Texas Rapps Flashback: Gang Society's South West

Lil J - Beastmode Bars video

Dope-E & Justice Allah - Street Gangsta Politics video

Q-Will & 2Tone - Aww Shit video

Pacboi Tank - Soul Food video

Gerald G - Always Love My City video

Mirage - Do It, Do It video

Austin's Mirage drops with a song produced by Young Nick, who is currently in the midst of a miraculous recovery from having a tumor removed from behind his eye...



Orijinals - The 74ness video

Austin's Mirage and Global74 join forces as Orijinals...

Texas Powerhouse Cipher part1

Lil J of Austin's League of Extraordinary G'z presents each of S.Dot, Gutta, Lowkey, Mr. Fitness, and Stat 1 ripping verses to a reworking of an old Showbiz and AG beat...

Texas Rapps Flashback: Fesu - Ya Don't Stop video

Houston's Fesu from 1994's War With No Mercy album...

Q-Will, 2Tone & Lil J - Respected video

Gerald G - 187 video

Coota Bang - Blaxk Out video

Magno - Rockin' Up a Flow video

Kydd & Yelawolf - Hall Pass

Austin's Kydd comes through with a major league collaboration with Alabama's Yelawolf, slated to appear on Kydd's forthcoming Sounds in My Head Part II mixtape...

Texas Rapps Flashback: Big Pokey, Big Shasta & Lil Flip freestyle

Filmed at the Kappa Beach Party in Galveston circa 2001, Big Pokey, Big Shasta, and Lil Flip freestyle to DJ Screw's famous "June27th" remix of "Da Streets Ain't Right" by Kriss Kross...

Gerald G - Hellrazor video

Austin's Gerald G keeps it as raw as it gets...

Z-Ro - Whoop a N*gga Ass freestyle

Z-Ro previews a verse (I'd love to believe that he's actually freestyling here, but I really don't think he is in the literal sense) from an upcoming project with Slim Thug...

Trae - Keep on Rollin' video

This song is at least a couple of years old and it used to feature a verse from Gorilla Zoe, but it's still one of the best instances of Trae doing the sing-song rap thing, formerly mastered by fellow Houstonians Big Moe (RIP) and Z-Ro... 

RIP Octavis Berry aka Esbe the 6th Street Bully

Tragic news hit Texas rap this weekend in the form of the untimely passing of Octavis Berry, also know as rapper Esbe the 6th Street Bully. As a member of Austin's Dred Skott along with his partner Reggie Colby, as well as the League of Extraordinary G'z, Esbe routinely scorched his verses with a ferociousness and flare that only the 6th Street Bully could properly manage. Dred Skott's 2009 song "You Can't Bury Me" instantly becomes that much more meaningful...

  

Kydd - L'z Lounge Room video

Austin's Kydd, citing influence from J Dilla along the way, stradles the border between shifty backpacker rap and dubstep melancholia...  

Texas Rapps Flashback: Z-Ro's I Can't Win

Way back in 1995, Z-Ro was going by The Crooked Mind and doing his best 2Pac impersonation on this gem of a cassette single... 

Texas Rapps Flashback: Z-Ro & Papa Reu's Looking Good video

With Z-Ro gaining so many fans worldwide the past few years, it's interesting to see folks shout him out as a legend without necessarily ever hearing his early classic material. "Looking Good" is taken from 2000's Z-Ro vs. The World album and it might surprise some to know that his since-recycled chorus is that old...

Bleeda - Bandanas video

Houston's Bleeda drops some hardcore street ish. And do notice Z-Ro as the only dude in the video decked out in blue...

Killa Kyleon - Letter to Pimp C video

Houston's Killa Kyleon, proving himself hungrier than any rapper in 2011, revisits the Pimp C by way of a letter to the deceased...

EDF - Screw History video

Twenty, Thirty years down the line, dudes are still going to be making tribute songs to the one DJ Screw. This one here by Houston's EDF is quite nice...  

Boss Hogg Outlawz - Murder video

Yet another offering from the Boss Hogg Outlawz' Serve & Collect III album, this time featuring Dre Day, LES, and Slim Thug...

