And then when he made a dub of that cassette, a master cassette, he would slow that down with the pitch control. And then he would take all of that and he would record it. Sometimes they were rappers, sometimes they were just guys that he knew from the neighborhood who wanted to be on the tape.

And then he would pass a microphone around the room and record different people freestyle rapping over those beats. Whatever he was hearing, whatever was happening in his head.īut he also would take a body of an instrumental piece and let that run. And then at different rhythmic points during the song, he would move from one turntable to the other one where you hear sort of an echo or a repeat of different words or phrases or beats or what have you. He would take two copies of the same record, put them on the turntables and play one of them a little bit behind the other one. It’s sort of the mood of the music that that he created. Well, I think it’s certainly his approach. For those who don’t know, why has he left such a lasting impression on hip-hop, not just in Houston, but way beyond? It was a love for for Houston and for Houston music and an awareness of the really great homegrown aspect of Houston hip-hop. And after he’d been working on it a few months, he said, ‘you you’re a writer, you should join me on this project.’ And so that’s how I got started on it. And Peter Best had started a project on Houston rap music in 2004 where he was going to take pictures of Houston rappers and tell the history through photos. But the answer to that really is that I’m old friends with the photographer Peter Best. And that, to me, is a very punk rock ethic. The Houston rap scene is an independent scene where, people cut their own path and press up their own records and look after their own careers. Lance Scott Walker: Well, the Houston rap scene is punk rock. How did the Houston rap scene become such a big part of your life? Texas Standard: You’ve been researching and writing this book, I understand, for something like 15 years now and previously wrote the book, ‘Houston Rap Tapes.’ But you call yourself in the book, a white punk rocker from Galveston Island. This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity: In the online-exclusive audio above, learn how his family and artist crew, Screwed Up Click, carry on his legacy. The book is called “DJ Screw: A Life in Slow Revolution.”Īuthor Lance Scott Walker, a self-described white punk rocker from Galveston, talks with Texas Standard about DJ Screw’s style and influences.

And now, two decades after Robert Earl Davis Jr.’s death, a new book examines the Houston legend through the people who knew him. His voice is among the most influential in modern day hip-hop.

Houston Rap Tapes by Lance Scott Walker