Screw Day: the only 24-hour period when you can guarantee that every Houston hip-hop station will be playing posse cuts by DJ Screw and the rap collective he started, Screwed Up Click (S.U.C.). It’s a holiday ingrained into the culture of Houston rap heads.
However, while the thousands of tapes DJ Screw mixed have been documented and celebrated, that honor rarely extends to the members of S.U.C. Few rap cliques can touch the prolificacy and impact of Screwed Up Click. This is in part due to the fact that there were so many members—at any given time, there were around 30 people who were considered apart of, or affiliated with, S.U.C.
Some of these songs became wildly popular when they were released, for a brief moment their stars enjoying the same admiration across the U.S. as they always had in H-Town. Others are gems buried in the massive catalogues of the Click’s major players. These aren’t definitive rankings (for that you’d have to have an additional two years and a screw tribunal), but more of a starting point for listening to all of S.U.C. These are 27 Screwed Up Click Songs You Should know.
RELATED: The 50 Best Houston Rap Songs
DJ Screw f/ Big Moe, Key-C, Yungstar, Big Pokey, Haircut Joe, D-Mo & Kay-Luv "June 27" (2004)
Producer: DJ Screw
Album: Chapter 012
Label: Screwed Up Click Entertainment
If any song can be called the quintessential anthem of the movement, it's the "June 27" freestyle. At over 30 minutes long, it seems that every S.U.C. member in the vicinity of the mic added their own flourish. Parts of it don't flow as easily as others, but the imperfections just add to the authenticity of it coming completely off the dome. The track was made in honor of D-Mo's birthday (he also gets in on the rapping action), which in following years has snowballed into a holiday in of itself. This behemoth of a track is the prized artifact of Screw culture, because while candid S.U.C. freestyles were mythologized, few recordings existed in their entirety. The impact can't be understated: beat and soundbites have been sampled by Paul Wall, Drake, and countless times by other S.U.C. members.
Lil Keke "Pimp Tha Pen" (1995)
Producer: DJ Screw
Album: 3 'N The Mornin' (Part Two)
Label: Bigtyme Recordz
This song easily floats to the top of DJ Screw's body of work, but the track did more for securing Lil Keke's legacy than anything else. His opening lines, "Draped up and dripped out/know what I'm talking about," have been immortalized several times over in other H-town classics, most notably by Bun-B on "Draped Up." Lil Keke's unparalleled freestyling ability made him a favorite collaborator of DJ Screw within S.U.C., and this song was the zenith of the duo's works together.
Lil Keke "Crossroads Freestyle" (1996)
Producer: DJ Screw
Album: The Final Chapter
Label: Screwed Up Click Entertainment
DJ Screw's taste in tracks for S.U.C. to rap over was sweeping with only one real criteria: it had to bang. He screwed everything from Schooly D to Dr. Dre, selecting the best tracks for Screwed Up Click's freestyle kings to grace with bars. On this, Lil Keke reaches the height of his lyrical sincerity over the jolting and drippy sweet version of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony hit "Tha Crossroads." "I'ma reach inside my chest and I'm a touch your heart," he booms, and the song manages to do just that, being sentimental without being overly cloy.
E.S.G. "Swangin and Bangin" (1994)
Producer: Sean "Solo" Jemison
Album: Ocean of Funk
Label: Perrion Entertainment
This seminal E.S.G song is often overshadowed by its successor. Most people under 20 will recognize the opening notes from Drake's "HYFR" before they'll attribute it to S.U.C. Instead of rapping about sugar babies in Atlanta, E.S.G. was talking about switching lanes in a souped-up caddy, music blasting loud. "Swangin' and Bangin'" is still a critical tenet of car culture, making the 1994 hit timeless.
Lil Keke "Southside" (1997)
Producer: Double D
Album: Don't Mess Wit Texas
Label: Jam Down Records
Houston is a huge city—fourth largest in the U.S. to be exact—so it's almost inevitable that the smaller 'hoods it houses harbor some of the strongest loyalism. Lil' Keke's "Southside" was a sound-off for the lower half of H-Town, with a simple yet distinctive dance to match. The sparse piano melody doesn't feel especially imposing, which is probably why the one-word chorus quickly caught on so quickly.
