Houston Music Blog

Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and, sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. It's five videos and occasional cussing. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com.

​After you interview somebody in preparation for writing something about them, there are always things that you want to mention that get left out of the article because of flow or space restrictions or whatever. It's the nature of the situation, we suspect.

When we interviewed E.S.G. for this week's music feature, things were no different. So we cobbled together a few of the notes and put those things together. Booyah:

1. E.S.G. ducked this interview a good two or three times. When we were finally able to get him on the phone (the messaging up until that point consisted mostly of general text messages) he literally said "Meet me in Pearland around 6." Not a street or an intersection or a neighborhood; he told us to meet him in a city. So we just drove to 518 and parked. We did not pick the correct spot.

2. After a bit of chit-chat, we decided to conduct the interview inside the Chili's right there off 288 and 518 (which was about 20 minutes from where we were parked, and about 40 seconds from where he was). We got there, walked in and stood at the little station where the greeter greets and seats you and waited. And waited. And waited. The restaurant was far from busy, yet no one said one single word to us for long enough to make the situation a bit uncomfortable. That shit was not cool.

Roughly 84,000 rap albums have been released in Houston since 1989. We're counting down the 25 best of all time every Thursday. Got a problem with the list? Shove it. Just kidding. Friendship. Email it to sheaserrano@gmail.com.

OG Style

I Know How to Play 'Em! (Rap-A-Lot/Priority, 1987)

There are any number of reasons that you could point to as to why this album should've made the list. Here are a few:

1. It's one of the earliest Rap-A-Lot albums to be released, back before the label really got its hooks dug in and had its wayward formula for producing regional stars formatted. This is identifiable by OG Style's young and charismatic MC, Eric Woods, who seemed to arrive already pristine in style. The group's aura leaned towards his will, resulting in a clear East Coast bent. Culturally, it is a measuring point for where the Houston sound was (or, rather, was not) at the time. You needn't look much further than "This Is How It Should Be Done," which flips Eric B. and Rakim's "I Know You Got Soul," for an example of that. Or you could just to listen to six seconds of any song. Either way works.

Michael Hogue

​A little over seven years ago, we wrote about the South Park Mexican trial.

The rapper, born Carlos Coy, had it all: money, his own record label, a nightclub and, most importantly, the ear of a generation. He was the voice of a new type of person: the Southern and Southwestern Mexican-American who acclimated to American life through black culture - specifically hip-hop - instead of white. As Tejano music and culture started to wither and die in the wake of the murder of Selena, SPM stepped into the breach with a new style and swagger.

As the '90s progressed, young Texas Latinos stashed their hand-tooled leather belts, ostrich-skin boots and Charro-style hats and replaced them with, as commentator Rolando Rodriguez recently put it, " 'south side fades,' fitted Astros hats, oversized t-shirts, [and] gold grills in the mouth spittin' Southern slang."

And then Coy's weakness - a predilection for sex with underage girls - came to light. In June of 2002, Coy was convicted of the aggravated sexual assault of the nine-year-old daughter of two family friends and sentenced to 45 years in prison.

The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place - lots of times, you're even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good - so once a week we're going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Have something you always wanted to ask a rapper? Email it to introducingliston@gmail.com.

We headed over to K-Rino's album release party Sunday night and, lo and behold, Icey Hott from Street Military made a surprise guest appearance.

Even though we had no idea what he looked like (the only picture we'd ever seen of him was from the cover of Don't Give A Damn, where his face is hidden by shadows), as soon as we heard his name announced by the DJ we sprung up to find him. We asked the DJ to point him out and he literally said, "I don't know where he went. He's wearing a shirt and jeans." Oh, so he's pretty much everyone in here, we thought. Whatev. We eventually found him and chatted him up proper.

This Week's Rapper: IceyHott

This Week's Subject(s): What if DJ Screw were alive today?

Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies.

Single of the Week: "Phony," K-Rino

Wire To Wire

Always good to read something from Bun B.

K-Rino had an album release party. Buy the man's album. He just might be a genius.

Oh, hey, a rapper wants to pitch a reality TV show. That's original.

Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and, sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. It's five videos and occasional cussing. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com.

