The Big Ups:: Houston, Texas

All right, after a lengthy hiatus, our relatively new section the Big Ups is back. Long story short, if I have the time on the weekend, I check the visitor list from our web tracking software and shout out someone's town. In the first edition I laid out the rules for giving out the big ups, but I've added a new one: your town needs a wiki entry in order to get a shout out from the hill. Might be unfair, but I'm not looking to do any painstaking research just to say what up to some small town in Lichtenstein. Sorry Uplands, Ontario, but this ruled you out today I'm afraid. Anyway, today is saying big up to Houston, Texas.

H-Town. Largest city in Texas and 4th largest city in the US. The home of mission control. 2nd only to New York in the number of Fortune 500 companies in one city. Home of the Rockets, Astros, and Texans. Clearly Houston has plenty going on for itself. However, when I think about Houston and music, I think only of hardcore southern hip hop. This may be unfair, for all I know the indie music scene in Houston could be bangin', but if so, it's bangin' off my radar. After all, Houston is the home of Rap-A-Lot records, the Geto Boys, the legendary DJ Screw (RIP), The Odd Squad (Devin The Dude's original group), Chamillionaire, jewelery salesman Paul Wall, UGK (Bun B & Pimp C), and our friend Z-Ro. That's quite a list, plus DJ Premier is originally from Houston, so what more do you need?

Anyway, here's a big up to Houston from your friends at the hill. What better way to celebrate than with DJ Screw's chopped & screwed version of Brandy's I Wanna Be Down. Hmmm, perhaps that's not quite it, how about Z-Ro's Battlefield which samples the Pat Benetar classic. That's better, but still not quite there. How about the International Players Anthem from UGK (f. Outkast)? Oh yes, that's got it.

MP3:: Brandy & DJ Screw - I Wanna Be Down

MP3:: Z-Ro - Battlefield f. Tanya Herron

MP3:: UGK - Int'l Players Anthem (I Choose You) f. OutKast