Dante Higgins

The Five Best Houston Rap Songs So Far This Year

Feel that sweeping change? That's May upon us. Which means I'll officially consider myself old as hell, despite being a fresh 25. Yes, we're now one-third of the way through 2013, and Houston rap has never looked as beautiful as it does now. Okay, maybe when she was the darling of everyone's eye som ... More >>

Last Night: Dante Higgins at Warehouse Live

Dante Higgins, Undergravity, etc. Warehouse Live January 3, 2013 New Year's resolutions are all about making a point to do something your lazy ass should have been doing for years already. For me, that means digging into some of the "New Houston" rap artists that I've been mostly ignoring since the ... More >>

Houston's Best Underground Rap Tapes of 2012, Most Assuredly (Pt. 1)

I'd guess that nearly all of the time, the order of any list is impacted considerably by external, unrelated, completely unimportant factors (to deny that seems entirely senseless). To wit, empirical evidence: Recently, I posted a message on Twitter that said I'd be eating at a restaurant near my ho ... More >>

Texans-Patriots: The 10 Most Disgusted, Disappointed Rapper Tweets

Houston has a professional football team. That professional football team is called the Houston Texans. A lot of people like them. Some of those people are rappers. The Internet has several forms of social media. One of those forms of media is called Twitter. A lot of people use it. Some of them are ... More >>

Upcoming: Fleetwood Mac, Alt-J, Lucinda Williams, Eels, Lindsey Stirling, Etc.

Alt-J: Sun., March 10, 8 p.m., $15/$17. Fitzgerald's, 2706 White Oak, Houston. thelastplaceyoulook: With Another Run, Recovery Room., Fri., Dec. 21, 8 p.m., $5. Warehouse Live, 813 St. Emanuel, Houston. Big Gigantic: Fri., March 1, 8 p.m., $20/$22. House of Blues, 1204 Caroline, Houston. Billy Jo ... More >>

Paul McCartney's Wonderful, Bizarre McCartney II

Here Are Some Underground Rapper T-Shirts That Someone Should Make

That's Doughbeezy. You probably know that. Or maybe you don't. If you don't, you (probably) will eventually. He's a hard worker, and a very good rapper. So we made that shirt design. (The writing underneath is a signature line of his, obvs.) Someone please use it to make an actual shirt. And after ... More >>

Texans-Bears: The 10 Best Rapper Tweets

Houston has a professional football team, called the Houston Texans. A lot of people like them; some are rappers. The Internet has several forms of social media; one is called Twitter. A lot of people use it. Some of them are rappers. Like last week and every other week prior, we perused Twitter d ... More >>

This Week In New Houston Rap: Dante Higgins, hasHBrown, Hollywood FLOSS

It's almost Thanksgiving time. Election season has ended, and your bellies and ears are itching to pull in more new music before the end of the year. Frankly, Houston's rap contingent has been putting out mixtapes and singles to the point where if you happen to sleep one day, you might miss six of t ... More >>

Undergravity Goes Extra-Funky On Enjoyable New Single

"We are choosing to up the funk." -- Mac Undergravity is an anachronistic rap duo maybe most easy to appreciate when calibrated within the context of last year's positively perfect summer record "Southside Summertime" with Dante Higgins. Where most (all?) new-era Houston rap acts have either a) ig ... More >>

Empirical Research: Examining the League of Extraordinary Gz

There was a show at Jet Lounge last night. I wanted to go for a three reasons: 1. Local rapper D. Risha was performing. He has a brilliant song called "Ebonics" that is a manuscript on Houston slang and I was hoping it'd send whatever crowd was watching him perform it into fits; it'd have been fun ... More >>

Rest of the Best: Houston's Top 8 Places to See a Local Act

Year after year after year, Houston nurtures and cultivates its music scene. It has grown into substantial force, arguably as powerful and diverse as it's ever been, with legitimate talent in just about every branch or genre. Accordingly, the city is flush with venues to see said talent, be it wel ... More >>

Last Night: Dante Higgins At Warehouse Live

Dante Higgins Warehouse Live March 6, 2012 In the grand scheme of things, any time an artist is holding an album-release concert you know the crowd will be eating out of the palm of his hand while dismissing the offers from everyone else. You know this, I know this. There's no way around it. For a ... More >>

The Dante Higgins Story

The winner of last year's Houston Press Best Lyricist award preps his first album.

