youmightfindyourself:

DJ Screw began DJing at age 12 in 1983, and started his trademark slowed-down mixes in 1990. The mixes began as special compilations requested by friends and those in the know. He soon made them available for sale when his close friend Toe offered to buy a mix from him for ten dollars. At that point, customers had increasingly begun requesting his more well-known mixes instead of personalized lists. During the early 1990s, he invited some of the Houston rappers from the city’s south side to rap on those mixes. This coalition of rappers eventually became the formation of the Screwed Up Click.

He moved to a house near Gulfgate Mall. Fans, some driving from far away areas such as Dallas and Waco, lined up at his door to obtain his recordings. He started his own business and opened a shop up on 7717 Cullen Blvd in Houston TX called Screwed Up Records and Tapes. It has been shown in numerous music videos and documentaries as well as independent films. There are now several Screwed Up Records and Tapes spread out through Texas, including one in Beaumont and in Austin.

(Editor’s note: I love this photo. It’s a perfect marriage of how blurred the things that make you money and the things that make you happy can be and how it’s not necessarily a bad thing.)