DJ Screw: His Hands Still Do the Talking

On the look-out for the DJ Screw sound of chopped and screwed remixes of songs? The screwed remixes, the delightful likes of "U Don't Work, U Don't Eat", "Inside Lookin Out", "All the Way to the Top", and the hailed "Freestyle-Gulf Coast". The sound is distinctly the slowed down sound of life's stings and lucky breaks.

DJ Screw, real name Robert Earl Davies, Jr., was born during the infancy of the hip-hop culture in the Bronx, and at the age of 13, was already having his hands full with the vinyl records, testing sounds as he crabbed or cued records until finally, he brought the screwed sound to a higher level.

The style of chopping music was not originally his. It was already around in the late 80's, but he revolutionalized the style by playing with the pitch of the song and slowing it down.

Robert Earl Davies, Jr. became an icon of the hip-hop generation when he gave the genre prominence with his distinctive screwing or slowing down basic cuts of song tracks and remixing them to produce a new rap or hip-hop sound. A new sound revolution was born in the 90s - the nauseous and hallucinogenic sound that was mesmerizing.

Chopping and screwing with a song means slowing down the tempo and pitch of the song to an almost nauseous and hallucinogenic state. This was really big in hip-hop, and still is, especially in Houston, Texas, were it originated.

Robert Earl Davies, Jr. started his career in hip-hop in his early teens. When he was just 13 years old, he was already experimenting with hip-hop records on his turntable. Then he moved to Houston to pursue his career in hip-hop. When he was in the capital of southern hip-hop, which was Houston, he collaborated with local artists to produce his screwed up tapes.

His collaboration with well known local artists in Houston produced what will ultimately be known as the "Screwed Up Click." Although his releases were mostly underground, he did five successful albums of chopped and mixed music in 1995 up to 1999.

Most of the big names in the hip-hop industry today owe much of their success to the legendary DJ Screw. Popular southern artists like Chamillionare and Paul Wall collaborated with him in the start of their careers, and started to gain recognition because of the popularity of chopped and screwed music.

At the height of his success in hip-hop music industry, he was taken away from us at the early age of thirty. Robert Earl Davies Jr. a.k.a. DJ Screw died of codeine overdose on November of 2000. Codeine mixed with cough syrup was a popular drug of choice in the south; this young DJ was a known advocate of codeine or "syrup".

Despite of his early demise, his music is still recognized in the industry today. Similar artists in the south carry on his legacy of chopping and screwing records. Most, if not all major hip-hop labels has released at least one album dedicated to chopped and screwed music of southern hip-hop.

DJ Screw's music is still available today. Screwed Up Records and Tapes in Houston have a collection of his records from his early days until up to the end of his legendary career. Numerous websites on the web also pays tribute to the hip-hop icon. You can also check out dozens and dozens of DJ Screw's music and videos of his interviews at MyDeejaySpace.com.

Pure raw talent and the love of DJ music paved the way for DJ Screw's destiny. Listen to his music and fall into a trance - that's how it should be.