A Visual Tribute to DJ Screw on the 20-Year Anniversary of His Death
A Visual Tribute to Houston’s DJ Screw
‘All Screwed Up’ is a new visual project that celebrates the life of Houston music pioneer DJ Screw who was one of the most influential cultural figures in Texas, United States.
The black American entrepreneur was a generous godfather to a generation of hip hop artists — with some of the world’s biggest performers being influenced by the innovative music producer, including Beyoncé Knowles and Kendrick Lamar.
Lil Keke is a rapper and one of the many artists who mention DJ Screw as an artistic influence. The recording artist shares why this tribute is so personal to him, “So for people who_and now, it’s people who use this genre, it’s people—that’s what I call it, too—it’s people who use this particular thing that he does, putting it in songs, I’m talking about big platinum artists, slowing down records, and they had no idea who this man is and where this came from. It’s people who picked up on this in the years of it happening and probably thinking it was a trend of something that was happening at the moment when they don’t know that this trend came from a very important person to our culture. So the question for me is not Why? but Why not?”
Honouring a Musical Legacy
Part film, part animation, this project — being referred to as a visual tribute, marks the 20 year anniversary of DJ Screw’s untimely passing.
Project director, Isaac Yowman, explains this significance of ‘All Screwed Up’ being a Texas-based production, “For me man, this story is so much deeper than just music. We touch on social injustice and for me, that piece of Screw’s story really, really captivated me and wanted_and made me want to just really take this piece to a whole other level. Because in the world that we are living in now in 2020, we’re still dealing with these racial inconsistencies.”
Gone too soon at age 29 from a drug overdose, ‘All Screwed Up’ will debut to a limited audience on November 16 and details the early years of DJ Screw’s life — before his musical genius saw him garner recognition in the tough music industry and leave his timeless mark on music in the United States.
