Short Texas, Long Nights: The Legacy of DJ Screw

scroll to the bottom of the page to find my work cited!

[aliencallout]

source

[aliencallout]

I love music. Just have to get that out of the way. I’m so grateful to have an excuse to vomit this obsession I’ve carried for years onto paper.

A few summers ago, I found myself in a post-pandemic haze. I was working too much, partying too hard, just hitting everything with reckless intensity. My mental health took a turn after COVID-19 that I’m still struggling to understand today. During that time, I had a radio show on CFCR that became my crutch. I don’t remember exactly how I discovered DJ Screw. What I remember is smoking a lot of weed, calling my uncle down in Chicago often, and immersing myself in endless music – local to Saskatoon, CanCon, everywhere, every genre. One day, I called my uncle, and he watched in shock as the kid he helped raise rolled a joint while interrogating him about a record label I’d found out he co-owned through Facebook. That sparked a string of conversations (including one with my dad, lol) about music, life, and artists. Sometimes I’d play my uncle guitar covers, other times I’d read him raps I’d written. I couldn’t perform them and I still can't, I haven’t found my rap voice, I’m way too suburban. Through those calls and my research for the radio show, I got introduced to the storied life of DJ Screw. All Screwed Up Volume II became my main obsession. I was taken by DJ Screw, but there was so much rich depth and texture to this album I just couldn’t get past it to listen to his other stuff.

[aliencallout]

DJ Screw and the Screwed Up Click. source

[aliencallout]

All Screwed Up Volume II is an operatic and anthropological look into the lives of the people who made it. I’ll level that it’s vulgar. But as a guest given a chance to look into the life of people very different from me, I’ll assume that the level of vulgarity is probably normal to them and this is the last I’ll speak of unless relevant. Just like the cocaine-fueled beats of the 70s, this style of music is a synesthetic trip that puts you inside the very bodies and minds of its creators.

[aliencallout]

Have you ever heard a rap album that listens like an opera – with an overture, a storyline, moments of comedic relief – but still carries the mind expanding, experimental sound and blasphemous confidence of early hip-hop? Stylistically and lyrically, the album listens like someone with formal training and a college degree but listen, DJ Screw dropped out when he was 10 (TEN) to focus on music. 

This distinctly Texan rap album colours my Saskatoon summers 30 years after its release. As a suburban ex-gifted kid (cringe I know) it feeds my longing for rebellion, my nerdy music brain, and for a while there, my bad smoking habit. Even apart from my blackness, it fed me as a person who was down in the dumps and has made mistakes in life that I wish I hadn’t. 

Okay, so that’s all me up till here. Before we dive deeper, let’s lay down the concrete background.

[aliencallout]

source

[aliencallout]

All Screwed Up Vol. 2 was released August 1st, 1995, during the formative years of DJ Screw’s influence on the Houston hip-hop scene. By 1995, hip-hop was still largely defined by the East coast’s boom-bap lyricism and the West’s G-funk dominance. Southern rap hadn’t yet broken into the national mainstream in a major way. DJ Screw’s All Screwed Up Vol. II emerged from this cultural margin, asserting a regional voice that wasn’t yet recognized on a national scale. DJ Screw, born Robert Earl Davis Jr., pioneered the chopped and screwed technique, a style of remixing hip-hop music characterized by slowing down the tempo and applying techniques such as skipping beats, record scratching, stop-time effects, and record manipulation. This created a distinctive, sizzurp-smooth and hypnotic sound that matched the local culture, especially the use of “purple drank” (a mix of cough syrup, soda, and candy).

[aliencallout]

source

The mid-1990s were also a period marked by the War on Drugs, mass incarceration, and continued systemic neglect of Black communities. This album emerged in the aftermath of the early '90s crack epidemic and at a moment when mainstream rap was turning more commercial, polished, and radio-friendly.

The mixtape’s slowed-down beats reflected the slower pace of life in Houston’s hip-hop culture and the unique way people experienced music there. It was also a reaction against the polished, fast-paced mainstream rap coming from other regions, offering instead a raw, immersive soundscape that emphasized mood and vibe over lyrical speed.

His tapes weren’t meant for radio play at all. They were fat, indulgent, and atmospheric – you can hear the low scratch and skip of the needle on the records he sampled in the back of the songs. They were meant for cars, block parties, and late-night smoke sessions. In that sense, they represent an underground resistance to the increasing commodification of hip-hop and blackness. The Houston sound mirrored the slowed-down, heavy atmosphere of life under economic and social pressure, particularly in Black Southern neighborhoods. 

[aliencallout]

source

At the time Vol. 2 dropped, DJ Screw was building a reputation as the underground king of Houston’s Southside, mixing tracks from local rappers like UGK, 8Ball & MJG, Geto Boys, and others. This volume helped solidify the chopped and screwed style as a major influence on Southern hip-hop, particularly in Houston. It wasn’t just a music style but a cultural movement that celebrated the city’s sound and lifestyle.

Screw also formed the Screwed Up Click, a loose collective of Houston rappers (including Project Pat, Lil’ Keke, Big Moe, and others) who would freestyle over the slowed-down beats on his tapes. Unlike commercial rap groups, this was more of a community than a brand, and All Screwed Up Volume II showcases their voices and lives in raw, unfiltered form.

