Assholes by Nature

Inglorious Basterds

12 things we learned about Houston rap in 2012.

The Top 10 Houston Music Stories of 2012

Looking back over the major music-related stories around Houston the past 11 and a half months, 2012 was light on the kind of headlines you'll usually see in a year-end "music scene" recap: Obituaries, arrests, venues closing down, malfeasance, bad behavior, that sort of thing. There was some of tha ... More >>

Trae, Z-Ro

Suspect Arrested In Fatal Shooting That Also Wounded Trae Tha Truth

Trae Tha Truth Releases Statement on Wednesday's ABN Shooting HPD Releases ABN Shooting Report: Poppa C Was Target Reports: ABN's Dinky D, Poppa C Shot Dead Outside Strip Club: A Houston Rap-Related Shooting Timeline Houston Police have arrested a suspect in the shooting that killed three pe ... More >>

Trae The Truth Injured And Coy Thompson, 23, Erica Rochelle Dotson, 30, and Carlos Durell Dorsey, 31, Dead: Bayou Body Count Nos. 84-86

A wild parking-lot shootout at a southwest side strip club left three people dead and popular rapper Trae the Truth injured, police say. Coy Thompson, 23, Erica Rochelle Dotson, 30, and Carlos Durell Dorsey, 31 were killed around 3:15 a.m. at the Diamond Club in the 9800 block of Westpark Drive. T ... More >>

HPD Releases ABN Shooting Report: Poppa C Was Target

The Houston Police Department released its report of the investigation into Wednesday morning's shooting outside two southwest Houston nightclubs that killed three people and wounded two others, including popular Houston rapper Trae tha Truth. According to the report, the shooting occurred around 3 ... More >>

Trae Tha Truth Releases Statement on Wednesday's ABN Shooting

Moments ago, Houston rapper Trae tha Truth released a statement about the shootings at the southwest Houston cabaret Diamond Club (formerly Scores) where he was wounded in the parking lot after performing a Juneteenth concert at the nearby Club Blue. One other person was wounded and three people wer ... More >>

Reports: ABN's Dinky D, Poppa C Shot Dead Outside Strip Club

See Rocks Off's timeline of other Houston rap-related shootings. According to several Twitter updates including by Bun B, two members of Houston rap crew Assholes by Nature, Dinky D and Poppa C, were shot and killed outside the Diamond Club on Westpark around 3 a.m. Wednesday. One other person was ... More >>

A Houston Rap-Related Shooting Timeline

Most people will tell you that Houston rappers are overall a peaceful bunch, but people do carry guns. No less a beloved figure than Pimp C was caught after he got into an altercation at the Foot Locker in Sharpstown Mall; supposedly a policeman saw a gun under Pimp's coat during the fight, followed ... More >>

Trae and Z-Ro

8 Hip Hop Collaborations We'd Like to See in 2012

If we learned anything from hip-hop collaborations in 2011, it's that beef ain't what's hot anymore. Gone are the days where an argument manifests itself into a 40-minute mixtape or a DVD. The shelf life for fresh rap beef is approximately 24 hours. Not even two days ago, Twitter was flooded with tw ... More >>

Z-Ro, Trae the Truth

Eat It: Houston Rappers Love to Write Songs About Eating

Photo by Chase Steely ​One thing Houston rappers are proficient in-besides rapping great-is eating well. Many of the more influential artists were/are big and fat: Fat Pat, Big Pokey, Big Moe, Big HAWK, Big Mello, and Big Steve. Even DJ Screw was a husky man. That's not to say that their wei ... More >>

Houston Rap, In The Most Graphic Possible Terms

Graphics by Shea Serrano​Here at Rocks Off, we have some very talented writers who think so far outside the box it's more like a Palma Square lidded wicker basket from Crate & Barrel. One of these is Shea Serrano, whose unorthodox interviewing style has caused many an Artist of the Week design ... More >>

Remember The Ballaticians' Full Course?

