chopped and screwed

Slowing down a song to a furneral pace and repeating certain points of the songs to create a double-up effect. Chopped and Screwed music originated in the early 1990's from legendary DJ Screw, the godfather of Screwed Music, who perfected the art of slowing down one record on one turntable and then having the same record on another turntable at a delay so as create a repetition. DJ Screw had his own label, Screwed Up Records, and own group, Screwed Up Click. DJ Screw suddenly passed away in November 2000 from heart failure which was attributed to drinking prescription cough syrup. This cough "syrup" was popularized in in late 2000 by Three 6 Mafia with "Sippin on Some Syrup". The syrup claimed to help become infused in the Chopped and Screwed music. They syrup slowed down motor skills and was directed related to Chopped and Screwed music.

DJ Michael "5000" Watts caught onto the Chopped and Screwed method in 1995. He started his own label, Swishahouse. It wasn't until the 2000's, that DJ Michael Watts gained some fame. He signed Slim Thug, Paul Wall, Khamillionaire, Mike Jones, and Magnificient to the Swishahouse label. Countless Chopped and Screwed mixtapes of big hit radio songs were slowed down. Along with big names involving themselves on the mixtapes, the southern rap style from Houston was on the verge of blowing up by 2003. Late 2003, Three 6 Mafia's "Da Unbreakables" was remixed by Watts. It was a sure hit due to Three 6 Mafia's infectious production from the DJ Paul and Juicy J. Once the 2 worlds of Three 6 Mafia's crunk music and the Chopped and Screwed music collided, countless ears started to listen what the city of Houston had to say.

In mid-2004, Mike Jones, Slim Thug, and Paul Wall teamed up on a compilation CD from Watts called "The Day Hell Broke Loose Pt. 2". The song was entitled, "Still Tippin". The regualar version of the song became a major hit commercially. What people did not know was that a Chopped and Screwed version was making it way through the stores and on the Internet. A video was also made for the slowed down version. Major airplay came to both version of the song. The song was subsequently released on Mike Jones' album, "Who is Mike Jones?" in early 2005.

Currently, big name southern rappers are releasing 2 versions of their albums, one regular and the other "Chopped and Screwed". Such artists such as Ludacris, 8 Ball & MJG, T.I. Lil Wayne, Big Tymers, David Banner, Lil Wyte, Three 6 Mafia, Paul Wall, Mystikal, and Juvenile have had their regular albums chopped and screwed up.

This new form of music has even spawned a software music editor called Screwlab. It slows the speed down of a record and allows for chopping and recording of any mp3-coded song. More info can be found at www.Screwlab.com.

Chopped and Screwed music is my favorite to ride slow to.

by MisterMehoff June 6, 2005

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