Get Screwed

The top players of the Houston hip-hop game, including Bun B, Mike Jones and Slim Thug, have more than just their hometown and genre of music in common: They've all been screwed and chopped — in other words, mixed by the late, great DJ Screw, whose style was marked by beats that ooze like molasses and the slowing down of vocals into a resounding, relaxed groove, said to recreate the effect of mixing promethazine with codeine cough syrup. Screw also screwed and chopped R. Kelly and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and formed the rap assembly Screwed Up Click before his 2000 death due to a heart attack.

Screw's legacy will be celebrated at the first annual DJ Screwfest, featuring a who's who of Houston rappers, including Slim Thug, Bun B, Pimp C, DJ Michael "5000" Watts and the still-going Screwed Up Click. Proceeds go to the DJ Screw Foundation, which awards scholarships for music and audio engineering classes.
Sat., July 22, 10 a.m.