This past week Splashtown really showed out on all fronts. Amidst the heavy amount of raining we've been experiencing for the passed 40 days and 40 nights, Houston's Bar 5015 & Courvoisier played host to the red carpet screening of Pas Honteux, a new wave French Foreign Language film directed by legendary Houston contributor, Dr. … Continue reading Dr. Teeth Presents “Pas Honteux”: A Trippy & Surreal New Wave French Film with a Familiar Twist
Louie Ray talks Still Grindin' 4, Life in Flint, MI & Being a Real Hustler in a Game of Frauds Taking a break from the insane mania of back to back H-Town celebrations with both Screw Week and Trae day, I made my way up the towering elegant structure of Downtown Houston's Magnolia Hotel to … Continue reading The Hardest Working Hustler in Flint, Michigan
Last year was so nice that they had to do it twice. The premier Texas luxury cannabis brand, Gas Gods, is bringing back the Texas Smoke Break Fest on Saturday, March 19th. The event will be held at White Oak Music Hall with a lineup like no other. Artists such as DJ Chose, Monaleo, DJ … Continue reading Texas Smoke Break Fest Makes its Return to Houston
Throughout the history of Hip-Hop, few emcees have reached the critical success of South Philadelphia's own Beanie Sigel and Philly Freeway. Ascending during a Post-Biggie era in Rap, both Beanz and Freeza have been able to carve a space for themselves alongside names such as Jay Z, DMX, Nas and Houston's own Scarface. While in … Continue reading Scarface, METRO and Homemade Lean Sno Cones: A Trip through Time with Beanie Sigel and Philly Freeway
Photo by Peter Beste The director of Bushwick Bill’s: Geto Boy documentary, Gregy Roman, was in tears at the Museum Fine Arts of Houston telling the audience how proud he was making this film. Despite how taxing the production was一mostly because gaining the Houston legend’s trust was no easy feat 一he couldn't be more pleased … Continue reading Bushwick Bill: Geto Boy is an Important Documentary for Houston Hip-Hop
Lil’ O calls his newest album, The Greatest of All Players, his magnum opus. The Nigerian-American Houston legend, whose career has spanned for over 20 years, seemingly gets better with age. In a genre that is considered a “young man’s game,” it’s easy for artists to fizzle out as the years go by, especially in … Continue reading The Greatest of All Players: An Interview with Lil’ O
Photo by Deon Egenti “This year Halloween fell on a weekend,” rapped the late Bushwick Bill in the 1991 Geto Boys smash hit, “Mind Playing Tricks On Me,” and this year marked a manifestation of his words. Sunday, October 31 marked the live concert of Lil Flip and 8Ball & MJG at Bar 5015, where … Continue reading From Cloverland to Orange Mound: An Interview with Lil Flip and 8Ball & MJG
Photo from Lance Scott Walker Hip-Hop in Houston has a very rich history. Houston possesses a special kind of Southern ingenuity一we’ve always been known for doing things ourselves, making something out of nothing, and making sure our voices were heard. From the early days of Radio Personality and Rap Pioneer, MC Wickett Crickett and Houston … Continue reading Starting from Scratch: An Interview with Lance Scott Walker
Photo by Siddiq It’s July 12th, 2005, and Houston rapper, Slim Thug, has just released his debut album Already Platinum. It was a massive debut that gave the Northside legend major success and catapulted him to be one of the leaders of Houston hip-hop at the time. More importantly, it gave people from his neighborhood, … Continue reading Acres Homes’ Finest: An Interview with God Body Bingo
If there’s anyone who deserves their flowers for their contributions to society, it’s Steven Anderson. Born and raised in Houston, TX, specifically in the Fifth Ward, Steven was known for many things. He was an activist, poet, rapper, brother, and friend to so many people. His presence made you gravitate towards him. He demanded your … Continue reading The Life and Legacy of Steven Anderson (Part 3)
If there’s anyone who deserves their flowers for their contributions to society, it’s Steven Anderson. Born and raised in Houston, TX, specifically in the Fifth Ward, Steven was known for many things. He was an activist, poet, rapper, brother, and friend to so many people. His presence made you gravitate towards him. He demanded your … Continue reading The Life and Legacy of Steven Anderson (Part 2)
If there’s anyone who deserves their flowers for their contributions to society, it’s Steven Anderson. Born and raised in Houston, TX, specifically in the Fifth Ward, Steven was known for many things. He was an activist, poet, rapper, brother, and friend to so many people. His presence made you gravitate towards him. He demanded your … Continue reading The Life and Legacy of Steven Anderson (Part 1)
I'm always using music as my solace through these weird twenty-somethings. Somehow it helps me to navigate through these growing pains of being a young woman trying to find my footing in this thing called life. How do we define love? How can you tell someone what feels like to be in love? It's just … Continue reading Navigating Relationships Today: Through Music
While we give a lot of credit to Atlanta for originating the "trap" sound that we know and love, there's another city that gets criminally overlooked in the industry as a musical powerhouse- Memphis, Tennessee. While I'm a huge proponent of saying that Texas has influenced most sounds of today, 90's and early 2000's hip-hop … Continue reading Let’s Give Memphis Some Much Needed Credit
Hip-hop exists far beyond the music. The lifestyle of hip-hop as we know it has contributed to some amazing collaborations and innovations within the music industry. But today, I would like to highlight a much bigger, and darker issue that exists within hip-hop- addictions. Addictions come in many forms- drugs, alcohol, and sex. While they … Continue reading Let’s Talk About It: Sexual & Pornographic Addictions within the Hip-Hop Industry