Several key artists in Houston released new videos this week. However, before we get down to them, a couple of things from our handy-dandy notebook:

​At the Kroger by our house, there's this electronic helicopter outside near one of the doors. It's one of those rides where you put your kid in it and then you pay 50 cents and then it shakes for a bit and then it stops and the kid goes apeshit and you wish an anvil would just fall out of the sky right on your head.

Anyway, it always makes us happy to see other dads standing there while their kids ride it. It does not, however, make us happy when we see them standing there with their kid riding in it when it's 11:40 p.m. What the H is wrong with people? Why would anyone think it's okay to have a baby out at 11:40 p.m.?

Also: Man, kids are really ungrateful. And what's worse, that shit hurts your feelings. Call your parents right now and apologize. It doesn't even matter what for.

Not much has been on our playlist lately besides Z-Ro's Cocaine, Trae's The Incredible Truth and E.S.G.'s Everyday Street Gangsta. However, Big Mello's Bone Hard Zaggin cycled through yesterday. That mess is good, yo. Google it.

Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies.

Single of the Week: "Break Dem Boys Off," ESG feat. Slim Thug and Big Hawk

Wire To Wire

Chamillionaire continues to market himself as one of the smarter rappers in Houston, speaks on independent promotion within the music industry at Stanford.

The Single of the Week reminded us of the same-named song from Dallas' B. Hardy and Houston's Dustin Prestige that was passed to us some weeks ago. Listen here. They're both fun, but one is better than the other. We'll let you decide which.

Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and list five reasons why it's either brilliant or dumb-assed. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com.

We've got this notebook that we carry around pretty much everywhere with us. A few bullets from there before we get into the videos.

• Skippy-dippy do! Jay-Z just announced new tour dates, and guess which major Texas metropolitan area landed a show? Yep. You got it: Dallas! (Oh, yeah, Houston scored a spot, too - February 22 at Toyota Center.)
• ​We've been having some trouble sleeping lately. The world is a different place between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. Like, if you stay up late enough, the line-up of movies on the premium channels (Showtime, Starz, Encore, etc) invariably turns to one of two subjects: wacky movies about skiing and soft-core porn. The porn we were expecting, but skiing? Is that the other thing night owls are interested in? Did not see that coming. And what's weirder, you have to watch them both. You can't turn on a movie about skiing at not watch, somehow. It's impossible.
• To that last point, there is no way to buy anything from Wal-Mart at three in the morning without it looking like you're involved in some crazy gay-sex orgy. That's just the way it always looks to the cashiers: "A shower rod? It's 3 a.m., man. You're so going to put this in your butt," their eyes say.
• Right around this time last month we mentioned a then-forthcoming tape from Swishahouse called The Usual Suspects. It's since been released and we've since digested it a few times. While songs from the big names were mostly stuff we'd heard before, there were a few unexpected points on it.

Namely, these five:

Roughly 84,000 rap albums have been released in Houston since 1989. We're counting down the 25 best of all time every Thursday. Got a problem with the list? Shove it. Just kidding. Friendship. Email it to sheaserrano@gmail.com.

Street Military

Don't Give a Damn (Wild Pitch, 1999)

​Surprise.

Kids, meet Street Military. If you know who they are, then you no doubt sing their praises at parties, business meetings, funerals, whatever. If you don't know who they are, don't feel too badly. They've somehow slipped their way into "It Might Make Me A Houston Rap Elitist That I Listen To These Guys Still" status.

Street Military was a five-member rap team made up of four MCs (KB Da Kidnappa, Lil' Flea, Pharoah, Icy Hott) and one hypeman (Nut) that peaked early in the mid-'90s. For some reason, Icy Hott is regularly listed as an accompanying DJ and Nut is listed as a rapper; however, this is incorrect. KB confirmed this in a recent interview. And since he a) has a video or two of himself on Youtube knocking people out; and b) carries a snake around town that's so large it literally wears its own necklace, we're inclined to pretty much never question anything he ever says.

Snake be damned, at the beginning of writing The Countdown, we had every intention of leaving these guys off the list. We really, really did. We even specifically mentioned them as not making the cut during our precap of the rules. But, ultimately, their seven-song strong thunderstorm of an EP, Don't Give A Damn, had two things going for it that just could not be ignored.

Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies.

Single of the Week: "She Love It" remix, feat. Bun B, Slim Thug and Killa Kyleon

After watching the actual video for this song about 15 times, were able to deduce that some might consider it to be fairly derogatory towards women, so we decided to use this version instead. You're free to find it on your own though. And if you like butt cracks, you'll be happy that you did.

Wire To Wire

Of course Bun B is on Wale's CD. Bun B is on everything, everywhere. He is all things. Matter of fact, he's sitting right next to us right now hyping us up as we type this. Say hello, Bun. "Hello. UGK fo' life." See, told you.

Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and, sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. It's five videos and occasional cussing. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com.

​

What a fortnight it's been for Trae. First, his Restless album was named the 14th best rap album to ever come out of Houston. Then his newest son, Houston, was born. Then he released the anticipated The Incredible Truth mixtape. (We're assuming those are listed in order of importance.)

And THEN, early this week, a minor controversy erupted on Twitter when a rumor began circulating that his music had been banned by 97.9 The Boxx. Which left everyone asking the same question: Does the only rap station in Houston really have the gall to ban not only one of the city's key rappers, but a noted civil servant?

Basically, no. Or maybe yes. But really, this is mostly a non-story. Or an old story that's become a new non-story. Ack.

All of this (it appears) can be traced back to the Trae Day shooting. If you'll recall, there was an interview on The Boxx shortly after Trae Day where Nnete - and we're recalling this from memory now - asked Trae, in a somewhat derisive manner, why he was not holding the event closer to his home base in Katy.

We met Nnete once at a wedding, and she came off as a nice enough person. Her tone here, however, seemed to imply that Trae was somehow responsible for the shootings that took place, leading to a somewhat tense remainder of the interview. So that was that.

Roughly 84,000 rap albums have been released in Houston since 1989. We're counting down the 25 best of all time every Thursday. Got a problem with the list? Shove it. Just kidding. Friendship. Email it to sheaserrano@gmail.com.

DJ Screw

3 N' Da Mornin, Part 2 (Big Tyme Records, 1995)

​While researching the Countdown, we came across two very distinct opinions regarding this album; naturally, they were almost diametrically opposed to one another.

People either argued that it should be placed somewhere near the No. 4 spot - this was most often the position of rappers who knew Screw personally, hip-hop heads over 30-years-old, white music intellectualists and the homers over at the Texas Takeover forum, where Screw serves as the mascot. Pretty much everyone else argued that it shouldn't be included at all. As preposterous as the latter opinion initially feels, there's a certain amount of logic to it.

Essentially, two requirements that must be satisfied to qualify a rap album as an actual rap album, thus qualifying it for this list. First is that it overtly revolves around one single act; this makes up about 96 percent of all albums. Second, if it does not feature one specific act - we're talking compilation albums here - it must be comprised of all original songs. This is why something like Swishahouse's The Day Hell Broke Loose would work while a similarly themed Greatest Hits album wouldn't.

Those who argued against 3's inclusion, whether they realized it or not, took issue with it not meeting either of the two requirements. And technically, this is absolutely correct. It's also fatally flawed, but we'll get to that.

The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place - lots of times, you're even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good - so once a week we're going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Have something you always wanted to ask a rapper? Email it to introducingliston@gmail.com.

dasouth.com

​Note: Normally this space is a semi-tongue-in-cheek back-and-forth with a rapper about some aspect of the rapper lifestyle. However, last Sunday, Christian rapper Juan "Enock" James passed away from what appears to be a heart attack. We reached out to Much Luvv label honcho Tre9, with whom Enock lived prior to getting married, to talk about it.

This Week's Rapper: Tre9

This Week's Subject(s): The sudden death of fellow Christian rapper, Juan "Enock" James.

Ask A Rapper: So we had the news passed on to us recently about Enock. That's terrible. Do you mind speaking to the details of that situation?

Tre9: He had a heart attack on the job and, the memorial was [yesterday] and we're having a benefit concert for him [today]. He was only 35. He's leaving behind a four-year-old daughter, Jana, and his wife, Natalie.