Big Moe f/ Ronnetta Spencer "Barre Baby" (2000)
Producer: Salih Williams
Album: City of Syrup
Label: Wreckshop Records
Few things are as uniquely S.U.C. as Big Moe's syrupy, nasally croon sliding into a hook or chorus. Before Nelly was "rapsinging," Big Moe was punctuating Screwed Up Click posse cuts with his vocal stylings. The chorus, sang by Moe and then seven-year-old Ronetta Spencer, became instantly recognizable around H-Town. The slow, swaying track was an introduction: "Now for all y'all who ain't heard of me/Mr. M.O.E., the Barre Baby."
Big Moe f/ E.S.G. & Big Pokey "Maan!!" (2000)
Producer: Noke D
Album: City of Syrup
Label: Wreckshop Records
In Houston, if you want to emphasize something, you follow it with 'man." Naturally, when Black Rob released "Whoa," a song about the northern equivalent for that word, the S.U.C. had to put their spin on it. By pairing insistent strings with bongos, the song induces an even more vicious head nod than the track that inspired it. The song features killer verses from Big Pokey and Moe, but E.S.G rips the face off the whole thing with the coldest (and shortest verse).
Lil' Troy f/ Yungstar, Fat Pat, Lil' Will & Big T "Wanna Be a Baller" (1998)
Producer: Bruce "Grim" Rhodes
Album: Sittin' Fat Down South
Label: Short Stop Records, Universal
"Wanna Be A Baller" isn't good because of its infectious hook, or its re-purposing of a Prince song, though those are both valid reasons. It's one of the few songs that turns a critical eye on it's own dope boy aspirations: "I hit the highway, makin' money the fly way/But there's gotta be a better way!" "Wanna Be a Baller" was the only smash Lil' Troy made, but the bootstrapping ballad made a lasting impact.
Note: Lil Troy isn't in S.U.C., but this song is included because it hit 70 on the Billboard Hot 100, had a star-making verse from Yungstar, and it was alleged that E.S.G wrote the whole thing but didn't get credit.
Lil' Flip "The Way We Ball" (2002)
Producer: Kojack, Lil' Flip, Young Sears
Album: Undaground Legend
Label: Sucka Free, Loud Records, Columbia
Lil' Flip's highest charting hit was "Sunshine," and probably the most accessible one for the mainstream radio audience, but it was "The Way We Ball" that really set it off for the rapper in the South. The Third Coast anthem is about five minutes of Lil' Flip bragging about riding on blades, lean, and other stuff Texans might find cool: "Right now me and Hump negotiatin' to buy the Rockets/We might buy the Comets - name it, I done it." The wonkiness of the beat is almost silly, but trust the man who flipped Ms. Pacman sounds into a chart-topper to execute it perfectly.
DJ DMD f/ Lil' Keke & Fat Pat "25 Lighters" (1998)
Producer: DJ DMD
Album: Twenty-Two: P.A. World Wide
Label: Inner Soul Records
"25 lighters on my dresser, yessuh/I gots to get paid." This nasally refrain floats over a redux of Al B. Sure's "Nite and Day." It has since been alluded to by Big K.R.I.T, Kendrick and Z-Ro. It's DJ DMD's song, but Fat Pat is it's real star. It was one of the last hits Fat Pat blessed with a killer verse before his death, helping it just barely break into the Billboard Top 200.
Botany Boys "Cloverland" (1997)
Producer: Brian Fields
Album: Thought of Many Ways
Label: Big Shot Records
The Botany Boys hailed from the Cloverland neighborhood of southside H-town. Their crew, consisting of about four members at any given time, decided to hop on E.S.G's classic "Swangin and Bangin" beat three years after its release and give it a territorial twist. The song was a hit, and although it wasn't particularly innovative in terms of screw music, it paved the way for the Botany Boys second album, Forever Botany. It was this album that helped them gain mainstream notoriety, peaking on Billboard's R&B/Hip Hop chart at number 99.
Big Mello "Funkwichamind" (1994)
Producer: Crazy C
Album: Wegonefunkwichamind
Label: Rap-A-Lot Records
Big Mello was ahead of his time. While the slowed aesthetic of screw music was prominent in Houston, Big Mello created tracks with an almost g-funk infused sound. His switch between the relaxed chorus and dizzyingly fast rapping created the perfect balance on "Funkwichamind." The track is a hallmark of Big Mello's greatest talents: effortlessness.