The 25 Best Rap Albums from Houston's Glorious 2011

​Counting down the 25 best local rap albums of ANY year is less than easy. Counting them down for this year, the most energetic, frenzied year for Houston rap since 2005, it is more than impossible. Rather: WAS more than impossible. After countless at-length conversations with those that know ... More >>

Aftermath: Our Favorite Shows of 2011

Photo By Craig HlavatyRex's War Face: The crowd's at June's Free Press Summer Fest were feral and friendly. ​This week we asked our pool of Rocks Off writers what their favorite shows of 2011 were, the ones that brought joy to their hearts to attend and helped them make magic with a keyboard h ... More >>

Another Perspective

My top ten local albums of 2011.

Thanks, Houston

What we appreciate most this year.

What We Are Thankful For This Year

Like most years, 2011 has been...complicated. We've heard some great music, seen some killer shows and lost some amazing people. We also nearly lost one of our own. That's how it goes in this world and it's why the things we are thankful for take on added meaning as the year begins to wind down. Th ... More >>

Last Night: The NiceGuys, Propain, John Dew and Youngest N Charge at Warehouse Live

Warehouse Live's studio was filled with Houston hip-hop heads on a brisk November night. Women were clad in skin-tight leggings with boots and the men bundled up in leather jackets and hoodies. The host for the evening was MC Kane, who normally MC's hip-hop clubs in the city. He gave the concert a ... More >>

Rap Boom Reload: Thanks and So Forth

​Every time somebody writes a cover story, there's an accompanying blog post that goes with it, giving some sort of back story or little anecdote or whatever. That's what this is. This week, there will be, including the sidebar, a 4,000-word story in the paper tying what happened with Housto ... More >>

Distant Early Warning: The Civil Wars, Briokids, Otenki, The Kills, Titan Blood

​August Burns Red, Silverstein: Wed., Jan. 25. House of Blues. B L A C K I E, LIMB: Fri., Nov. 18. Notsuoh. Better Than Ezra, Dash Rip Rock: Thu., Dec. 29. House of Blues. Blue October: Sat., Dec. 31. House of Blues. Bob Schneider: Sat., Nov. 26. House of Blues. Briokids, Texas Dub: Sat., ... More >>

Houston Rap's Offensive Starting Lineup

​Earlier this week, the defensive starters for the Houston rap football team were announced. They are a surly, nasty, potentially deadly bunch. They play hard and fast and with abandon. Today, the offensive starters are announced. Were we picking rappers from Houston from any time period (sa ... More >>

Twin Four-Year-Olds Discuss Music, Existentialism

​Two furious, monstrously wonderful boys, whom we occasionally consider punching, live in our home. They have been there for four years now, and have spent a majority of their days doing and saying ridiculous things. One time, one of them pulled a poop out of the toilet. One time, one of the ... More >>

If Not Rapper, What Job Would You Want To Have?

Some rappers happen to be thoughtful, intelligent people. Every Monday that isn't a national holiday Rocks Off will have some of them hear discussing issues relevant to their culture. Photo illustration by John Seaborn Gray​This Week's Panel: Bun B, Fat Tony, Preemo, Chingo Bling, Kane, Thu ... More >>

Four More Years

After 1,661 days (and counting) of immersion in the Houston music scene, a look back.

