For Myself & Others: The House of Houston
By Bomani Jones, AOL BlackVoices columnist
While the year is still young, it seems apropos to take the time to play Miss Cleo and try to predict the future. Right now, I'll go on a limb and make one bold prediction -- Houston will be the next city to blow up in hip-hop. When I say Houston will blow up, I mean that it will blow beyond the confines of its own region. Even though H-Town's Geto Boys (more on them next week) was the first Southern group to make it nationwide, most of the city's talent on the mic hasn't been heard much farther than the Gulf Coast. Scarface's place as a legend is concrete at this point, but UGK is still tragically underrated, royalty in their back yard but strangers on most other blocks.
Even though nationwide fame has eluded most in Houston, a thriving, self-contained scene developed in the city during the mid-''90s. The late DJ Screw somehow figured that music at crawling beats per minute would catch on, and it created a Southern phenomenon. Where mixtapes in other parts of the country would take recognizable beats and let emcees spit over them, Screw -- and others later, most notably the folks at Swisha House -- took those beats, slowed them down, doubled up the drums, and made something fairly new from songs that were already done. Houston sipped the style like the region's infamous syrup concoction of codeine and alcohol, as did most of the Gulf Coast and mid-South, and got sky-high off a sound all their own.
This didn't catch on immediately across the nation. Even some native Houstonians -- including this writer -- will tell you that it takes some time to get accustomed to the sound (others will tell you the music is meant to sound good under the influence of codeine cough syrup). But after 10 years, it seems that the sound that Screw pioneered is on its way into the mainstream. Lil Jon screwed 'Da Blow' on 'Crunk Juice' (though it's odd that he got Memphis' Gangsta Boo to rhyme over the track instead of a Houstonian), and stalwarts of Houston's scene have begun to sign major deals. Lil' Flip has already made it out -- no, that's not necessarily a good thing -- but far more talented emcees are waiting to come behind him. Slim Thug, who's been making tapes for nearly a decade, has inked a deal with The Neptunes' label, Star Trak. And it's only a matter of time before mixtape star Chamillionaire becomes a star (should you doubt me, check 'Call Some Hoes,' a track on which he and Stat blow Kanye West away).
That the scene is set to blow also indicates something interesting about the economics of the industry. Southerners have been content to be regional stars because many felt they could make more money that way. Bryan "Baby" Williams, CEO of Cash Money Records, once said it was better to be local and rich than nationwide and broke (Master P's fall from the top showed the dangers of stretching a local label too thinly). Though most cats in Houston didn't have major label distribution in the mid- to late-'90s, most of them were making major label money. Why try to sell records on 125th and Lenox when you're eating well on your own street?
For the first time in a while, Houston rappers are getting the urge to venture across the country in search of fans eager to hear what hip-hop is offering next. Maybe there are more rappers in the city than there is money in the game, or perhaps the nation is finally prepared to work with the uniqueness of Houston's sound. It's difficult to pinpoint the exact cause behind Houston's move into the mainstream, but all the signs are there for the city to become what Los Angeles was in '91 and '93, New Orleans was in '97 and '98, and Atlanta was in '02 and '04: the genre's guiding force. One of the fun parts of hip-hop is watching the experiences and influences of different regions bleed into the consciousness of folks who would never otherwise be exposed to those styles or issues. Good money says this will be the next sound to make its way across the nation.
Jan. 14, 2005