The DJs who made the South sound different

Before there was a rapper on the tape, there was a DJ deciding what went on it. Southern rap’s sound was shaped as much by DJs as by artists. DJ Screw slowed and chopped records on turntables. On Houston’s North Side, Michael “5000” Watts and OG Ron C built Swishahouse’s version of the style. Mixshow DJs on stations like 97.9 The Box gave local records a way into cars across the city.

This section covers DJ culture across the South: mixshow history, club DJs, tape DJs, battle DJs and the newer generation working with controllers and software instead of two copies of a record.

We’ll get into technique too, like how the pitch fader on a turntable shapes a mix and what changes when you chop digitally. Producer Notes and Scene Report features run here, along with profiles of DJs whose work is better known than their names.