Z-Ro - Meth album

Houston's Z-Ro, the King of the Ghetto, returns with a fresh album on Rap-A-Lot. While stubborn purists pine for classic Look What You Did to Me-era Ro, with his rapid-fire, 2Pac-inspired steez on full blast, Meth presents more of the grown-up, soulful, slower-paced Ro. But whether Z-Ro's style has matured or not, he still manages to retain every bit of the viciousness to his flow that made him the Mo City Don in the first place. It's basically the same product, just packaged differently...

Texas Rapps Flashback: Crazy C's Fresh on D's Remix

Houston's Crazy C made a name for himself during the mid-90's remixing tracks for the likes of Wu Tang Clan, Outkast, Goodie Mob, and Jodeci. In this case from 1996, Crazy C tackles Above the Law's "100 Spokes"...

Phranchyze - Beaches video

Austin's Phranchyze takes the laid-back, smoked-out path to lyrical enlightenment...

Killa Kyleon & Bun B - Bodies Hit tha Floor video

Like water from a faucet, you know exactly what to expect from the combo of Houston's Killa Kyleon and Bun B. Quality control-related...

DJ Red doing his best DJ Screw

Texas rap has nothing if it doesn't have tradition. Here we have DJ Red recently mixing live at Screwed Up Records & Tapes in Houston, basically matching DJ Screw's famous mix of 2Pac's "Picture Me Rollin'", taken from his 1996 tape titled The Final Chapter... 

That Boy Bigweed - Delonte West video

I gotta be honest that I'm not even sure how much of this is completely tongue-in-cheek versus serious, but my laughter remains perfectly mixed with a sincere appreciation for how the song sounds. I've been hearing about That Boy Bigweed of Houston's Hustle Skwad for years and it figures that when I finally see him, he's got a mask on. Damien Randle of K-Otix directed the video and the hilarious outtakes only further confuse me. So if anybody has an explanation of what's really going on here, please feel free to clue me in...

J-Ro - Gettin' On It video

Austin's J-Ro doing his thing...

East 35 - 83 video

Big John and Young Gift of Austin's East 35 do it up right on the Lone Star rap tip...

Texas Rapps Flashback: Casino & Gutta Gang's Game Time

Football season is serious business down here in Texas. In 2006, Casino of Austin's Gutta Gang brought shifty gridiron styles to the club with both his hit song "Game Time" and its resulting Heisman dance...

Houston Mayor Declares August 30th as Bun B Day

The city of Houston has already honored each of Trae, Lil Troy, and Lil J with their own calendar earmarks. Now, current Houston Mayor Annise Parker has declared August 30th as Bun B Day. The longtime mouthpiece of the Underground Kingz aka UGK, Bun B carries the torch for his deceased partner Pimp C and realness in rap within the same calculated breath...  

Z-Ro freestyle

Definitely appreciate that Z-Ro keeps putting out these preview verses, as they lend a glimpse at real rap without all the studio polish involved...

2 Chains, Bun B & Big K.R.I.T. - Pimps video

Port Arthur legend Bun B of UGK joins Atlanta's 2 Chainz and Mississippi's Big K.R.I.T. for a saxophone-laden slide into that classic Southern pimp vibe, which DJ Drobitussen goes and accentruates further with his "screwed and chopped" treatment...

Scarface Back on the Scene

Word is that Scarface was released from the big house this week where he had spent time for failure to pay child support. As not only a legend from the past (Geto Boys! Geto Boys!) but someone who has also put out quality music recently (2008's Emeritus album, for instance), Scarface likely still has some gas in his tank enough to make his next project interesting...

Boss Hogg Outlawz - Outlaw Wayz video

Houston's Boss Hogg Outlawz preview their latest crew album Outlaw Wayz by stringing together 7 videos by each of L.E.$, Black, Dre Day, Lil Ray, M.U.G., Slim Thug, and Herbman...