AAR: Geez. That's awful. Were there any previous medical conditions?

T: He had high blood pressure, he was taking pills for high blood pressure. But there wasn't anything else that I know of. He was only 35; nobody saw this coming. It was a shock to everyone.

Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies.

Single of the Week: "Still Here," Lil' Keke

Wire To Wire

Again, congratulations to Trae and the newest tiny Trae.

Hey, Rush: Fuck off. Sincerely, Dr. Dre.

Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and, sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. It's five videos and occasional cussing. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com.

​In June 2007, we became papa to twin boys. It was wild. And they were so, so beautiful the first time we saw them. Actually, "beautiful" isn't the right word; at least, not literally. That's just something fathers get used to saying because it's easier than explaining the truth.

The experience was amazing (we were in the room when it happened), and the concept of having our own children was beautiful. But at birth, no, they themselves technically weren't very attractive. They were pretty much the opposite of that. "Gross" is a more accurate term. They were all purple and bloody and gooey and their heads were shaped like ball point pens. They looked like tiny versions of that guy from the original Hills Have Eyes. Those first few seconds were really off-putting.

But they are rambunctious, goofy, lively man-cubs now, and our life is completely devoted to them. It's wonderful fun, even though every day they do at least one thing that makes us think that God hates us.

Trae, "I Could Use Somebody"

Thursday evening, for example, Boy B, who periodically has the disposition of a bag full of wasps, thought it appropriate to drop a roll of electrical tape into our drink during dinner.

​We couldn't even tell you where he even found electrical tape, only that he had it and, apparently, was in dire need of a place to set it down. He just strolled up, dropped it in before we could react - you see a two-year-old holding electrical tape, "Protect your drink" ain't the first thing that comes to mind - and then walked off.

A toddler, or he at least, is very protective of his beverages. Touching his drink before he has completely finished it is sacrilege, so we have to assume what he did was his way of saying, "Hey, fuckface. Eat it."

Trae, "Universal Language"

That's just the way things go. But then he'll hug us or ask us to help him catch a lizard and we realize we would kill for him (or at least raise our voice at a stranger). Because being a father is the greatest, most important thing that has ever happened to us. Which is why we want to make sure that we send a hearty congratulations to Trae, one of our favorite rappers, on the birth of his newest son, Houston. (Of course he named him Houston.)

We'll be looking for Houston's mixtape to be dropping in about two weeks. In the meantime, get after it with these five fatherhoodly rap songs.

Roughly 84,000 rap albums have been released in Houston since 1989. We're counting down the 25 best of all time every Thursday. Got a problem with the list? Shove it. Just kidding. Friendship. Email it to sheaserrano@gmail.com.

Trae

Restless (Asylum, 2006)

​Disclaimer: We dissected this album without referencing "Swang," the album's best song and possibly the finest representation of what it is that makes Trae Trae. We did this in part because we wanted to see if we could do it, but mostly because a) we've already written about the layers of "Swang" several times before, as has just about anyone who has ever written about Trae and/or Restless; and b) if you've made it this far into the countdown, you're no doubt familiar with all that went on with that song anyway, namely Fat Pat's posthumous appearance and H.A.W.K.'s non-posthumous posthumous appearance.

There's no need to waste your time rehashing everything. Although, we suppose it would've been easier to have just gone ahead and explained everything rather than fumbling through this now hamfisted disclaimer. So, moving on...

Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies.

Single of the Week: Slim Thug feat. Lil Ray, "Salute Me"

Note(s): Yes, this is a remake of the same-named song from Fabolous' Loso's Way. Yes, it lists Lil Ray as the featured artist but is actually Lil' Wayne rapping/singing. And yes, the unintentional juxtaposition of the video's "Look How Much Money I Have" premise with the "Look How Much Money We Clearly Did Not Have to Spend On This Video" vibe is humorous.

Wire To Wire

Shortly after the Trae Day shootings fiasco, we tagged along with Trae to Austin as part of an upcoming article we're still working on. Prior to leaving, we were hanging out at his house - we're not saying we're BFFs or anything, but that is something that BFFs do - and he was working on a remake of that Drake and Weezy song where they say "it's okay" about 100 times. Audio of his take (finally) hit the Web this weekend. It's dope. Listen to it. And like it, because we feel kinda like that might make us cooler somehow.

