the Woodlands and Cinco Ranch are, how nice our new freeway is, how suburbanites might not like downtown if they see a rat, how scary the mentally ill homeless guy was...are not the topics on the minds of the travelling public. When people hear that Houston has a thriving music scene, they don't think, 'oh, but it's hip hop.', they think, 'damn, I thought Houston was just a bunch of rednecks'.

As word seeps out that Houston has more than nice malls and big churches, the perception will slowly change. In the meantime, y'all better enjoy this town before all the as*holes find out and move here.

[The Great Hizzy!]

I'm sorry, but gangsta rap didn't just come out of the sky on a hot Houston summer afternoon. Gangsta rap's been around since the late 80s, and Houston didn't spawn NWA or any number of controversial rap groups.

Houston's music scene is far more diverse than screw or rap but because those two elements are so popular ACROSS THE COUNTRY, music mags are flocking here to cove the phenomena. I personally don't care for screw and think much of today's rap sucks (I'm my father now), but the fact that it's popular nationwide isn't anything to be upset over. It is what it is. New York not only have the gangsta culture over hip hop in the late 80s and 90s, it had the crime stats to match. And unemployment there was (and still is) significantly worst than it is here.

Does anyone think being the 80s capitol for hip hop/rap hurt New York's image? What about Motown in Detroit? Great music. Not much of an overall positve affect on the city's image or its viability.

That said, I don't disagree that Houston rap, just like pretty much all of the nation's rap nowadays, isn't very good. The message of hip hop is mostly hidden now by poppish jingo-ism (Diddy-isms or Doggy-isms). There is no Public Enemy, no Jungle Brothers, no X-Clan or Brand Nubian. I can only hope that with Houston Hip Hop receiving such energy nowadays, that a new group of deep poets/lyricists will emerge (if they haven't already and I've been asleep at the wheel).

[Kirzania]

That said, I don't disagree that Houston rap, just like pretty much all of the nation's rap nowadays, isn't very good. [...] There is no Public Enemy, no Jungle Brothers, no X-Clan or Brand Nubian.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Excluding all the rap "songs" about how "my woman's ass is large, tight and I bang her every night," does anyone else not wonder why most rap singers talk about how "dey poor" and are "livin' in da ghetto" and "da WhiteMan cometh to take my bling away"? Come on, we've all seen Cribs at least once. Not a one of them is hurting. Most have their priorities all f*cked up, with their shitty Caddys, with the rusty holes in the rear quarter panel, that have 4 ReallyLoudAnnoying Subwoofers in the trunk and a PS2 with four controllers mounted in the passenger-side dash and TV screens with personal DVD players in the head rests of your red pleather seats. Don't forget the Sprite Dispenser set up right under that 140-Disc Changer.

[Kirzania]

how embarrassing  <---insert grille herr

edit - how does something so silly get so freakin popular?  anyone?  anyone?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Seriously, my dental work was $$$$. Since I was 13, I was dying to get out of those railroad tracks and NOW they tell me it's popular. Gawd, if I had known that, I would never have had them taken off. Maybe I should get my retainer gold plated. Doesn't matter if people laugh at my lisp, my retainer will be gold-plated. Yeah, baby.

[VicMan]

I have an idea for kids in the Houston area. There can be a Houston hip-hop contest, and four kids from each high school in Houston each can make a 4 or 5 minute stage performance, and the performances are ranked.

Also, my World History teacher from 10th grade said that today's rap is not as good as yesterday's rap.