Now I know what some of you are thinking…”The Purple Tape” is only Built for Cuban Links. Those three words are reserved for Raekwon The Chef, Ghostface Killah and any other Wu affiliates that may have been features on his classic debut album. However, if you’re a music nerd like myself and are reading this, then I would hope that you understand that there is another connotation that is associated with the color purple. The moment you press play it will become abundantly clear that The Purple Tape is an ode to the “Chopped and Screwed” subculture of Hip-Hop.
Since the early 1990’s Robert Earl Davis Jr. best known as “DJ Screw” pioneered the technique of slowing down the tempo of popular hip-hop songs of the time. He achieved this sound by slowing tracks to 60 and 70 quarter note beats per minute. Once the optimal tempo was reached, he would then begin to apply record scratching, and stop-time effects. This would become known nationally as “Chopping” or “Screwed Up Music”. DJ Screw single-handedly created a genre and a legacy that lives on till this day.
After his initial creation, other DJ’s in the Houston area would soon adopt the style and created their own chopped versions of songs throughout the region. DJ Michael “5000” Watts emerged with his Swishahouse team along with OG Ron C with The Chopstars. Together Michael Watts and Ron C would form Swishahouse records and launch the careers of artists like Chamillionaire, Mike Jones, Paul Wall, Slim Thug. Still on the Southside of Houston, DJ Screw had “The Screwed Up Click”, a collective which included the likes of Lil Keke, Trae Tha Truth, Z-Ro, Big Moe, Fat Pat, Big Pokey, Big Hawk, Big Mello and a few others.
The three DJ’s would continue to cultivate the sound until DJ Screw’s untimely death in November 16th, 2000. Since then, the sound created by Screw has managed to reach national appeal while still maintaining its sub genre classification. Unfortunately the dark side of the music is the forefront of the drug epidemic that is currently plaguing the country. The abuse has reached critical mass in the past 5 years with the death of other Hip-Hop artists, Most notably Pimp C, Big Moe and Fredo Santana. Admittedly these deaths were not entirely related to the drug but its use did contribute. Another notable artist Lil Wayne who openly discussed the drug in his music was reportedly hospitalized for seizures after repeated Drank abuse.
Ironically DJ Screw himself denounced the use of Drank as it was not the ingredient that helped him to create the sound. It was merely a recreational vice that grew in popularity at the same time as the music. In ending, the legacy that DJ Screw left continues to be upheld by the aforementioned Chop DJ’s and a host of others throughout the country. November 16th will mark the 20th anniversary of DJ Screw’s death and I have no doubts that there will be a major celebration in Houston, Texas and throughout the world. Long Live DJ Screw, Long Live Chopped and Screwed Music…NahImsayin?!
RapNerdLeeb 