Gerald G - 2 Sides of the Story video

Austin's Gerald G is what I would call a rapper's rapper. He's not just scratching the surface with his flows and topics. He's delving deep into innovative techniques and pensive subject matter. His bars are as relentless as they are heartfelt and dude's got just enough style to pull the whole thinking-man's rap thing off... 

Dre Day - The 4 video

Dre Day of Houston's Boss Hogg Outlawz utilizes the Live Out Loud Band to flesh out an especially dank take on the classic Texas rap sound...

Delo - Ghetto Boy video

From the streets of Mo City, Houston, Delo sticks to the tried-and-true blueprint of "money, methazine, and metaphors". Meanwhile Bdo, who produced the track, makes like fellow Texan DJ Premier by sampling the bassline to Maynard Ferguson's "Mister Mellow"...

League of Extraordinary G'z - Yes He Is video

Austin's League of Extraordinary G'z shot this video while touring the West Coast with Jackie Chain. Dred Skott's Esbe the 6th Street Bully, who spits the first verse here, has been out of his head lately, ripping the mic in nothing short of spectacular fashion. C.O.D.'s S-Dot and Tukdagat follow suit, rounding out the song with their own nifty takes on rapid-fire execution...

Blofly - Comin' Out tha D video

I like it a whole lot more when a Dallas rapper reminds me of Houston instead of reminding me of Atlanta. Blofly here with some standard issue...

Queen Deelah & T-Fly - Dope video

Gotta love it when someone from your own neighborhood really starts to shine. Austin's T-Fly is a graduated product of The Cipher organization, run by members of Public Offenders over at Reagan High School, and here she joins Queen Deelah for a study in lyrical detoxification...

Texas Rapps Flashback: Geto Boys' Straight Gangsterism

For the Geto Boys' 1993 album Til Death Do Us Part, Willie D was temporarily replaced in the group by fellow Rap-A-Lot affiliate Big Mike. This led to a classic song titled "Straight Gangsterism" featuring the lyrical triumvirate of Scarface, Big Mike, and Mr. 3-2, who had formerly been a member of the Convicts with Big Mike... 

Texas Rapps Flashback: Strange Fruit Project

Waco's Strange Fruit Project does soulful hip-hop as well as anyone. Their producer Symbolic One, much like his Texas counterpart Mike Dean, has been tapped in recent years by Kanye West to be a part of his studio team. "Get Live" comes from Strange Fruit's 2006 album The Healing and features Symbolic One, Myth, and Myone sharing the mic with Erykah Badu... 

D Rose & Tray Chaney - Life on Film video

Houston's D Rose gets a helping hand from Tray Chaney who adds a verse, DJ Cozmos who produced the track, and Damien Randle of the Legendary KO who directed the video...

Texas Rapps Flashback: DJ Screw & Big Pokey Bow Down freestyle

This one comes from DJ Screw's Headed 2 the League cassette that came out in '97. It features 22 minutes of Big Pokey wrecking Westside Connection's "Bow Down" and put frankly, there's hardly a flow out there that embodies the Screwed Up Click like this one... 

Z-Ro & Lil O - Can't Leave Drank Alone video

If it wasn't inebriating enough to begin with in its original form, DJ Big T transforms this Z-Ro & Lil O video with his best Slowed & Sliced treatment...

Texas Rapps Flashback: Lil Breazy & Z-Ro's Haterz

Austin's Lil Breazy of the Sam Huston Boyz had this collaboration with Z-Ro come out on his 2008 album titled Constant Grind...

Texas Rapps Flashback: Epatomed

So pleased that a bunch of old Epatomed videos have been recently posted to Youtube. Epatomed was a crew out of Arlington that took a major blow in 2003 when its frontman Saahir was killed in an automobile accident. Loved and respected by many, Saahir is featured in each of these videos ("Play Your Part", "The Miracle", "DFW" and the "DFW" remix) as originally aired on the Positive Profiles television program...