Fat Pat "Ghetto Dreams" (1998)
Producer: Noke D
Album: Ghetto Dreams
Label: Wreckshop Records
On "Ghetto Dreams," Fat Pat's croon fills the song, acting as the perfect counterpart to the dense, multi-textured elements in the production. Along with "Tops Drop," "Ghetto Dreams" was a standout on his posthumous debut. His talent never saw wide recognition before his tragic death, and for that reason this song is immortalized in the S.U.C. canon. "Ghetto Dreams" represents everything Fat Pat could have been.
Trae f/ Fat Pat & H.A.W.K. "Swang" (2006)
Producer: DJ Mr. Rogers
Album: Restless
Label: Rap-A-Lot Records
"Swang" is less about the swangin' and bangin' as it is about screw nostalgia. The hook featured his verse from "25 Lighters" with his brother (by blood, and click-dom), and Trae rapping about their fallen comrade. Trae's whispery rasp seems to fill in every empty ambient space on his verse, and H.A.W.K comes through with some wistful bars about popping the trunk for Fat Pat. When H.A.W.K died the next year after being shot, it catapulted the track to a local classic.
Lil' Flip "Game Over (Flip)" (2004)
Producer: Nick "Fury" Loftin
Album: U Gotta Feel Me
Label: N/A
Every so often, a song hits the radio that seems so conceptually ludicrous that it's sheer existence tickles you. "Game Over" is one of those songs. Lil' Flip bodies the track, but it's the Pac-Man "waka-waka" soundbites that make it fun. "Game Over" charted at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, and Lil' Flip repped S.U.C. through it all.
Lil' O f/ H.A.W.K. "Back Back" (2001)
Producer: Blue
Album: Da Fat Rat Wit Da Cheeze
Label: Game Face Entertainment, Atlantic Records
"Back Back" is infectious. The chest-thumping banger was more than a song about personal space ("gimme 50 feet"), it was about keeping it real ("Don't try to gimme dap bitch you ain't no kin to me"). Lil' O actively rapped on other S.U.C. songs, but he made very few hits that resonated on a national level. This was one of them.
H.A.W.K. f/ Fat Pat, Kay-K, Lil' Keke & Mike Dean "Heart of Hustler" (1998)
Producer: Sean "Solo" Jemison
Album: Under H.A.W.K.'s Wings
Label: Dead End Records
This ballad is as balanced as the credo it declares: "Heart of a Hustler/Mind of a G." One of the few gems recorded in the late '90s with both H.A.W.K. and Fat Pat, a verse from Mike D and Kay-K give the song the distinction of being one of only a handful with that combination of S.U.C. members. Over chimes and warbles, the hook sermonizes one of the many mission statements of S.U.C.
H.A.W.K. "You Already Know" (2002)
Producer: Tenot
Album: HAWK
Label: Game Face Entertainment
Few S.U.C. tracks make women the subject of the song, or their intended audience. "You Already Know" does this, but in the nicest (for S.U.C.) way possible: a smooth, mid-tempo r&b groove about a side chick. It's surprisingly one of the only popular S.U.C. songs to use southern colloquialism "you already know" as the hook. That, and the fact that the album it came from charted at number 45 on the Billboard Rap chart, make it impossible to leave off of the list.
Fat Pat "Tops Drop" (1998)
Producer: J Slash
Album: Ghetto Dreams
Label: Wreckshop Records
Fat Pat was poised to become a huge success, having appeared on several S.U.C. mixtapes and working on two albums between 1997 and 1998. Tragically, both albums were released posthumously. He was shot and killed on February 3, 1998, while going to pick up an appearance fee from a promoter. The single "Tops Drop," from his debut album Ghetto Dreams, is an ode to southern car culture; sitting low on 4's, woodgrain gripping, and of course, dropping your top. The first 30 seconds of "Tops Drop" build anticipation like nothing else. The bass kicks in, and synths trill over it, working themselves to a crescendo before the beat drops into a thumping groove.
Trae "Give My Last Breath" (2007)
Producer: Mr. Lee
Album: Life Goes On
Label: Rap-A-Lot Records
"Give My Last Breath" is a ballad to Big H.A.W.K., released after he was tragically gunned down in 2007. It recycles lines from H.A.W.K.'s verse in "Swang," about bringing back his brother, Fat Pat. The succession is a Russian doll of memorial songs, with each further incarnation more masterfully drawing out its grief. This time, the acoustic elements of the song pander well to Trae's insistent rasp.