[aliencallout]

source

Side note, in scouring Reddit for research I discovered that the same George Floyd who was murdered by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on May 25, 2020, was known to many in Houston as “Big Floyd,” and was a member of the Screwed Up Click. Before moving to Minneapolis, George Perry Floyd Jr. grew up in Houston’s Third Ward, one of the city’s historically Black neighborhoods. In the 1990s, Floyd contributed vocals to several of Screw’s mixtapes, including notable freestyles like Sittin on Top of the World and other underground recordings. I can only find his tracks on Youtube, a lot of his stuff has been scrubbed or never made it on to the internet. Floyd eventually stepped away from music and later moved to Minneapolis for a fresh start, where he worked various jobs including as a truck driver and security guard.

[aliencallout]

Screwed Up Click, source

All Screwed Up Volume II matters because it’s a case study in regional innovation. Houston’s response to the dominant coasts, blending hip-hop with local aesthetics; lean, lowrider cars and storytelling from the streets. DJ Screw's underground influence was so deep and pervasive that the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA), an organization dedicated to documenting the rich, diverse history of Texas described him as “a pioneer in Texas hip-hop and a major influence on Southern rap music... DJ Screw created a sound and a scene that became central to Houston’s identity.”

As I stated before, this album matters also because it is an anthropological look into the specific lives of Southern Black People at the time. His contribution is so significant that in 2023, decades after his death, the city of Houston officially declared June 27th as DJ Screw Day. DJ Screw and his Screwed Up Click turned underground tapes into regional artifacts.

[aliencallout]

Okay, historical cement laid. Now we can talk about the songs. There were other songs I wanted to discuss but I settled on Short Texas and Inside Looking Out because I go back to these the most outside of listening to the full album. Special shoutout to Wreckless, After I Die and My Mind Went Blank. 

[aliencallout]

source

Short Texas (preambled by a short intro) is the first song and operatic overture to the album. It is an introduction and a warning, a sonic gateway into the complex and sometimes unsettling landscape we are about to enter. It’s the late bus you take at night in a run down part of town. You can look out the window and see silhouettes in houses and unfamiliar city scapes. You intuitively know you are not supposed to be there and that it’s not a desirable place to be, but there is a longing to belong. The sound is a mind bending and attention splitting alien callout from the trenches.

[aliencallout]

Short Texas is a nickname for Port Arthur, Texas, which is a city in Southeast Texas. In the song, it refers specifically to the hometown and turf of the two artists, Pimp C and Bun B. Bun B’s opening verse welcomes listeners to his block in the same once-upon-a-time manner a child’s story book would, then goes on to detail on how quickly, ruthlessly and permanently he would put down any rival dealers who would dare sell on his turf in Short Texas. 

Another side note, we can’t really discuss 90’s rap without giving a nod to Chronic, a strain of weed popularized by Dr. Dre's debut album that was the flower of choice for every iconic rapper you can think of from the 90s. I recently watched Snoop Dogg in a Netflix documentary about it, it's called Grass is Greener. Short Texas starts off with the repetition, “chronic in the air, jamming nothing but Screw.” 

This song is both laid back and ominous. When I first heard this song I was struck by how articulate and educated the rappers sounded and the song felt. This feeling only grew as the album continued. 

[aliencallout]

The next song is Inside Looking Out, one of the most emotionally striking tracks on All Screwed Up Vol. II. It’s mellow, and more forgiving to listeners used to constancy in music. Basically it’s less psychedelic than other songs on the album. The lyrics are both literal and metaphorical, dealing with heavy topics like incarceration, regret and isolation. It sounds like it was recorded over a phone, which happens sometimes when rappers write songs when they’re in prison. The atmosphere of feeling different on the inside to how you are perceived on the outside is universally relatable. 

20-2-Life’s simple observations and assertions of the unfairness he witnesses are vulnerable in a way I wouldn't readily associate with gangster rap. It really was a liferaft to listen to in my post COVID haze. This is probably one of my top albums of all time. 

[aliencallout]

DJ Screw is arguably the most influential hip-hop DJ of this century so far, but like many monumental artists they do not always live to see their legacy. DJ Screw died in 2000 at age 30 in the bathroom of his recording studio from a drug overdose (DJ Screw Found Dead, 2000). While this story had an unfortunate ending, many hip-hop artists from today learn from the mistakes of the greats and take action to build their legacies while they still live. While the lavish lifestyle of hip-hop artists are a visual marker that has remained the same, I see more of them, especially women, maximizing the opportunity they have been given with their platform by starting businesses and buying property with the goal of creating windfalls for their children and building generational wealth. This is monumental in African American communities because it is born out of the music and art of people who had the same dreams but different life circumstances. Also, it is serious progress for a people that have been repeatedly hampered by racist laws and policy makers. You can hear the desire for a better life and the wish that things were different in Screw’s music, and the artists of today being able to achieve that is a special thing.

Rapper Cardi B announces new deal with Revolve Group for a fashion and beauty brand.

source

[aliencallout]

Today, Houston’s music has exploded onto the music scene housing huge names like Beyonce, Megan the Stallion and Travis Scott. DJ Screw’s chopped and screwed style didn’t just stay underground,  it laid the foundation for a major sonic shift in popular music. Annual events like the DJ Screwfest celebrate his contributions to music, and institutions like the University of Houston have preserved his work in the Houston Hip Hop Research Collection.