Roughly 84,000 rap albums have been released in Houston since 1989. We're counting down the 25 best of all time every Thursday. Got a problem with the list? Shove it. Just kidding. Friendship. Email it to sheaserrano@gmail.com.

"You drop one track, he's still alive." - Chamillionaire, on why he aimed an entire dis album at Mike Jones rather than just one track

Chamillionaire

Mixtape Messiah (self-released - it's a mixtape, duh - 2005)

For the most part, we've tried to avoid including mixtapes on the Countdown. But there is no justifiable way that you can make a list of the best rap albums to ever come out of Houston and not include Chamillionaire's original Mixtape Messiah.

Within the context of Southern music, it is a mini-watershed moment, signaling not only the birth of one of the most hallowed mix-tape series in the region, but also the viability of Cham as a solo act. Besides, you can buy it on iTunes and at Best Buy. With the exception of the title, it's closer to an album than a mixtape anyway.

The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place -lots of times, you're even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good- so once a week we're going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Have something you always wanted to ask a rapper? Email it to introducingliston@gmail.com.

​This Week's Rapper: cARTer

This Week's Subject(s): Houston's next to blow up; do rappers ever make a bad song; what's good vs. what's popular.

Ask A Rapper: So you're from the new, new school of Houston rappers. Geto Boys and UGK were the originals; Slim, Paul, Mike, Flip, Cham, etc were round two. Do you think anybody from Houston is ever really going to break big again?

cARTer: Yes. I feel I'm the next new artist to have major crossover success that could "break big" coming out of the Houston music scene (even though I'm based out of LA, not to sound cliché). With my experience and cultural background, I have created a project that best represents me, where I'm from and where I am now. In my own way, [I'm] evolving the Houston sound and making something based from that of my own with a twist of my L.A. lifestyle.

Carter, "Stay Down Forever"

Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies.

Single of the Week: "I Look Good" remix, featuring Bun B, Slim Thug and Juvenile

Note: We initally hated Chalie Boy's "I Look Good" song until we realized that he's from rural Texas. We still don't like it very much, but we've actively stopped wishing for him to get polio.

Wire To Wire

Here's the album version of that Royce track Bun is on. Cool stuff.

Before this past weekend, we had never heard of Atlanta rapper Donnis, but we're going to assume he is either terribly unsmart, or a big, big fan of irony, seeing as how he just signed with the imprint Fool's Gold Record Label.

Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and, sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. It's five videos and occasional cussing. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com.

​First, a bit of housekeeping: In this space last week, we wrote about the rumored Z-Ro album, Cocaine. It is, in fact, real and we were able to get our light-brown little hands on a copy. After listening through it, we're 100 percent certain it isn't the Cracc mixtape everyone has been waiting on, but it is very clearly a mixtape. It's hosted by a husky-voiced woman named DJ Drama Queen (we've never heard of her either) and is a double-disc feature.

There's certainly some solid stuff - that "Round Here" song 'Ro did with Billy Cook is used, which might be reason enough to get it - but it also has far too many skippables. Get it if you're a collector (the cover is very cool), but you won't be missing a terrible amount if you don't. Your call.

Now, for this week, we've got a new tape we're lusting for. Courtesy of the Screw Heads Only site, which, if you're a Texas rap fan, you should check out because the dude that runs it periodically puts some gems up there, we caught a glimpse of the new Swishahouse compilation tape and it looks fly as eff. We're totally pretending like we don't know Justus League did something very, very similar.

Rocks Off loves songs about Houston. Here's a pretty good new one by a rapper called Young Twinn.

While the video doesn't offer much we haven't seen before - please, one shot of the skyline as seen from the Interstate is enough - we do really like some of the words, especially the lines toward the end about Hurricane Ike. The beat is well above-average too.

