Chopped and Screwed

by Bill Davenport May 25, 2009

Screwed in Houston, a new documentary bit on the legacy of  legendary Houston rapper DJ Screw on Vice TV, frantically intercuts South Park and Third Ward streetscapes with soundbites from K-Rino, Dope-E and others, who sketch the speedy history of the slo-mo music between the Geto Boys and Paul Wall. Dozens of shots of purple stuff in bottles and cups, but nobody drinking, as the bizarre, ultra-starched white-guy host exchanges repartee with black rappers at a backyard barbecue.

9 comments

9 comments

b.s. May 25, 2009 - 13:51

That’s about three years old. The host Trace Crutchfield grew up in Houston.

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Asshole May 25, 2009 - 22:52

What a great doc, even if it is *gasp* three years old.

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Asshole May 25, 2009 - 22:53

Trace is a badass

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Bill Davenport May 26, 2009 - 06:33

What I meant is that the clip is “new” to Art Fag City, the NY art blog that featured it last friday, from whence I obtained the link. Of course, I’ve known about that old clip for some time now . . .

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b.s. May 26, 2009 - 07:34

that is odd that they recently posted it. maybe paddy johnson is just growing a taste for screw.

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bruce May 26, 2009 - 18:22

I didn’t see anything interesting in any of that. Not a single thing. Not in the purple juice or the white guy or any of the black guys or in their surroundings or the signs. None of it was the least bit interesting to me and the fact that some of you find it interesting simply confounds me. Even if it was15 years old.
So what?

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b.s. May 26, 2009 - 18:34

Its indigenous. It is a culture bred of and from the swampiness of Houston, influenced by African-American hip-hop culture but totally screwed up. There are similarities between dub reggae, drone metal, prog rock and screw that are just unexplored. The environment is not aesthetic, and maybe the people aren’t either, but it is not too often that a new genre of art or music emerges, and to not examine it would be missing out.

If you’re in Houston in the middle of the summer in a house without air conditioning, your mind starts to wander in weird slow ways…

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Asshole May 26, 2009 - 20:12

Bruce how many records you have in your LP collection?

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bruce May 27, 2009 - 06:19

p0int well taken.

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