Biography of Dj Screw Screwstons Legend
Dj Screw spent most of the 1990s as an infamous local phenomenon in Houston, TX. Not very soon after that DJ Screw suddenly found himself gaining sudden notoriety before his unfortunate death in late 2000. The Houston DJ made a name for himself primarily because of his legendary “screwed out ” style, which found him pitching down his records to a very slow and eerie pace. Throughout the ’90s, what began as novelty actually became a rather lucrative venture for DJ Screw, who “Screwed out” hundreds of mix tapes, with some estimates projecting his total number of tapes topping over a thousand; furthermore, he sold the tapes at his Houston-based record store, Screwed Up Records and Tapes. He used master ps plan and applied it to Houston and his unique style of “screwing out” music. Oddly enough, he preferred to release his mixes almost exclusively on cassette, though fans often recorded the mixes and traded them via the Internet; in addition, countless “screwed” remixes of popular rap anthems were widely available on Napster thanks to his loyal following. Yet it’s hard to imagine Screw’s legacy being what it is if not for his role as an adamant advocate of “syrup sippin’,” a Southern rap phenomenon involving codeine-infused cough syrup mixed with sprite or orange soda or puprle soda – the resulting intoxication induces a hallucinatory state where everything slows down and becomes the senses swirl. As marijuana was to early-’90s gangsta rap, LSD was to late-’60s psychedelic rock, ecstasy was to late-’80s rave — and so on — the syrup sippin’ advocated by Screw’s trippy hip-hop mixes led to a small drug movement within the late-’90s Dirty South genre, reaching its zenith with Three 6 Mafia’s hit “Sippin’ on Some Syrup” in 2000. It’s hard to deny that this phenomenon wasn’t as important to Screw’s popularity as his music was (especially considering some of his tape titles: Syrup & Soda, Syrup Sippers, Sippin’ Codeine, etc.) Still, Screw did serve as a leader for Houston’s burgeoning rap scene; his home studio, The Screw Shop, functioned as the home base for what was loosely referred to as the Screwed Up Click, including Houstons own rappers such as Big Pokey and Lil’ Keke, along with about 30 others were known locally. Ironically, when Screw was found dead in his studio of a fatal heart attack at the tender age of 30 on the morning of November 16, 2000, the Houston Chronicle published a story stating that police suspected Screw of overdosing on the same syrup that he so adamantly advocated. Weeks later the theory proved valid, making the artist the victim of his own self-promoted phenomenon. More unfortunate, though, was the loss of Screw to Houston’s fledging scene, which seemed on the verge of being nationally recognized as a Southern rap mecca. His legacy lived on, though, since his trademark mixing style was by no means exclusive, as countless imitators had arisen in the South by the time of his death, the most noteworthy being the Swisha House and Beltway 8 record labels.
Make sure you cop a dj screw record today
watch dj screws video bio here
Screwstons on DJ Screw. Screw: The Untold Story’ tells the story of Robert Davis
before the phenomenon and before the fame from the
people who were there. This film also contains never
before seen footage of the one man who gave Houston it’s
sound identity, at work and at play as well as interviews with
the original members of S.U.C. (Screwed Up Click), Davis
family members, the last interview from “Hawk” and his
thoughts about his brother and D.J. Screw filmed just 3 days
prior to his untimely death.
Segment from the Soldiers United 4 Cash Documentary by REL Entertainment, L.L.C. This segment features DJ Screw doing what he did best and showing the world his true talent….
…”Often Immitated, Never Duplicated”
“There is only 1 DJ Screw”
Rest In Peace
Robert Davis, Jr.
DJ Screw
Buy authentic DJ Screw CD’s straight from Screwed Up Records
http://www.screweduprecords.com
Visit Screwed Up Records & Tapes on
7717 Cullen Blvd. • Houston, TX 77051
(713) 731-0747
Dj Screw interview on abc 13 in feburary 1998
This is a news interview with DJ Screw. It aired on ABC 13 in Houston around February 1998.