Houston's own Boss of All Bosses, Slim Thug, got six minutes of face time on The Daily Show Wednesday night, in correspondent Wyatt Cenac's report on how the recession is affecting the economics of making it rain and other perks of the baller lifestyle. Some of the things Thugga has had to adjust to, he says, are downsizing from a tour bus to a van, eating in strip clubs in place of making it rain, and not only a reduction in the number of "video hos" on hand at shoots, but said hos' children running around on the set and taking all the food from craft services. The segment concludes with an Apprentice-style boardroom meeting where Slim has to serve walking papers to one of his entourage. Rappers: They're just like us!

Tune in to TDS tonight for the premiere of Slim's new video, "Still a Boss," featuring recession-conscious lyrics like "messin' mothafuckas up with my credit score."

Roughly 84,000 rap albums that have been released in Houston since 1989. We're counting down the 25 best of all time every Thursday. Got a problem with the list? Shove it. Just kidding. Friendship. Email it to sheaserrano@gmail.com.

Bushwick Bill

Little Big Man (Priority, 1992)

​"Get to the house, all I'm thinking 'bout is shootin' her/ 'Cause shootin' her would be sweet/ But you know what'd be sweeter/ if I made her shoot me."

Scarface will always be the best rapper from the Geto Boys, but the gap between him and Bushwick Bill was narrower than a lot of people realize. The ironic part of this statement is that we have to use "was" here because since 'Wick ventured down the Christian rapper trail, it has widened substantially, basically to the original girth most people assumed was the case anyway.

Anyhow, Little Big Man, Bushwick's 1992 debut, represented the most honest, visceral effort of his career. For this duration of this one album, he was rap's Hannibal Lecter: A wildly charming nutbag who was trying to either sleep with you or eat you.

​Most people in the world of music videos may not recognize the name Nahala Johnson, but lately, they've recognized his nom de film: Mr. Boomtown. The Port Arthur native (he now splits his time between Houston and Dallas) is a nominee for the BET Hip Hop Awards' Director of the Year. The show will be held October 10th in Atlanta.

He's nominated for his work on two videos that really couldn't be any more different from each other -- Slim Thug's "I Run," with its breathtaking night-time aerial views of Houston, underground clubs, bling, and wads of cash; and Mike Jones's "Next to You," which features the aforementioned Mr. Jones and his sweetie shopping at Greenspoint Mall and eating Corn Flakes in unbridled domestic bliss.

But after ten years of producing videos for the likes of Scarface, Bun B, Paul Wall, and Mya, Mr. Boomtown is ready for just about anything. We caught up with him this week, but only for a brief phone chat -- as you can imagine, a fellow with the name of "Mr. Boomtown" has quite the busy schedule.

We started by asking him what Slim and Mike differed in their approaches to making videos.

The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place - lots of times, you're even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good - so once a week we're going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Have something you always wanted to ask a rapper? Email it to introducingliston@gmail.com.

This Week's Rapper: Troublesum

This Week's Subject(s): Do rappers really think it's fun for concert goers when performers just stand around on stage with a bunch of people gathered around them?

Troublesum, "SWAG"

Ask A Rapper: We assume you're tired of being asked about being a female in a male-dominated genre and blah, blah, blah, so we'll touch on something else we've received emails about: live performances.

What's up with those? We mean, a large percentage of the rap shows that we've been to consist of the rapper simply standing there and reciting his or her rhymes. Sometimes there's a group of people standing around in the background, sometimes there's not. Do you all really think that's enjoyable for fans?

Troublesum: Yes and no. Some [artists] have a following that supports them being on stage with an entourage or them being up there solo. That's them in their element, so if it works for them, why switch it up, dig me? However, I'm a performer as well as an artist so I like to give my audience a show, something that they'll leave talking about.

Welcome back to The Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and list five reasons why it's either brilliant or dumb-assed. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com.

​Okay, let's get you all caught up.

Back at the end of the summer, word spread that Z-Ro had been jumped outside of Houston's classy, classy hangout High Rollers. We were hesitant to believe it happened at first, because how does someone even go about beating up a nightmare, but Ro later put up a video on YouTube speaking on the incident.

Shortly thereafter, an email appeared in our inbox from ***** explaining that the attack (presumably) had come at the hands of a Rap-A-Lot goon squad and occurred because some remarks made by Z-Ro in a previous interview re: the label and his album's still-unreleased status were taken to be disrespectful. This was verified on numerous message boards, the same message boards that also "verified" that Z-Ro had been killed on two previous occasions, mind you, so make of that what you will.

