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H-Town, Meet Roel Osteen; You Already Know Him

In this edition of The Mailbag - which, FYI, is currently the most popular semi-regular blog post dedicated to championing underground Houston rap on the planet - we've got music from a guy who isn't necessarily an underground artist, offer up ideas for nicknames for two acts and imply that we're smarter than you on several occasions for you not knowing about semi-obscure artists. Here we go.

GT Mayne's newest single, "Hold of Me," which features Dallas Blocker and Z-Ro, is a polished, poppy* evolution from 2009's "H.O.U.S.T.O.N." You're more than justified if you feel the need to stand up and two-step while you're listening to it.

*Poppy is a relative term here, as it always is when one is describing anything that Roel Osteen** has his fingerprints on.

**Z-Ro's new nickname.

Kyle Hubbard, Thurogood Wordsmith and young Brad Gilmore recently teamed up to form The Ritz (now unofficially known as White Slaughterhouse). The politely titled

"Shit I'm On"

"Shit I'm On"

is their first release. It has an immediate chemistry, with Gilmore's shimmering flow serving nicely as the lead-off for Hubbard's hollowed-out howl and Thuro's gurgly mayhem.

Good stuff, but more important subplot is this: How long will it be until The Ritz teams up with the Gutta Mamis to produce the end all, be all white/black rap track?

Let's go ahead and lump all of the white rappers together just for convenience's sake: Here's the cerebral "Hell's Kitchen" from Bastard, That Purple. Listen to this only during the day, and only in the company of others. Listening to it under any other circumstances will almost certainly result in dementia.

Relative unknown Yung Zavey takes a swing at Wayne's "6'7'" beat and does an admirable job. ("It's kinda like I'm overweight 'cause I will never see defeat.") Our favorite part of the video: The tiny motocross kid in the background at intermittent parts. More to come from Zavey, for certain.

Delo quietly checks in to crush another soul sample before slipping out the back door before everyone can give him high-fives for doing so:

"P's and Q's"

"P's and Q's"

For the second week in a row, Authentic Snoopy slips into The Mailbag with

"Hello,"

"Hello,"

a buzz saw that ties together choppy guitars and references to peanuts, addiction and a cavalier business plan. Which reminds us...

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Shea Serrano