DJ Screw

About

DJ Screw, born Robert Earl Davis, Jr. (July 20, 1971 – November 16, 2000), was a central figure in the Houston hip hop scene. His innovation included the trademark technique of slowing down the basic tracks of a cut when he remixed it. He was the main mix tape mixer for the huge Screwed Up Click. He was born in Bastrop, Texas to Robert Earl Davis, Sr. DJ Screw had lived in Smithville, Houston, and Los Angeles; at one point his father took him to Houston in order to keep him from trouble. There DJ Screw lived in a working class, mostly African American neighborhood near Hobby Airport described by Michael Hall of Texas Monthly as “hard-edged.”DJ Screw dropped out of Sterling High School during his 10th grade year and focused on music. He began deejaying at age 13, and started his trademark slowed down mixes in 1984. During the early 1990s, he invited some of Houston’s most renowned rappers from the south side of the city to flow on his Screw tapes. This eventually led to the formation of the Screwed Up Click. What originally was only a fad of Houston, Chopped and Screwed music started getting more widespread attention with the introduction of p2p programs such as Napster in the lat…