Here's the fun part though: The album at the center of all of this is Heroin, Ro's perpetually postponed follow-up to last year's Crack. Wednesday afternoon, a picture of someone holding an album titled Cocaine started popping up on the internet (if there were a Google Trends: Down South Edition, there is no doubt Z-Ro fodder would clog up at least 17 of the top 20 spots daily).

The rumor now is that Ro has apparently become so disenfranchised with Rap-A-Lot that he or someone close to him has pressed his own copies of Heroin and is offering them under the new name.

There are a bunch of different explanations for this "new album." Actually, there are five.

Roughly 84,000 rap albums have been released in Houston since 1989. We're counting down the 25 best of all time every Thursday. Got a problem with the list? Shove it. Just kidding. Friendship. Email it to sheaserrano@gmail.com.

South Park Mexican

Never Change (Universal, 2001)

A few months ago we interviewed a Northside rapper named Coast for Artist of the Week. One of the things we mentioned about him was that lyrically he had a remarkable ability to deliver a powerful sentiment without feeling at all forced. It's not an easy thing to do (see: 85 percent of all rappers). But as good as he as is at doing it, he's only about half as good as South Park Mexican was on 2001's Never Change.

Nobody before or since has marshaled the dejection and isolation a lot of inner-city Mexicans feel) near as well as SPM. It's one of the things that made him so necessary. For example, on "Real Gangsta" (When Devils Strike, 2006), which tells the story of how a kid is pulled into the hustle, he wraps up a kid's entire youth by mentioning that even when his mom finally was able to buy him some new shoes (on sale), "She didn't know, she bought the wrong color/ and they stayed in the closet all summer."

The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place -lots of times, you're even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good- so once a week we're going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Have something you always wanted to ask a rapper? Email it to introducingliston@gmail.com.

This Week's Rapper: Summertime Johnny

This Week's Subject(s): Lil Boosie's brush with the law; the credibility of a prison hitch; gangster rap and real gangsters

Ask A Rapper: Last week Lil' Boosie got sentenced to two years for fooling around with guns and drugs and whatnot. Why does stuff like that consistently happen? Like, obviously this doesn't apply to all rappers, but it seems like more than any other genre, people involved in the rap industry get caught up in things like that.

​Summertime Johnny: It's an interesting story to read about and watch. Money doesn't fix all your problems, though, and apparently doesn't grant you intelligence. I imagine these things keep happening because there's nobody around them to tell them to chill out with that kind of stuff.

Why didn't he just pay somebody he knows to "handle his lightweight," like we say from where I'm from. I mean, and why is it always a rapper in the news? Of course rappers are the ones all over the media. [sarcastically] It's obvious rappers are becoming extinct and they have to carry a gun to ensure their survival.

A lot of these rappers have identity issues. I mean, they make all this money so they can be in a better position, but then bring drama on theirselves. I figure the only reason these rappers keep on getting these criminal records once they "make it" is simply because they don't know how to use their fame to make money; they got the game all backwards.

Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and, sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. It's five videos and occasional cussing. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com.

​"I Need Mo," feat. Kobe and Travis Barker: A day or two ago, the video for Paul Wall's "I Need Mo" featuring Kobe - the singer, not the basketball player, although after that Brooke Hogan collaboration disaster you'd be forgiven for assuming otherwise - began popping up on all the hip-hop blogs and sites. Now, save for the fact that stylistically it's about two years away from being original, it's actually a fun song*. Nice production, fairly catchy hook, and so on and so forth.

*In the beginning of the video, he implies that he's out on the corner possibly participating in some unruly behavior. Had we not seen him tweet ad nauseum about baseball and trying to lose weight, we might've believed him. That part's kinda weak. And because it's nice outside and because we've been in a somewhat masochistic mood lately, we decided to peruse Wall's catalog and find five other collaborations of his that do not make us want to step barefoot onto a thumbtack.

Note: We will be ignoring all tracks from Get Ya Mind Right because that'd be way too easy.