What do you think?
Rate this book
DJ Screw: A Life in Slow Revolution
DJ Screw, a.k.a. Robert Earl Davis Jr., changed rap and hip-hop forever. In the 1990s, in a spare room of his Houston home, he developed a revolutionary mixing technique known as chopped and screwed. Spinning two copies of a record, Screw would “chop” in new rhythms, bring in local rappers to freestyle over the tracks, and slow the recording down on tape. Soon Houstonians were lining up to buy his cassettes—he could sell thousands in a single day. Fans drove around town blasting his music, a sound that came to define the city’s burgeoning and innovative rap culture. June 27 has become an unofficial city holiday, inspired by a legendary mix Screw made on that date.
Lance Scott Walker has interviewed nearly everyone who knew Screw, from childhood friends to collaborators to aficionados who evangelized Screw’s tapes—millions of which made their way around the globe—as well as the New York rap moguls who honored him. Walker brings these voices together with captivating details of Screw’s craft and his world. More than the story of one man, DJ Screw is a history of the Houston scene as it came of age, full of vibrant moments and characters. But none can top Screw himself, a pioneer whose mystique has only grown in the two decades since his death.
Lance Scott Walker has interviewed nearly everyone who knew Screw, from childhood friends to collaborators to aficionados who evangelized Screw’s tapes—millions of which made their way around the globe—as well as the New York rap moguls who honored him. Walker brings these voices together with captivating details of Screw’s craft and his world. More than the story of one man, DJ Screw is a history of the Houston scene as it came of age, full of vibrant moments and characters. But none can top Screw himself, a pioneer whose mystique has only grown in the two decades since his death.
283 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 17, 2022
13 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 20, 2022
As a casual fan of chopped and screwed music, I only had a vague idea of who DJ Screw was - mainly through the various references made to his legacy by contemporary rappers. While DJ Screw's influence in hip-hop has persisted long after his untimely death, the general public (myself included) knows very little of his story.
Walker's book does an excellent job of humanizing this enigmatic yet omnipotent icon in rap history, weaving in anecdotes from his peers, collaborators, and family members. Aside from his contributions to Houston's underground (and eventually mainstream) rap scene; we learn about DJ Screw as a brother, a son, a partner, and a friend. One of my favorite passages from the book details how DJ Screw earned his moniker - using a screwdriver to scratch the grooves of records that he didn't like.
The journalistic integrity with which Walker approaches telling this story really shines, situating DJ Screw's ascendance to hip-hop stardom within Houston's musical traditions and history. We learn about the various institutions and their influence on DJ Screw from the record stores he frequented to the outsized importance of Houston's car culture on his music. Not only is it a story about the man who put Houston on the map, but about the city that molded him as well.
My only criticism is that at times the anecdotes from the various people who knew DJ Screw personally don't always add to Walker's text and tend to detract from its overall cohesiveness.
That being said I highly recommend this to anyone who has an interest in Houston's rap scene or DJ Screw himself. I enjoyed every minute of this book.
Long Live Screw.
Walker's book does an excellent job of humanizing this enigmatic yet omnipotent icon in rap history, weaving in anecdotes from his peers, collaborators, and family members. Aside from his contributions to Houston's underground (and eventually mainstream) rap scene; we learn about DJ Screw as a brother, a son, a partner, and a friend. One of my favorite passages from the book details how DJ Screw earned his moniker - using a screwdriver to scratch the grooves of records that he didn't like.
The journalistic integrity with which Walker approaches telling this story really shines, situating DJ Screw's ascendance to hip-hop stardom within Houston's musical traditions and history. We learn about the various institutions and their influence on DJ Screw from the record stores he frequented to the outsized importance of Houston's car culture on his music. Not only is it a story about the man who put Houston on the map, but about the city that molded him as well.
My only criticism is that at times the anecdotes from the various people who knew DJ Screw personally don't always add to Walker's text and tend to detract from its overall cohesiveness.
That being said I highly recommend this to anyone who has an interest in Houston's rap scene or DJ Screw himself. I enjoyed every minute of this book.
Long Live Screw.
Displaying 1 of 1 review