DJ Screw
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There are few innovations that have had as big an impact on hip-hop as “screwed and chopped,” a radical mixing technique born of Houston’s 5th Ward projects. What distinguishes the style is the way the DJ takes recognizable rap hits, slows them down with modified turntables, and digitally messes with the rest. The pioneer was DJ SCREW, and next Thursday, January 25, Video Underground in Jamaica Plain is launching a free movie series with a documentary about the man who made it happen. DJ Screw: The Untold Story screens at 8 pm.
“The movie seems authentic,” says ANDREW GRAHAM, who’s curating the event with KEVIN DRISCOLL (a/k/a LONE WOLF). “They did their research, they interviewed family members and his girlfriend. There’s cameos from Lil’ Flip, Lil’ Keke, Big Pokey, Paul Wall, and others.” Graham and Driscoll share a love of the Southern style, and they have an ongoing nightlife project called Lean that used to hold events at Reel Bar. The partnering with VU is an extension of their collaboration. In addition to the DJ Screw screening, Driscoll has made a compilation of homemade screwed-and-chopped YouTube videos to show after the documentary.
“The first screwed CD I picked up was Eightball & MJG’s Space Age 4 Eva, which I highly recommend,” says Graham as he sits behind the VU counter. “I like opening people up to this because it’s an interesting way to take the music. Southern baller hip-hop is an extraordinarily conservative genre, but DJ Screw found something to do with it that was really weird and cool. There was a time when I didn’t want to hear anything that wasn’t screwed and chopped.”
That obsession has yet to end: he’s screwing old rock records in his living room right now. “The Cars sound really good chopped and screwed,” he says with a smile. “Roxy Music’s ‘My Only Love,’ Madonna’s ‘Live To Tell.’ ” A screwed mix sounds as if it were playing at the wrong speed, with tons of samples dropping in like stuttering, clicked-out raindrops. The screwed-and-chopped subculture was fueled by a drink called “syrup,” a powerful mix of codeine, promethazine, fruit soda, and Jolly Ranchers that undoubtedly makes everything seem slow — Screw himself died from it in 2000.
“Everything’s in slo-mo,” chimes in local MC Jake the Snake, a Video Underground employee and one-time syrup aficionado. “It’s cool to chill and listen to music . . . don’t try to go to the club, though.” Everyone laughs. “That shit really takes its toll on you the next day . . . it’s like doing mushrooms.”
Video Underground proprietor EVONNE WETZNER recently moved the store to a new location a few doors down from its old spot, and she’s taking full advantage of the new space, with a screening room in the back of the store and even an outdoor screening room for the spring and summer. “I thought it was good,” she says of the movie. “It was visually interesting. When we had it on in the store, people kept stopping and looking. It’s different from a lot of hip-hop documentaries.” Wetzner is planning more events in her new large store: February 7-12 will see a long celebration in honor of the DVD release of Radiation and Half-Cocked, two ’90s indie-rock films.
Long-time Boston resident STEWART WALKER may have picked up and moved to Berlin a few years ago, but we still think of his dub-covered minimal techno albums as classic. His newest, Concentricity, drops April 13 in Europe on his own Persona imprint, with 10 tracks of glistening techno, a style that’s brought him recognition from Australia and Poland to Toyko and New York. And he has dates upcoming in Barcelona, Leeds, and the world-famous Watergate club in Berlin at the end of the month. Walker has always gotten his kicks from playing live — not just spinning records but producing music live in the club. His 2003 album Live Extracts is a classic example of his mastery, and you can find a live set that he did in Munich here.
On the Web
Video Underground: //www.thevideounderground.com/
Kevin Driscoll: //www.kevindriscoll.info
Stewart Walker: //www.myspace.com/stewartwalker