Houston's history is dotted with albums that, fairly or not, have been swept aside. We'll examine them here. Have an album that you think nobody knows about but should? Email sheaserrano@gmail.com. ​The Ballaticians Full Course (Self-released, 2010) The Ballaticians are a new-ish rap group. ... More >>

Pickin' on Nashville

Vince Gill centers himself through bluegrass and digs Miranda Lambert.

Saturday Night: Slim Thug, Z-Ro & J-Dawg At Arena Theatre

Photos by Marco Torres​Slim Thug, Z-Ro, J-Dawg Arena Theatre January 22, 2011 Houstonians from the Northside, Southside and everywhere in between gathered at the Arena Theatre on Saturday night to celebrate two kings. January 17 was Martin Luther King Day, and the 19th was Southwest-side rapp ... More >>

Trae, Z-Ro Turn Video Shoot Into ABN Reunion

Photos by Marco Torres​Recently, rumors about an impending reunion between Trae and Z-Ro began to populate the atmosphere. It seemed mostly like hogwash; though neither of them ever officially acknowledged a rift between the two, everyone pretty much understood that something had pushed the tw ... More >>

Top 10 Trae & Z-Ro Collaborations

​Trae and Z-Ro: The Hakeem Olajuwon/Clyde Drexler tandem of Houston hip-hop, if The Dream spoke with a deep voice and Drexler's face was frozen in a perpetual snarl. Arguably the best one-two punch Houston has ever witnessed, over the years these rapping cousins have connected on several slam- ... More >>

Out of the Box

Banned from KBXX 97.9, Trae tha Truth takes his case courtside.

Remember ABN's It Is What It Is?

Houston's history is dotted with albums that, fairly or un, have been swept aside. We'll examine them here. Have an album that you think nobody knows about but should? Email sheaserrano@gmail.com. Assholes By Nature It Is What It Is (Rap-A-Lot, 2008) ​A.B.N. is Z-Ro and Trae's unduly short-li ... More >>

"Hood Politician" Delo Chooses A Cabinet Of H-Town Rappers

The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place -lots of times, you're even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good- so once a week we're going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Have something you always wanted to ask a rapper? Email it to introducingliston@ ... More >>

Y'all Musta Forgot: Guerilla Maab's Rise

Houston's history is dotted with albums that, fairly or not, have been swept aside. We'll examine them here. Have an album that you think nobody knows about but should? Email sheaserrano@gmail.com. Guerilla Maab Rise (Resurrection Music Group, 1999) ​Guerilla Maab was a gangsta-rap quartet turned ... More >>

Five Spot: Trae's Brother Jay'Ton's Got It by Tha Ton Mixtape

Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and, sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. It's five videos and occasional cussing. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. ​ Since just about the oblivions, Jay'Ton, little brother to Trae, has ... More >>

It's Trae Day... and Everybody's Celebratin'

To commemorate the one-year anniversary of the City of Houston's proclamation of "Trae Day," the chairman and CEO of Houston's Assholes by Nature is throwing a giant block party from 3-9 p.m. in the parking lot of TSU Stadium at Cleburne and Tierwester in the Third Ward (or, appropriately enough, t ... More >>

Turning the Screw: All-Houston Edition with GT Garza, Trae Day, Trouble Sum, Jay'Ton, Paul Wall, Z-Ro, Letoya vs. Slim Thug, Coast, Z-Ro, Juan Gotti and More

Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: GT Garza, "52 Pick Up" (We've listened to a bunch of GT's stuff, but this remains to be the rawest thin ... More >>

Trae's Son Lil Jared Joins tha Family Business

This iced-out lil' playa is Lil Jared, 8-year-old son of Houston rapper and Assholes by Nature ringleader Trae tha Truth. By his own admission, Jared has been "wreckin' the mic ever since I was two," and even has his own adorable little Assholes by Nature chain. Although he's already appeare ... More >>

Making Sense of a Trying Year

Rap-A-Lot's J Prince Wins SEA Image Award

Five Spot: Five Reasons Not to Mess With Trae

Trae

Houston's "King of the Streets" doesn't mince words

Trae Cool

An underground legend teams up with Rap-A-Lot in a bid to break nationwide