Quickly tailing
the gold-selling success of his latest studio album, Urban Legend,
Atlanta-based rapper T.I. recently acquired Paul Wall to exclusively produce
a “chopped & screwed” edition of his critically and commercially
acclaimed disc through his Grand Hustle/Atlantic imprint.
"T.I. is a
phenomenal artist," Paul Wall told AllHipHop.com. "He showed me a
lot of love over the years and throughout my career. It was a memorable experience
screwing and chopping his album. There are just as many people in Texas waiting
on the screwed version to [be] released, as was for the original version."
The release will fuel the continuity of the “Chopped & Screwed”
phenomenon, which has increasingly taken a liking from Hip-Hop consumers nationwide
over the last couple of years.
Originally started
in Houston in the mid to late 90’s, Screw music was inspired in part by
the local drug scene which included the intake of the reactionary drug, Codeine
(Syrup Sippin).
The mixture of
the drug with cough syrup and soda creates a slowed down sluggish feel, thus
inspiring the sound of the music.
Late legend DJ
Screw initially pioneered the movement and gained notoriety by creating mixtapes
remixing popular southern tunes and slowing down the pace to spawn an addictive
trend in urban music.
Ironically, it
was the same mixture that led to the death of DJ Screw, who passed away on November
15, 2000 of a heart attack in his home studio, based in Missouri City, Texas.
An autopsy found
fatal amounts of Codeine in his blood, triggering the heart attack.
After his untimely
death in 2000, producers such as Michael 5000 Watts and Paul Wall carried the
legacy by Chopping & Screwing albums from several stars such as Ludacris,
8 Ball & MJG, Lil Jon and the Eastside Boys among many others.
T.I.’s Urban
Legend: Chopped & Screwed is scheduled to arrive in stores Feb. 8.