Texas Rapps Flashback: DJ Screw's Pistolgrip Pump

In 1994, DJ Screw put out a tape called 2 Pints Deep that featured mostly West Coast gangsta rap tracks reworked for a slowed and throwed effect. Mixing Volume 10's classic "Pistolgrip Pump" into Kokane & 187um's "Don't Bite the Phunk", DJ Screw illustrates his uncanny knack for mind-bending blends...

Texas Rapps Flashback: DJ Screw with K-Rino & Z-Ro - The Game Goes On

Talk about an all-star collaboration! Recorded right around the untimely passing of DJ Screw in November of 2000, K-Rino of the South Park Coalition and Z-Ro of Guerilla Maab delivered the goods and then some on this one...

Chalie Boy - Ridin' Slabs Forever video

This is a nice summer-oriented remix of Chalie Boy's "Ridin' Slabs Forever" filmed in the country sticks of Hearne, Texas...

Gerald G - 512 Intro video

Austin's Gerald G continues to mine tracks from his prior mixtapes for video fodder. Here with the "512 Intro", Gerald takes us on a tour of his upbringing, leading us from East Austin to higher lyrical stratospheres...

Pacboi Tank - Back on my Grizzy video

Austin's Pacboi Tank rides with Above All Entertainment labelmate Kydd on a tangent a lil left-of-center from the Texas norm...

K-Rino & Dope-E - C.O.D. 2nd Edition album

Back in 1990, K-Rino and Dope-E of the South Park Coalition released an EP titled Cummin' Out Doggin'. Fast forward to 2011 and the same SPC duo has hit us with a full album titled C.O.D. 2nd Edition. In their own zone, K-Rino and Dope-E maintain a degree of thoughtful intensity that is lacking in much of today's candy-coated world of rap...

Texas Rapps Flashback: Z-Ro's Speak On It

Featured on Guerilla Maab's classic debut album Rise, "Speak On It" piositions Z-Ro as a solo act, pleading with his Maker to reserve a spot beyond the pearly gates for "even the lowest of the low". Amidst the elevated verses, Ro's interpolation of Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight" for the chorus is nothing short of other-worldly...

Texas Rapps Flashback: Lil Keke & Big Moe's Serious Smoke

It was 1997 when Lil Keke's groundbreaking Don't Mess Wit Texas album dropped. Among hit songs including "Southside" and "Still Pimpin Pens", Keke put Big Moe on the phone for an ode to herb titled "Serious Smoke". Moe's chorus here is as addictive as any blunt could be as Michael Watts adds to the sticky flavor with a thorough Swishahouse treatment...

Killa Cal Wayne Freestyle

I mean, what can be said about Killa Cal Wayne when it comes to having that special something when it comes to rapping. It doesn't get much more pure than this 5 minutes of rhyming over the Nas "Life's a Bitch" instrumental. This guy is simply killing the game right now...

Young Nick - Gone video

Austin's Young Nick aptly plays the fence between elevated boom-bap and grittier street tendencies. As both a producer and emcee, the Dove Springs product and member of the Guud collective lets loose on the agile tip...

Killa Cal Wayne - 48 Bars of Power

Some straight vicious spit from Houston's Killa Cal Wayne, taken from his most recent Headed to the Promised Land mixtape...

Texas Rapps Flashback: Bam

Houston's Bam came up in the 90's as a member of both the Killa Klan and the South Park Coalition. His 1999 album A Rough Z'aggin Bible yielded the following classic jam...

Ryno - East Side live video

Austin's Ryno has been missing in action as of late. In 2006, he released an album titled They Call Me 'No that impressed learned ears across the state. But since then, Ryno's biggest feature has been an actng role in Pimpin' Pen's "Lil Homie" video. The footage below comes from SXSW 2007 and to me it perfectly illustrates why we badly need this brother back in the game with a mic in his hand... 

Texas Rapps Flashback: Street Military & Z-Ro's Gangstaz Ball

Houston's Street Military was the very crew that gave Z-Ro his bearings as a tongue-twisting rapper. And in 2001, Ro joined Street Military and MJG for a lyrical throwdown that appeared on an album titled Steel Gangstaz...

Gerald G - Don't Need a Thing video

Austin's Gerald G fleshes out yet another introspective cut from his Mr. 512 mixtape...

