#54: DJ Screw — Bigtyme Recordz, Vol. II: All Screwed Up (1995)
Houston, TX — Bigtyme Records
Welp, folks. I really did it this time. After a few months worth of a pause, I decided to go back into this with a new twist: a randomized rather than chronological album order. I hoped the elder entities of chaos would bless me with like, an easily digestible mid-2000s alt mixtape or something, so as to ease me back into the reviewin’ business in a gentler way. But no, what I get is a remix album by one of the weirdest, most deranged, game-changing hip-hop geniuses of all time. Well! Let’s get right into it!
I’m talking, of course, of Texan extraordinaire DJ Screw. Born in ’71, Robert Earl Davis Jr. displayed musical prowess from an early age, and was already DJing by 1983, at only twelve years of age, but it was not until the early 90s that he would start recording and slinging his trademark slowed down remixes, which would later become known as the chopped and screwed style, which was insanely influential both as an underground movement and as a mainstream fad. It basically consists of slowing a given song to around 60 to 70 BPM and applying techniques such as beat skipping and time stopping, as well as more conventional DJing techniques like scratching. It was a whole thing back then, and became associated with things such as DIY production ideologies and codein consumption. I won’t go too deep, but suffice to say it’s a highly interesting scenario to look into if you’re ever interested.
Now, on to the album at hand. I do have my fair share of experience with Screw, but I’ve never really paid much attention to his oeuvre in terms of albums — which makes sense, considering the highly atmospheric nature of his music; I usually just queue up some two hours’ worth of stuff and call it a day. The only project of his I can safely say I’m really familiar with as an album is his 1996 release 3 ‘n the Mornin’ (Part Two), which is widely recognized as his top release. I considered picking it, but eventually decided to go with his previous release just to, you know, shake things up a little maybe? It’s kind of a close second as far as I can tall, and it’s the one that really broke him through to a wider audience, which is the factor that eventually tipped the needle in its favor, so let’s get to it.
Seeing as this is a remixes album, I of course did my researcher’s duty and checked out the original versions of all tracks in here. It’s notably less diverse than the average Screw project, with a mere four artists to be found through thirteen tracks, of varying quality: our old buds UGK, who consistently own, and three other gentlemen I can’t really say I’ve heard of before: Point Blank, 20–2-Life and PSK-13, all of which mostly vary between “fairly OK” and “questionable” — that is, of course, referring to the original tracks; Screw’s remixes are of a different quality, as we’ll see soon.
The source material is somewhat diverse but in the end doesn’t really escape the southern rap orbit: you got some hardcore Geto Boys-esque gangbangin’ lyrics, some run-of-the-mill sex songs, and the beats mostly stay within that proto-trap-adjacent formula, with a hint of west coast from time to time. And not to dwell on it, but as a segue into the next section I want to quickly mention the inclusion of UGK’s Pregnant Pussy, one of the most vile, disgusting, repellant songs in the history of rap. It barrels right by both the “badly aged but still charming classic” and “so bad it’s good” thresholds straight into the fiery “wholly and entirely sucks” dumpster:
Cause if she expecting, I can satisfy
And at the same time, give her kid a pacifier
And I love it when I bust that old nut
Cause I know that her baby’s just gon’ lick it all up
Yeah… it’s pretty rough. However, that’s where Screw’s thing shines the most. He takes a given song, which can be exceedingly good or bad (there are examples of both on All Screwed Up), and turns it into a whole new thing — not just by means of reworking it, adding and subtracting stuff, etc; he really does take it to a different level, not necessarily as in better or worse, but just something that’s operating in a different manner. In a way, it kind of partially ceases being rap and becomes more akin to something like ambient: the flow (of things in general, not the rapper’s flow) and layering take precedence over stuff like punctual impact. There’s only so much of a relentlessly repeating, nauseatingly slow, maddeningly detuned twang or bloop that you can take before you surrender to it all and become one with the slime. Simply put, the lyrics really don’t matter anymore, and you just can’t help but be taken by the soporific haze of it all.
Interestingly enough, it also kind of simultaneously have the opposite effect: the slowness of it all does highlight the intricacies in the rapper’s flow and lyricism, as well as the production. It’s a very intriguing effect, almost in a psychedelic way, where you get these hyper-augmented (often to the brink of distortion) details within these haunted, swampy soundscapes; all amounting to quite a peculiar effect. As I’ve said above, it’s not really something that plays like a conventional rap album should — not that you need drugs or something to enjoy it, like Screw himself said, to which I tend to agree, but it does put you in a distinct, out-of-reality mood, in an almost psychedelic way. It’s not easy for me to put into words, but it really doesn’t feel like something fully from this plane of reality. It’s a fat, dirty, gooey, scary mess, it sounds like you’re going crazy inside your head, and it feels fucking amazing.
Finally, the way the entire thing is put together plays a big part in it. Screw recorded almost everything live, exactly like he would at a party or gig, which further gives All Screwed Up a sense of hazy continuity, as well as a human touch: many of the little switchups and stutters here and there sound very much on-the-fly and imperfect, and the whole thing is decidedly on the lo-fi, detuned, tapey-as-hell side of the spectrum of audio experience, all of which makes this entire thing just that much warmer and more human.
Again, DJ Screw’s drowsy, hallucinatory influence absolutely cannot be overstated. From his immediate surroundings in the Dirty South scene to contemporary cutting-edge electronica, from Travis Scott to Oneohtrix Point Never, the waves he made will still be felt for decades to come. On late 2000, he would be found dead inside his Houston studio due to a codein overdose, putting an end to a short but wildly spectacular run, but his legacy lives on in music and popular culture, and Bigtyme Recordz, Vol. II: All Screwed Up is a damn fine gift to culture everywhere.
Favorite songs:
Short Texas (UGK): coming right after the short one-minute intro, this one throws you right into the mess of things right from the get-go with a chaotic, creepy, almost eschatological-souding beat and some unrelenting bars to top it off.
After I Die (Point Blank): clocking in at nine minutes, this would be way too fucking long for most rap albums, but it doesn’t matter at all cause it’s DJ Screw, bitch. The original version’s beat is pretty fucking great, to a point where it pretty much neutralizes Point Blank’s dogshit rapping — not that it matters a lot, since Screw takes the whole thing apart and does with it as he pleases, creating an exceedingly moody track, with nigh-inaudible rapping and incredible little trumpet and piano trills scattered all throughout.
Tell Me Something Good (UGK): as Memphis legend Koopsta Knicca can attest to, you simply cannot sample The Art of Noise’s Moments in Love in your song and expect me not to be absolutely head over heels for it. Pimp C and Bun B’s monotonous but groovy and hard rapping go perfectly with the beat and tie it all together, making this my undisputed favorite out of this whole deal.
Headin’ Fo My Trunk (PSK-13): Screw is not particularly known for making hard-hitting party bangers, but this one does feature a particularly hard gangbangin’ climax. Groovy, west-coast-ish, somewhat energetic beat ties the whole deal together nicely. “Nigga, fuck yo Lexus/ I’m aimin’ for your solar plexus”.