Weed, Lowriders, Sneakers, & Mob Flicks. The industry is infiltrated constantly with artists who sell themselves to their labels- making music that "the listeners want to hear." In addition to that, we also have artists who constantly infiltrate the market with sub-par music, just to say that they've put something out. Spitta is the exception … Continue reading Curren$y Spitta: The Mixtape King
E.S.G., short for 'Everyday Street Gangsta' is a southern rapper born in Louisiana, but later moved to Houston, Texas and helped to cultivate the chopped and screwed sound. He was labeled one of the original freestyle kings because of his ability to improvise with just about anything. E.S.G. is an original member of Screwed Up … Continue reading E.S.G. & His Contribution to Houston Sound
I'm a die hard Southern Hip-Hop fan. A Country Rap Tunes Connoisseur, if you will. So while I'll forever ride behind the duo that is Underground Kingz, I want to talk about a different Southern rap duo- OutKast. The pair, having joined forces in high school, looked up to other artists in Atlanta that came … Continue reading OutKast: One of the Most Revered Duos in Hip-Hop
The origins of Houston hip-hop date back way further than we can remember. MC Wickett Crickett was a hometown hero for Houston, being a MC and promoter, with close ties to the South Park Coalition. While he passed in 2015 to lung cancer, his life and legacy lives on here in Houston. Many aren't initially … Continue reading MC Wickett Crickett
Radio has been a long time part of hip-hop all over the country. Disc jockey's have acted as street A&R's for up and coming artists for a very long time, and in Houston, the situation is no different. Tammi McCall, one of the student staffers at KTSU Texas Southern University, located in the heart of … Continue reading KidzJamm: What Early Radio in Houston Did for Hip-Hop
When it comes to hip-hop, the third coast had quite a few firsts. For Houston in particular, 3 hip-hop singles helped put Houston on the map as a hip-hop city, and helped other states begin to realize that Houston was a city to be reckoned with. "MacGregor Park," "Rockin It" and "Car Freak" all came … Continue reading Parking Lot Pimpin’: Houston Slab Culture
Picture Courtesy of Peter BestePicture Courtesy of Peter BestePicture Courtesy of Peter Beste Houston's impeccable hip-hop history can be contributed to a multitude of people- but what about places? The Rhinestone Wrangler was the club that gave Houston rappers a platform for their music to be heard. Places like the Rhinestone Wrangler would hold more … Continue reading The History Behind the Rhinestone Wrangler
Picture taken from Houston Chronicle We all know Houston has a very rich culture; from the music, cars, and even the women. While we mostly know Houston to be a musical powerhouse, one of the most underrated names in Houston history doesn't belong to a rapper or DJ- it belongs to a jeweler. Johnny Dang … Continue reading A Houston Gem: Johnny Dang
Picture Courtesy of Peter Beste As we all know, Hip-Hop originated in New York, and eventually made it to different regions of the United States, and beyond. But what many people may not know, is that Houston, and all of Southern hip-hop has been very heavily influenced by Houston, Texas. While this may seem like … Continue reading How Houston Influenced Your Favorite Rapper
Picture taken from Complex June 27 just passed- but the legacy of DJ Screw lives on each and everyday in the city of Houston. We've seen rap cliques come and go, but very few actually touch the impact of Screwed Up Click. This somewhat because there were so many members. At some point in time, … Continue reading The Legacy & History of Screwed Up Click
Picture Taken from DJYungSavage.com Who better to kick off Double Cup Conversations? None other than DJ Yung $avage. Hailing all the way from Dallas, Texas, he's one of the most popular Texas DJ's known for his chopped & screwed mixes. Because chopped and screwed music is such staple in the Houston community, I was shocked … Continue reading Double Cup Conversations: DJ Yung$avage
Coming out of Houston's notorious Fifth Ward (The Bloody Fifth) was an area in Houston that was stricken with drugs, and poverty. This is where Southern Hip-Hop founds its voice. Houston's rap style, and most of southern rap overall was dirty, gritty, and most of all, real. The style was rooted in reality rap because … Continue reading For The City: What Geto Boys Did for Houston
Picture Taken from Miami New Times While we're all aware of twerking, bounce, or just plain shaking ass- everyone may not be aware of it's origin. By the early 80's rap was just about every corner of the United States. But what some people may not know is, is that hip-hop had strong origins rooted … Continue reading Politics, Ass & Self-Advancement: Uncle Luke’s Impact in Miami
I've seen this topic a lot on my Twitter timeline and I wanted to bring it to the forefront. Hip-hop music has been around for ages, and bounce music has had a lot of influence. At one point in time, New Orleans Bounce was a small genre within hip-hop that was specifically reserved for New … Continue reading From the Projects to Mainstream: New Orleans Bounce
Picture taken from Vibe 90 miles outside of Houston, Texas lies Port Arthur (PA) Texas. Two hip-hop heads from PA became one of the most well-known groups in Texas, but their influence spread much further than the Lonestar State. Underground Kingz was a powerhouse rap duo that was made up of Bun B, and Pimp … Continue reading Under Ground Kingz: The Influence on Southern Hip-Hop
Today I was driving in my car, listening to Webbie's Savage Life, that dropped in 2005. I analyze music the best when I'm driving, so while I'm making my way to my destination, I realize that The Boot (Louisiana for those who don't know) has produced some of the best artists to grace the hip-hop … Continue reading Put Some Respect on It: Louisiana Rappers Need More Credit
Haus of Lean. 