Texas Rapps Flashback: DJ Screw's June 27th

This is it right here, the most famous of all the freestyles from hundreds upon hundreds of DJ Screw tapes. The reworked Kris Kross instrumental sets it off for the likes of Big Moe and Big Pokey to take lyrical flight... 

DJ Rapd Ric, Gerald G, Dorrough, Lil Boosie & Chalie Boy - Parking Lot Pimpin' video

Lil Boosie was truly on fire down here a couple years ago or so. Of course, now he's locked up and this video suffers just a tab bit because of it. But still, DJ Rapid Ric really knows how to do things up right on the professionalism...

Texas Rapps Flashback: Odd Squad's Fa Sho video

Wow, I didn't know until two days ago that this video even existed. I remember seeing the "I Can't See It" video back when it first dropped, but somehow this video for "Fa Sho" somehow passed me by...

Riff Raff - Larry Bird video

Here's Riff Raff representing the Northside of Houston, albeit rocking a Southside flow borrowed directly from the likes of Big Pokey and Lil Keke. Still though, Riff Raff delivers a few crafty lines and anyone who references Ernest Givens gets props from me. Plus, the DJ Lil Sprite "slowed-N-Chopped" version goes off...

Z-Ro - These Days video

Under the radar of many outside of the Gulf Coast region, Z-Ro drops classic songs that resonate deep within the heart of Texas. Kids memorize the lyrics to these songs like psalms and make videos for them as well... 

Propain - Say I Won't video

When he's not promoting his new steakhouse in Austin, Houston's still-reigning quarterback hero Vince Young is shining a light on his Hiram Clarke compadre Propain... 

Lil T, Killa Cal Wayne & Gutta - Show Y'all video

As I remember it, J. Prince of the Rap-A-Lot Records empire was the very one to coin the phrase "reality rap". On one hand, the term is a cop-out designed to excuse the promotion of rampant drug dealing, imprisonment, and death. On another hand, and this was Lil J's exact point, these are the things that are actually at work in the hood. So why blame anyone for merely wanting to document "reality"?

At any rate in 2011, Killa Cal Wayne has forcibly snatched the baton previously carried by the likes of Scarface and Z-Ro and continues to run cutthroat circles around the track of reality rap. From his base of 3rd Ward Houston, where few apologies exist, Killa Cal Wayne reminds us that yes, we still have a problem and no, the art of expressing the ground-level carnage has yet to run its course... 

Chalie Boy - G 'til I'm Dead video

Hearne's Chalie Boy just might qualify as the most soulful rapper in the game. His obvious gospel background lends him the leverage to put a world of feeling behind his lyrics. "G 'til I'm Dead" originally appeared on 2008's Return of the Versatyle Child mixtape with guest verses from Lil Boss and Killa Kyleon, while this solo version pops up on Chalie's The Grind Pays Off mixtape released earlier this year...

Texas Rapps Flashback: DJ Screw's Southside Groovin'

This H-Town classic came out in 2002, two years beyond DJ Screw's untimely passing, on a cd titled Sentimental Value. It featues Point Blank, Z-Ro, Big T, PSK-13, and SPM going for theirs on the lyrical tip... 

Lil J & Sertified - Bars of Death video

Lil J of the League of Extraordinary G'z and Sertified of Die Slow Entertainment do their best South Austin turf talk...

Riddlore? - Back Again

How many years of living in Texas does it take to become a "Texas artist"? Ah, what does it even matter? Riddlore? of the mighty Chillin VIllain Empire might still be aligned with kneeboarding a swell at Venice Beach, but really the same could be pulled off at Port Aransas, at least on a good day. But again, why am I even toying with this California compared to Texas jibber jabber? Just listen to the messages that drive Riddlore?'s raps, as they are fully universal in their quest to make you think above the matrix...  

