On at the present time within the yr 2000, Houston misplaced one among its most influential musical innovators. Robert Earl Davis Jr, higher generally known as DJ Screw, was discovered lifeless inside his Houston recording studio on the age of twenty 9. The reason for dying was decided to be a codeine overdose, a substance that might later change into linked to a sound and a tradition he helped outline.
DJ Screw typically combined prescription power cough syrup with soda to create the drink many known as purple drank or lean. Although this combination lower his life quick far too early, his affect on music has solely grown since. His impression didn’t simply change the sound of Houston, it reshaped the complete panorama of Southern rap.
Often called the originator of the chopped and screwed motion, DJ Screw turned gradual tempo beats, vinyl manipulation, and deep atmospheric bass right into a cultural artwork type. His work grew to become the heartbeat of Houston within the nineteen nineties, inspiring generations of artists and creating a complete subgenre that also lives at the moment.
After his passing, his loyal followers, generally known as Screwheads, made certain his legacy would by no means fade. Within the yr 2005 they created Screwfest to have a good time his music and his affect. Within the yr 2007 VBS and Vice launched the acclaimed documentary collection titled Screwed in Houston, which devoted a complete episode to his life, his studio periods, and his blueprint for the Houston rap scene.
With greater than 300 mixtapes and 5 studio albums to his title, DJ Screw constructed a catalog that continues to be sacred to Houston tradition. His sound impressed artists from UGK and Z Ro to Drake and Beyonce and continues to form new generations of Southern expertise.
Twenty 5 years later, DJ Screw continues to be current in each slowed beat, each remix, and each anthem that carries the spirit of the town he helped elevate. Gone far too quickly however remembered without end, DJ Screw stays the sound of the South, everlasting, slowed, and legendary.
