Chopped and screwed
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Chopped and screwed | |
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Stylistic origins |
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Cultural origins | Early 1990s, |
Subgenres | |
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Regional scenes | |
Houston and Longview, Texas | |
Other topics | |
Codeine |
Chopped and screwed (also called screwed and chopped or slowed and throwed) is a music genre and technique of
History
1990: Creation
Preceding the late 1990s, most
1991–2000: Rise to popularity and death of DJ Screw
"[DJ Screw] strung together rap singles and vocals from local and other artists, all of which he manipulated and persuaded to slow down the beat to a crawl and the vocals to a torpid drawl. He also chopped up the lyrics to create new meanings, warped and filtered the voices and added his own exhortations to the music's regional audience, mostly just using turntables and a microphone."
In Houston, between 1991 and 1992, there was a notable increase in the use of
In the mid-1990s, chopped and screwed music started to move to the north side of Houston by way of DJ
On November 16, 2000, DJ Screw was found dead in the bathroom of his music studio. The autopsy report later revealed that Screw died from a combination of codeine, Valium, PCP.[7]
2000–present: Expansion and development
Following the death of DJ Screw, his musical influence spread all over the southern United States.[8] Later in 2000, the Memphis-based group Three 6 Mafia came out with their song "Sippin' on Some Syrup". The song debuted as a minor hit but later became one of Three 6 Mafia's most popular songs.
The 2007 documentary film Screwed in Houston details the history of the Houston rap scene and the influence of the chopped and screwed subculture on Houston hip hop. In 2011, University of Houston Libraries acquired over 1,000 albums owned by DJ Screw. Some of the albums were part of an exhibit in early 2012 and, along with the rest, went available for research in 2013.[9]
As of to date, the chopped and screwed music genre has been added to all forms of streaming services including
The Chopstars/ChopNotSlop
Created by Swishahouse Records Co-founder
as a creative collaborator.Stylistic developments
Future screw and lean house
In the mid-2010s, producers on SoundCloud began experimenting with fusing chopped and screwed music and EDM. It has since developed into subgenres such as "future screw and lean house".[11]
Slowed and reverb
Slowed and reverb | |
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Other names |
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Stylistic origins |
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Slowed and reverb (stylized as "slowed + reverb") is a technique of remixing and a subgenre, derived from chopped and screwed hip-hop[12] and vaporwave,[13] which involves slowing down and adding reverb to a previously existing song, often created by using digital audio editors such as Audacity. The technique originated in 2017, when Houston-based producer Jarylun Moore (known online as slater!), having been inspired by DJ Screw, began uploading remixes of popular songs using the technique to YouTube. The first of these—a remix of Lil Uzi Vert's song "20 Min"—earned over one million views on the platform in under two months, eventually earning over four million views before being taken down. The style became especially popular on YouTube, where it became common to play remixes over looping clips from retrofuturistic anime scenes.[14] Other notable producers in this sub-genre include wretchshop (also known as ciki 8k), rum world, Aestheticg, imlonely, Chovies, slerb as well as streliz.[citation needed]
Slowed and reverb remixes were also uploaded to
Remixes using the technique also became popular on the video-sharing service TikTok.[16] However, they became controversial on social media in mid-2020 after a viral video posted to TikTok failed to attribute the creation of slowed and reverb to chopped and screwed, causing users to brand slowed and reverb a "gentrified" version of chopped and screwed.[17] For the Houston Chronicle, Shelby Stewart wrote, "Give DJ Screw his flowers. Slowed + reverb is a poor imitation of what chopped and screwed music is."[18]
See also
References
- ^ a b c Patel, Joseph. "Chopped And Screwed: A History". MTVNews.com. Archived from the original on March 11, 2007. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
Of course, it wasn't just the slower pace of Southern life that was simpatico with chopped and screwed music. It was also the drug culture springing up in Houston at the time—specifically, the one centering on the consumption of the prescription cough syrup Promethazine, which includes codeine. The elixir goes by a number of names—syrup, drank, Texas tea—and its depressant qualities were the catalyst to an illicit subculture built around its abuse and the lethargic beats of chopped and screwed.
- ^ Washington, Jesse (January 18, 2001). "Life in the Slow Lane". Houston Press. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
- ^ "The Slow Life and Fast Death of DJ Screw". Texas Monthly. January 21, 2013. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
- ^ Allah, Bilal (November 1995). "DJ Screw: Givin' It to Ya Slow". Rap Pages. Larry Flynt Publications. p. 84. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
- ^ "DJ Screw Soldier's United For cash Documentary". amazon.com. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
- ^ Sauce Walka reflects on North Houston vs South Houston beef, archived from the original on December 13, 2021, retrieved April 28, 2020
- ^ Allah, Sha Be (November 16, 2021). "Today In Hip Hop History: Houston Legend DJ Screw Passed Away 21 Years Ago - The Source". Retrieved December 12, 2023.
- ^ Mininger, Dylan (March 31, 2019). "Behind the scenes of chopped and screwed music". Driftwood.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 7, 2012. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Mixtape #1 (Verses) [Screwed & Chopped] by The Network & Pollie Pop, September 26, 2017, retrieved April 28, 2020
- ^ Figlerski, Ross (March 3, 2015). "Future Screw: The Internet's Version of Houston's Chopped and Screwed". Green Label. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
- ^ a b Watson, Elijah C. (November 2020). "Lo-Fi Hip-Hop Has Become One Of The Internet's Most Popular Subgenres; Is Slowed & Reverb Next?". Okayplayer. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
- WECB (Emerson College). Retrieved July 26, 2023.
- ^ Cush, Andy (April 7, 2020). "How Slowed + Reverb Remixes Became the Melancholy Heart of Music YouTube". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
- ^ Gogarty, Josiah (March 18, 2020). "There's a Reason Spotify Is Filled With Fake Podcasts of Bootleg Songs". Vice. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
- ^ Elfakir, Sami (October 30, 2020). "Slowed + reverb, remix à pleurer". Libération (in French). Retrieved December 7, 2020.
- ^ Jefferson, J'na (August 14, 2020). "DJ Screw's Legacy Is Being Celebrated After TikTok Teens Tried Gentrifying His 'Chopped and Screwed' Style". The Root. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
- ^ Stewart, Shelby (August 13, 2020). "'Slowed + Reverb' is just chopped & screwed gentrified". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved December 7, 2020.