Before Houston had a Clutch City banner or a World Series trophy, it had a sound. The legends who built H-Town rap, from the Fifth Ward to the South Side to Port Arthur, are the same folks you see courtside at Toyota Center, on the field at NRG and grillin’ up the Astros. Here’s how Houston’s rap legends and Houston sports grew up hand in hand.
The Foundation: Geto Boys
It starts in the Fifth Ward. The Geto Boys came out of that neighborhood in 1986 and went national in 1991 with “Mind Playing Tricks on Me,” released on Houston’s own Rap-A-Lot Records. The single, featuring Scarface, Willie D and the late Bushwick Bill, climbed to No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 and put Houston on the rap map for good.
Scarface never stopped repping home. In 2023 he was one of the headliners Bun B brought out for the Southern Takeover at RodeoHouston, rocking a packed NRG Stadium.
DJ Screw and the Screwed Up Click
Then came DJ Screw. Working out of his home in South Houston in the 1990s, Robert Earl Davis Jr. slowed records down, “chopped” in new rhythms and brought local rappers in to freestyle over them. He started moving his Screw Tapes in 1993, and Houstonians lined up to buy them. Chopped and screwed became the city’s signature sound, and June 27 is still celebrated around town because of a classic Screw mix by that name.
The rappers on those tapes became the Screwed Up Click: Lil’ Keke, the late Fat Pat, the late Big Moe, Big Pokey, Z-Ro and more. Their music still runs Houston sports. Longtime Rockets DJ T. Gray, a Houston native who has been on the Toyota Center game-night crew since it opened, has spun player requests that included Fat Pat’s “Tops Drop,” a pick of Gerald Green during the 2018 playoff run. And when Bun B took over the rodeo in 2022, Lil’ Keke, Z-Ro and Big Pokey were right there with him.
UGK: Bun B and Pimp C
Ninety miles east, Bun B and the late Pimp C (Chad Butler) came out of Port Arthur as UGK and debuted in 1992. Pimp C’s legacy still looms over the whole region, and Bun B became Houston’s unofficial ambassador, including at the ballpark, the arena and the rodeo.
When the Rockets opened the 2014 playoffs against Portland, the team had Bun B and Slim Thug perform outside Toyota Center before Game 1. In 2017 Bun sat courtside for Complex’s “Courtside Crews” series and talked about why Houston is the best city to watch a game in. In 2021 he linked with Slim Thug and Paul Wall on “Light the Fuse,” the Rockets’ hype video for the 2021-22 season.
Then he took over NRG. Bun B made his RodeoHouston debut on March 11, 2022 with the H-Town Takeover on Black Heritage Day, bringing out Paul Wall, Slim Thug, Lil Flip, Lil’ Keke, Z-Ro, Big Pokey, Devin the Dude and more in front of a sold-out crowd. KHOU reported he was the first Black man from the Houston area to headline a rodeo concert. He came back in 2023 with the Southern Takeover alongside Scarface, Juvenile, Big K.R.I.T., 8Ball & MJG and Erykah Badu.
The Swishahouse Era: Paul Wall, Slim Thug and Mike Jones
By the mid-2000s, Houston was everywhere. Mike Jones’ “Still Tippin’,” with Slim Thug and Paul Wall, got its major release in November 2004 after already running the streets of Houston, and it went platinum. Billboard called it the record that helped turn Houston into a hip-hop hub.
Nearly 20 years later, the three of them reunited to perform it at halftime of the Texans’ Jan. 13, 2024 Wild Card win over the Browns at NRG, a 45-14 blowout, with Bun B on the bill too. Mike Jones even wore a Texans jersey with “Still Tippin” on the back. Catch up on the franchise’s story in our Texans history.
Paul Wall might be the most loyal fan in town. When the Astros won the 2017 World Series, he made good on a promise: free gold “World Champs” grills for the team, designed with his business partner, Houston jeweler Johnny Dang. He’s taken care of the Coogs, too, including a grill for Tom Herman after UH’s 2015 conference title. And at the Rockets’ 2025 home opener, Kevin Durant’s first home game in Houston, Wall ran through “Grillz,” “Sittin’ Sidewayz” and “Still Tippin’” at halftime.
Chamillionaire, Lil Flip and Trae tha Truth
Chamillionaire took Houston to No. 1. “Ridin’,” with Krayzie Bone, topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 2006 and won the Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group in 2007. Lil Flip, the self-proclaimed Freestyle King, was part of Bun B’s H-Town Takeover lineup at NRG in 2022.
Trae tha Truth earned something no Houston rapper had before: his own day. In 2008, Mayor Bill White proclaimed July 22 “Trae Day,” recognizing his work in the community. After Hurricane Harvey he founded Relief Gang, and in 2021 he received the Billboard Change Maker Award, presented by fellow Houstonian Tina Knowles-Lawson.
The Next Generation Carries It On
The legends built the lane, and the new class is running with it. Travis Scott named his 2018 album Astroworld after the Six Flags AstroWorld park that sat across from the Astrodome, and threw out a first pitch at the Astros’ ballpark in 2019. Megan Thee Stallion threw out the first pitch at the Astros’ 2023 home opener. Get more Astros history from the Colt .45s to Daikin Park.
Why It Fits
Houston rap was built by people who repped their neighborhoods, their cars and their city, and Houston fans do the same thing in the stands. From a Screw tape in the slab on the way to the game to “Still Tippin’” booming at halftime, the H-Town sound and H-Town sports run on the same energy, and it’s been that way since Clutch City. Keep up with more Houston culture on LFG Houston.
Sources: Texas State Historical Association, Billboard, GRAMMY.com, Houstonia, UT Press, KHOU, Complex, Andscape, DJcity, 97.9 The Box, Houston Chronicle, Forward Times, Yahoo Sports, Houston Press, Houston Style Magazine, NCAA.com, Highsnobiety, MLB.com, ABC13, RodeoHouston and Houston Public Media.
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