Z-Ro f/ Lil' O "Can't Leave Drank Alone" (2009)
Producer: Big E
Album: Cocaine
Label: Rap-A-Lot Records
"Can't Leave Drank Alone" is great because it acknowledges a seldom addressed aspect of Screw culture: maybe drank should be left alone. Z-Ro's lines speak to the addictive nature of lean: "Y'all would think that with three felony cases I would leave drank alone." Lil' O's verse is illuminated by the painfully candid line about hearing a slain S.U.C member speak to him while leaning: "I could hear HAWK sayin' / Mayne you trippin', O." Z-Ro delivers his trademark warm, gospel-esque singing throughout, making the song feel very familiar. Though, that may be because it borrows the melody from Jodeci's "Feenin'."
A.B.N. "No Help" (2008)
Producer: Q-Stone
Album: It Is What It Is
Label: Rap-A-Lot Records
Assholes by Nature, the S.U.C duo Trae and Z-Ro, are adored by Houston rap fans. While neither has achieved staying power in the mainstream hip-hop audience, both are bastions of underground H-Town rap. "No Help" is a more contemplative version of Z-Ro's "One Deep," featuring lines from the latter like, "Don't come around my way, cause I don't need a/ 'Nother fairweather friend, with a trick up his sleeve". Set over a down-tempo r&b jawn, "No Help" reiterates one of the heartbreaking realities of career rappers: sometimes people don't hold you down like they should.
Big Moe f/ D-Gotti "Purple Stuff" (2002)
Producer: Salih Williams
Album: Purple World
Label: Wreckshop Records
Purple drank, lean—the sprite and cough syrup drink goes by many names. The S.U.C.'s love for the stuff is well documented, but none more than Big Moe's. "Barre Baby" was, locally, Moe's most beloved hit, but it was "Purple Stuff" that broke the top 40. In the song, his syrupy vocals float over wonky staccato horns. The combination created a playful ditty about the S.U.C.'s drink of choice.
Yungstar f/ Lil Flex "Knocking Pictures Off Da Wall" (1998)
Producer: Jhaime Music
Album: Throwed Yung Playa
Label: Straight Profit Records
Yungstar's thick twang and creaky voice rings out across the thrumming bass line, immediately becoming the focal-point of the track. This was his post "Wanna Be a Baller" declaration, a small but important hit that cemented him as a notable player in the S.U.C. Lil Flex's subsequent career was spent in large part in a battle with Lil' Flip, but for Youngstar, it was the touch down celebration after reaching the endzone.
Z-Ro "II Many Ni**az" (2004)
Producer: Sean "Solo" Jemison
Album: The Life of Joseph W. McVey
Label: Rap-A-Lot Records
On this fan favorite, Z-Ro drops contemplative bars about everything from unfair police treatment to the real cost of striving for materialism (according to the song, he thinks flashy items made targets out of his friends who were gunned down). He covers a lot of ground, and S.U.C fans are here for it.
Big Pokey f/ Big Steve "Who Dat" (1999)
Producer: Harvey Luv
Album: Hardest Pit In The Litter
Label: Chevis Entertainment
Hardest Pit in The Litter was Big Pokey's first album, a surprisingly well-rounded (if long) debut for the S.U.C. member. It featured other catchy singles ("Ball-N' Parlay"), but the sleeper hit was "Who Dat." Pinched synths of 90's screw can be admired in retrospect, but "Who Dat" has aged well. The minimal production is the perfect canvas for Big Pokey and Big Steve to brush their broad, singsongy vocals over.
Z-Ro "One Deep" (2006)
Producer: Mike Dean
Album: I'm Still Livin'
Label: Rap-A-Lot Records
"Y'all niggas don't have to fuck with me/Cause I can do bad just being one deep"
Z-Ro belts the first line of this song like a gospel solo. It makes sense—he's as convinced in his self-sufficiency as the most devout Christians are in Jesus. Although he was a late addition to the Screwed Up Click, he made up for the time lost by consistently churning out albums (he's put out 16 projects since 1998). "One Deep" came after the runaway screw hits of the 90's, but it's message has made it a favorite of S.U.C. fans everywhere.
