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Over the past two decades rap and hip hop music have become a strong influence in today's culture especially
among young people. But until recently most of the more popular rap music has come from either the East Coast or from
the West Coast. Of course there are some well-known artists from the Midwest(Chicago primarily). But over the
past two years there has been a major uproar from the South(Mississippi, Lousiana, and Georgia to name a few). Within those
same two years artists from Texas have found it to be there time to shine, and have begun to lead the rap industry in a new
direction.
There have been seven well known Texas artists who have made their faces known to world through numerous
television appearances. Chamillionaire, Slim Thug, Lil Flip, Paul Wall, and Mike Jones who all represent one of Texas'
major cities, Houston, have found their way into the spotlight. And another major Texas artist, Bun B who comes from Port
Arthur.
All of these rappers started out on the underground music scene, which is tied to a Texas form of music
known as screw music. Screw music came from a Houston dj, Robert Davis, better known to many as DJ Screw. This form
of music is played at a slower speed than the original song. Screw music is becoming more well known with the help of
these artists emerging from Texas.
Texas rap is starting to be a major factor rap for numerous reasons. It began with other rap artists
from other coasts refering to Texas and the rappers from there. Second Texas rappers began to appear on tv and at well
known events(BET and MTV Award shows). Third, Texas style and slang is starting to be heard and seen in many places.
Texas style is reflected upon the cars that people drive, the clothes people wear and the way that clothes
are worn, even the way people talk is different. In the rap culture of Texas people drive customized classic vehicles(Chevy
Caprice, Cadillac Deville, Chevy Impala, etc.) known as "old schools" or "slabs". Another style known to Texas is heavily
starched jeans and shorts, which is known to create "razor-blade" or "cardborad" creases. Texans are also known in the
rap and hip-hop industry for having a slow, slurred, rapping style. Gold and platinum teeth are also dominant in Texas,
but that style is shared by Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. Just like other places Texas rap
has its own slang which consists of words like "maan", "hold up","know what I'm talking about" (said in a slurred Texas style),"what
it do", "grills", and "plex". Plex is when two people dislike each other. "What it do?" is the
same as asking someone "What's happeneing?" or "What's going on?." A grill is a set of gold or platinum teeth.
Other artists from other areas are adopting characteristics of the Texas style. Twista, a Chicago
based rapper, has a song on his new album where the last half of the song is performed screwed. Also as of late a few
East Coast rappers have adopted the idea of wearing gold, platinum, or diamond studded teeth, known as grlls in the south.
Even mixed alcoholic drinks that are known in Texas are being talked about in other areas, two examples are "lean" and "purple".
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| Slim Thug standing next his customized slab. |
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| Paul Wall showing off his expensive smile, with a diamond studded grill. |
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But with this advance on to the mainstream scene, comes the drama that success can bring. Even though
these rappers all came from Houston and even rapped together in the past a few of them have animosity towards one another.
But that happens throughout the whole business. That is just an example of how things change when people make it big.
Especially when these rappers work so hard to get to the position they are in now, all of them have been known throughout
the Texas underground rap scene for years but now each of them has found a way to make it on to the maintstream scene.
But the problem between these artists seems to be the fact that there is a disagreement on how the city(Houston) and the state(Texas)
is being represented. Chamillionaire feels that Mike Jones is just a gimmick, and that Paul Wall turned his back on
him(Chamillionaire) because they were once a musical duo when they were underground artists. Slim Thug feels that on
the underground scene Lil Flip was top notch talent but now mainstream has made him too soft to be a rapper worthy of representing
Houston, Texas.
This has been the year for Texas rap, but hopefully these artist will not let the success go to their heads
and mess up what they have worked so hard for. Along with Slim Thug, Paul Wall, Mike Jones, Chamillionaire, Lil Flip,
and Bun B on the scene, there are more rappers making their way as well such as, Z-Ro, Pimp C, and Trae just to name a few.
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| Upcoming Houston rapper, Z-Ro |
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| Soon to be mainstream as well is Pimp C. |
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