Texas Rapps at SXSW: The ‘90’s Edition

As a longtime Austin resident, the SXSW Music Conference has provided a gang of fun for me over the years. Here are some of my favorite SXSW memories related to Texas rap…

Blac Monks at Austin Opera House, 1994

The first all-rap SXSW event I ever remember attending happened at the old Austin Opera House in 1994. Among others, I really wanted to see the Blac Monks, who with 3-2 of the Convicts in the fold were making some noise out of Houston with an album on Rap-A-Lot. Beyond enjoying Blac Monks’ set, the thing that wound up sticking with me the most from that night was Bushwick Bill of the Geto Boys showing up and repeatedly running like a miniature wildman across the stage, through the crowded hall, between cars in the parking lot, anywhere that was everywhere…kind of a surreal moment to say the least. Also, I was excited that Rza of the Wu Tang Clan was in the house along with Prince Paul supporting their group of headliners, the Gravediggaz.   

Epatomed at Catfish Station, 1995

1995 was possibly my favorite SXSW rap-wise as thanks to organizer Andre Walker, the rap showcases focused on unsigned acts exclusively, many of which were seasoned natives to the Austin scene. On consecutive nights at the legendary Catfish Station, underground Texas rap unveiled its counter-point to the by-then typical gangsta pose. While sets by Houston’s K-Otix and Dallas’s 2 Headz n Dreadz, featuring a then-unknown Erykah Badu, would serve as launching pads to respective industry successes, it was Arlington’s Epatomed who of the bunch most struck my ear musically. Epatomed emcees Kasar and Saahir (RIP) were simply in a zone of rarified air that evening, which on the way home from 6^th Street that night got backed by their 3-song demo tape being every bit what I evidently wanted to hear over and over and over again for months on end.

Here's some live footage of 2 Headz n Dreadz from that time period...

Sociopath Left at Four Seasons, 1996

This is where current SXSW magnate Matt Sonzala really started to take the reigns on rap at SXSW and it culminated with his former Austin roommates Sociopath Left bringing down the house at the Four Seasons. Sociopath Left’s Jack Fiend had lunatic rap on lock long before Eminem ever ran with it and to boot, the group brought down their buddy Don Scavone from New York to do his own mini-set. As Scavone gets into his second song, this upstart rapper from the crowd starts heckling, so Scavone invites the guy on stage to battle. Scavone waits as the guy delivers a thoroughly wack verse, then Scavone just starts ripping the guy verbally, like Andrew Dice Clay would if he rapped. The guy starts getting so mad that Scavone is serving him that he tries to lunge at Scavone as if he’s going to violently chest-bump him. And without skipping a beat on his rhyme, Scavone rips his jacket off, revealing a bulging bullet-proof vest that lunging-guy basically smushed his face on. Upon extreme embarrassment, the heckler promptly faded back into obscurity as the crowd re-focused on the continuation of Scavone’s set. The theatrics of it were nothing short of priceless.