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14/03/2019: “Sippin’ On Some Syrup” by Three 6 Mafia featuring UGK and Project Pat

I would say that it’s a wonder that most Southern rappers didn’t die from the amount of weird drug concoctions they took, but unfortunately a lot of them did, especially from the codeine based “purple drank”.

“Sippin’ On Some Syrup” is an ode to all the various prescription drug cocktails, specifically “sizzurp”. The song was partly borne out of a desire to be more honest about the extent to which this happened in that scene, and also because they all loved the stuff.

The song is suitably relaxed, although not properly Chopped N Screwed. The main keyboard riff is sampled from Marvin Gaye’s “Is That Enough” from 1978.

The lyrics glorify a lot of bad things, to be frank, and it’s not really worth going into them. But it certainly does do a great job of representing a certain time and place, a certain scene.

The song was released in 2000 on the album When the Smoke Clears: Sixty 6, Sixty 1, and reached number 30 in the U.S. Hot R’n’B/Hip-Hop charts.

To be fair, the baby bottles are a nice touch!
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19/06/2018: “My Mind Went Blank” by DJ Screw feat. Point Blank

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DJ Screw will go down in history as the man who perfected the “chopped n screwed” method of playing hip hop records slowed down, and scratching/rewinding them to create a sort of sticky, gloopy version.

Before his death in 2000 of a lean/purple drank overdose (a codeine cough mixture used as a drug in the deep south, especially Houston where the screwhead scene originates from), DJ Screw had applied his magic touch to a wide array of contemporaneous hip hop songs.

“My Mind Goes Blank” features Houston rapper Point Blank, and samples “At Your Best” by Aaliyah. The song is warped from her RnB classic into a classic DJ Screw cut, a hazy summertime jam that is in absolutely no hurry at all.

The song was released in 1995 on a compilation called Down South Hustlers – Bouncin’ And Swingin’, and later in 1998 on Bigtyme Vol II All Screwed Up, another compilation.

Many modern hip songs owe a lot to the styles pioneered by DJ Screw, so it’s no wonder the song doesn’t sound particular dated today.

A classic track.