New Book Takes a Look at the LIfe and Legacy of DJ Screw

Courtesy of DeMo Sherman and University of Houston Libraries Special 

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Hardcore hip-hop fans, especially those with any affinity, connection, or affection for Houston’s eclectic rap scene, are getting an early gift this year.

Brooklyn-based writer Lance Scott Walker’s long-anticipated book on legendary Texas' music fixture DJ Screw, “DJ Screw: A Life in Slow Revolution,” dropped today, and according to early reviews, it is a winner.

"Weaving flashes of his own voice into an oral history featuring over 130 of Screw’s friends, family, heroes, students, and more, Walker stitches together a full picture of the iconic DJ’s legacy," Rolling Stone’s Mankaprr Conteh said of the tome, which is the culmination of 16 years of research by the author.

The book meticulously documents the life of the late innovator, born Robert Earl Davis Jr., who created a signature “chopped and screwed” sound that would come to define the city of Houston by spinning two copies of a record to “chop” in new rhythms and having local rappers freestyle over the tracks and slow down the recordings of the session on tape.

Walker may be based in New York, but he is no stranger to the subject matter. A Galveston, Texas, native — he got his big break writing about music and nightlife for Houston Press and Houston Chronicle in the early 2000s and has written several other books on Houston rap.

For his latest work, he interviewed everyone from Screw’s childhood friend to collaborators and fans who helped popularize his tape and the hip-hop moguls that drew inspiration from and honored his work.

“Screw slowed down the music because he wanted to hear what the rappers were saying. He wanted you to hear what they were saying,” Walker told Houston Matters Michael Hagerty in a recent interview. 

“Sometimes there would be a message in there that he wanted to repeat so you would hear him wind it back, and sometimes he’s not just winding back a couple of words but an entire phrase or an entire 16 bars. Whatever it is he wants to run back, he’s running it back because he wants you to hear it.”

Walker added that the sound, like its hot and seemingly endless summers, is something that is Houston, but the narrative on the Screw tapes cemented his legacy and its importance to the city.

“You heard local rappers talking about local neighborhoods, local streets, local record labels, local places where they went… that sort of thing, so it sounds like Houston. It’s got that hot sort of slow sound.”

Lil Keed Dead at 24

Photo © Lil Keed/Instagram

Hours before he was scheduled to perform at the Until Next Time Daze in the Blue Music Festival in Charlotte, N.C., on Saturday, up-and-coming Atlanta-based rapper Lil Keed died at the age of 24.

His brother, Lil Gotit, first broke the news with a post on Instagram.

"Can't believe I seened u die today bro I did all my cries I know what u want me to do and that's go hard for Mama Daddy Our Brothers Naychur and Whiteboy,” he wrote on his verified account.

While the full details of his death have yet to be revealed, the musician’s record label 300 Entertainment confirmed the artist, whose real name is Rahqid Render, passing and released a statement lamenting his loss:

“Lil Keed was not only an incredible talent but a devoted father, brother, and son. We are deeply saddened by this unexpected loss as Keed's courage, humor, and dedication to his family and craft will be unexplainably missed. Over the years, Keed has made an indescribable impact on the culture and his community. His essence will forever be woven throughout the fabric that is Young Stoner Life Records and 300 Entertainment. Our prayers are with his family, friends, and fans.”

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Young Stoner Life Records, the label founded by fellow Atlanta rap star Young Thug and the imprint to which Lil Keed was signed (under the purview of 300 Entertainment), added its condolences on Twitter.

“A member of our family is gone. Lil Keed was one of the most genuine and heartfelt human beings. He was an artist who loved his fans more than anything else," the label’s official account tweeted Sunday. "We lost a brother, a son, a father, and a friend. Keep him in your prayers and his legacy alive."

The rapper was born on March 16, 1998, in the same Atlanta neighborhood as Young Thug. He was mentored by the superstar and signed to YSL in 2018. His first studio album “Long Live Mexico,” proceeded by several successful single releases, peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in 2019.

The artist’s death was the latest blow for the embattled record label, which saw 28 people associated with it indicted for violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO Act and participating in criminal street gang activity last week.

Young Thug and labelmate Gunna, two of the label's biggest stars, were jailed and denied bail in Georgia on RICO and other charges.

Incarceration did not stop the duo from reaching out to Lil Keed’s family in the wake of this tragedy.

According to Lil Gotit both platinum rappers have spoken to him while awaiting their next court dates.

“Talked to @thuggerthugger1 [Young Thug] yesterday,” he wrote on his Instagram story. “Keed u f—d him up with this one but we know you guarding him through these times and make sure he gone be alright We da Proud Family can’t nothing stop us.”

He added, “Talked to @gunna [Gunna] he good just sad what’s goin on wit twin but everything gone be in our favor.”

Gunna Booked Into Jail on Racketeering Charge

Photo Credit: Fulton County Sheriff's Office

The fallout from Monday's 56-count grand jury indictment, filed in Georgia, naming 28 members and associates of record label imprint YSL (Young Stoner Life, Young Slime Life), which identifies it as “a criminal street gang” that “claims affiliation with the national Bloods gang,” continues.

Monday, Grammy Award-winning rapper Young Thug (real name: Jeffery Lamar Williams), the founder of the label, was booked into Fulton County Jail on gang-related charges.

On Wednesday he was joined by labelmate and fellow platinum rapper Gunna, born Sergio Giavonni Kitchens, who is charged with a single count of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

Williams, who was booked on charges of participation in street gang activity and conspiring to violate RICO, also picked up seven new charges: possession of marijuana with intent to distribute; possession of a Schedule III, IV, or V controlled substance with intent to distribute; possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony; possession of a sawed-off shotgun, sawed-off rifle, machine gun, dangerous weapon, or silencer; and three counts of being a person employed or associated with a criminal street gang to conduct or participate in criminal gang activity through the commission of a crime.

Both YSL members had previous brushes with the law, including a 2017 incident where they were both arrested in Atlanta on drug-possession charges following a traffic stop. Williams was indicted on felony drug charges, which are still pending. Kitchens was sentenced to six months of probation in 2019 when his marijuana possession charge was dropped after he pleaded guilty to a window tint violation.

Those troubles pale in comparison to the current legal quagmire they and their associates have waded into. The 88-page indictment details charges of murder, drug dealing, drug and gun possession, witness intimidation, robbery, theft and carjacking.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis claimed the indictments as a major victory against violent crime.

“As the district attorney of Fulton County, my No. 1 focus is targeting gangs,” Willis said. “And there’s a reason for that. They are committing, conservatively, 75 to 80% of all of the violent crime that we are seeing within our community.”

Williams made his first court appearance on Tuesday and was denied bond.

According to Fani some of the defendants could face life in prison.

“There are definitely many people that are looking at life under this indictment,” she said. “These are serious times, they are serious allegations and it is my opinion that violence in our community deserves maximum penalties.”