This talk will explore the life of the late Robert Earl Davis, Jr. (a.k.a. DJ Screw), a turntablist from Smithville, Texas who pioneered the hip-hop sub-genre known as Chopped and Screwed. The technique involves spinning two copies of the same record on both turntables, with one playing slightly behind the other, and flipping back and forth with the mixer to create a stutter in the rhythm and the vocals (“Chopping”), often with a microphone being passed around for collaborators to freestyle rap over the mix. Once recorded, a copy of the tape would be made while at the same time slowing down the pitch control on the tape deck, creating the sound known as “Screwed.” The genre took hold in Houston in the 1990s and has only grown in the years since DJ Screw’s death in November of 2000, making a cultural impact in Houston that extends far beyond music

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