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
Haus of Lean. 