Undergravity's Feel-Good Summer Hit & Other DIY Rap News

3-2-1 for the week in Houston rap: #SouthsideSummertime It seems fair to say that, considering the video now, Undergravity's "Southside Summertime" is the best Houston summer song since Mike Jones' "Still Tippin'" in 2004. It is an absolutely overachieving accomplishment by the duo and guest Da ... More >>

Houston Rappers Jump On Planking Craze

Uzoy, our eighth-place planking finisher.​So "planking" is an actual thing now, it appears. Great. Here's how you plank: Lie flat on something. Take a picture of it. Post it on the Internet. Here's how you plank in Houston: Lie flat on something. Take a picture of it. Send it to Slim Thug ... More >>

Last Night: Hip-Hop Fest 2 At Midtown Lounge

Photos by Shea SerranoTawn P (left) and Dante Higgins​Hip-Hop Fest 2 feat. Tawn P, Undergravity, Dante Higgins Midtown Lounge June 9, 2011 11:09 p.m.: Son. Of. A. Bitch. We've been trying to see Tawn P live for, like, two months and have missed her every single time. She apparently just finis ... More >>

Friday Night: Yelawolf & Many Guests At Warehouse Live

Photos by Marco TorresTrae Tha Truth and Yelawolf​Yelawolf, Bun B, Trae Tha Truth, Doughbeezy, Dante Higgins, Gerald Walker & Cardo Warehouse Live April 29, 2011 10:54 p.m.: Let's do this first this time. Here's the thing about Yelawolf, and you may have noticed this already, but: He's a rapp ... More >>

Remember Doughbeezy's Reggie Bush and Kool-Aid?

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. ​Doughbeezy Reggie Bush and Kool-Aid (Self-released, 2010) Doughbeezy is, at the moment, one ... More >>

Remember Tawn P's The Wake Up Kiss?

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. ​Tawn-P The Wake Up Kiss (self-released, 2011) It feels a bit like Tawn P, a teeny-tiny fire ... More >>

The 2011 Houston Underground Rap Awards, Part 1

The Houston underground rap scene is Delo's for the taking... for now.​Going in, everybody understood that, regarding underground rap in Houston, 2011 was going to be all sorts of reckless. There were just too many people doing interesting things for it not to be mayhem. And thus far, it's mos ... More >>

Last Night: Best Rapper In Texas March Finale At Midtown Lounge

Photos by Larami CulbertsonDelo​Best Rapper In Texas March finale Midtown Lounge March 17, 2011 10:38 p.m.: Tonight is the March finale of the Best Rapper in Texas competition, a now monthly event that takes place in two segments. Rappers sign up, work their way through a preliminary and then ... More >>

Last Night: Dante Higgins Mixtape Release At Midtown Lounge

Photos by Larami CulbertsonDante Higgins​Dante Higgins, Doughbeezy, The Monster, Delo, O.N.E., Overdose, Leo Solomon Midtown Lounge February 16, 2011 10:11 p.m.: Walking in, Doughbeezy and The Monster are out front saying things into a video camera. Those two run together apparently, which is ... More >>

Which Houston Rappers Guessed Sunday's Super Bowl Score?

Some rappers happen to be thoughtful, intelligent people. Every Monday that isn't a national holiday, Rocks Off will have some of them here discussing issues relevant to their culture. Photo illustration by John Seaborn Gray​This Week's Panel: Bun B, Z-Ro, Lil Flip, Michael "5000" Watts, Riq ... More >>

Remember Dee Wreck's Allow Me To Re-Introduce Myself?

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. ​Dee Wreck Allow Me To Re-Introduce Myself (Self-released, 2010) We weren't planning on runnin ... More >>

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 w ... More >>

Remember Dante Higgins' School Boy Music?

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. ​Dante Higgins School Boy Music (Self-released, 2010) Dante Higgins is a baby-faced college kid ... More >>

The New Houston Collective* Picks Its Top Five Rappers

*Ed. Note: "New Houston Collective" is (as far as we know) a term coined by our own Shea Serrano to refer to the current wave of Houston rappers who have little interest in syrup, candy paint, wood grain, etc. Some rappers happen to be thoughtful, intelligent people. Every Monday that isn't a natio ... More >>

H-Town's Underground Hip-Hop Scene Rises with Fetti's Commitment To Catching Every Moment On Camera

​So when a man beats you to your own video shoot, there's a problem. That's how we really took notice of 34-year-old Mikell Limbrick, the Trinity Gardens representer known to the streets as Fetti. When we filmed the Houston Press Mic Pass (now in its final stage of editing), which he got no invita ... More >>