Coughee Brothaz - Fresh Brew album

Houston's Coughee Brothaz return with a new album titled Fresh Brew. Centered around former Odd Squad members Rob Quest, Jugg Mugg, and Devin the Dude, the Coughee Brothaz retain that extra-soulful old school aesthetic that's always difficult to place an exacting finger upon, but oh so easy to blow an all-inclusive cloud of smoke at... 

League of Extraordinary G'z - Bully Basics video

Austin's League of Extraordinary G'z just wrapped up a full blown West Coast tour opening for Jackie Chain. They also just dropped their DJ Rapid Ric-concocted Concealed Weapons: Volume 3 mixtape...

Slim Thug, Big K.R.I.T. & J-Dawg - Coming From video

Slim Thug has been doing some quality collaborations as of late, this time joined by Big K.R.I.T. and J-Dawg for a nifty take on Gil Scott-Heron's "Delta Man"...

E-Man, Dougie D & K-Rino - Problems video

What, with all the attention lavished upon Z-Ro and Trae, Dougie D of Houston's Guerilla Maab always gets left out of the conversation. And that's a shame, because he can certainly tongue-flip with the best of them. Here Dougie is in all his glory, along with E-Man and K-Rino, addressing "all these fuckin' problems, potnas killin' potnas for dollars"... 

Slim Thug, Dre Day & J-Dawg - What Up video

On some Boss Hogg Outlawz steez, Slim Thugga is joined by up-and-comers Dre Day and J-Dawg for a relentless shout out to their fellow Houstonians...

Texas Rapps Flashback: Bavu's Play the Role

This was definitely a big one for Austin rap. Bavu had already been around for a minute, leading the weekly Hip Hop Humpday proceedings on 6th Street and such. For "Play the Role", which was released in 2003, Bavu teamed with Hydroponic Soundsystem out of Dallas and next thing you know, the song could be heard regularly on local radio. For the video, Bavu recruited the B-Boy City dancers and they duly set the whole thing off in an awesome direction, making it an instant public access television classic...  

Kydd Jones - Vibe 2 video

It ain't all Cadillacs and lean down here in Texas. We were big on Eric B and Rakim back in the day, De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest as well. And many Texas rappers choose to draw from such universal influence rather than from a more localized sound. Houston's K-Otix hit pay dirt a decade ago doing just that. Since then, Waco's Strange Fruit Project has enjoyed similar success breaking the stereotypical mold of what Texas rap is supposed to sound like. In the present tense, Austin's Kydd Jones follows the iconoclastic lead, putting a jazzy spin on his raps that never fail to captivate...  

Killa Kyleon - Soldier video

Houston's Killa Kyleon merks yet another Sade beat, as heard on his Candy-Paint--N-Texas Plates mixtape...

Z-Ro Freestyle

You don't have to be from Texas to know that there's Z-Ro and then there's the rest of rap...

Texas Rapps Flashback: Something Fresh

Before changing their name to Nemesis, Something Fresh put Dallas rap on the map by way of their "Oak Cliff" anthem circa 1987. Furthermore, the group's revolving team of deejays, DJ Snake, Big Al and Cassanova Rock, made rap radio viable in Dallas via their regular appearances on KNON's "All Hardy Def Party"...

Texas Rapps Flashback: Mr. Mike

Houston's Mr. Mike initially came up as a member of South Circle on Suave House Records. By 1996, he went solo and pretty much epitomized the lingering West Coast influence on Texas rap of the time...

Justice Allah - Bullsh8 video

Could the message of this song be any more perfectly timed? Justice Allah of The 144 Elite and the South Park Coalition says what really needs to be said in relation to the grand lies we are fed daily by establishment media sources...

Texas Rapps Flashback: Geto Boys on Yo! MTV Raps

In 1991, the Geto Boys exploded out of Houston with the release of their breakthrough single "Mind Playing Tricks On Me". So, Yo! MTV Raps of course had them on for the length of a full episode...

Gerald G ft. Black Mike & Da Ryno - Testimonies video

Austin's Gerald G drops a new video for a song taken from his Mr. 512 mixtape...

C-Note - Screw Story

Houston's C-Note of the Botany Boys recounts the story of DJ Screw and the SUC...