DJ Screw
Robert Earl Davis Jr., known as DJ Screw, pioneered the 'chopped and screwed' technique in Houston in the early 1990s — slowing records down and manipulating the turntable to create a woozy, syrupy sound inseparable from the city's rap scene. He founded the Screwed Up Click and released hundreds of mixtapes before his death in 2000, and his slowed-down aesthetic went on to shape cloud rap, chillwave, and vaporwave production far beyond Houston.
the sound in question
1996
June 27DJ Screw
we haven’t charted DJ Screw yet
this stretch of the river isn’t mapped. we trace the watershed one artist at a time — and we’re always heading further upstream.