DJ Screw – The Untold Story / 2006 Universal / 18 Tracks / http://www.djscrewfest.com / Reviewed 10 November 2006

Before I got this CD, I had no clue who DJ Screw was. After receiving this set, I began to understand exactly how much of a force that ey was in the creation of the current style of rap music. DJ Screw essentially created the screwed style of track modiciation, something that I personally associate with Mike Jones’ latest CD more than anything. This set includes a CD of tracks of artist that were close to DJ Screw as well as a DVD that features individuals including members of the Screwed Up Click (Lil' Keke, Fat Pat, Big Hawk, Big Pokey, Botany Boyz, Big Jut, Big Moe, Z-Ro, Lil' O, Trae, Dat Boy Grace, Southside Playaz, Lil' Head, Lil' 3rd, C-Ward, and E.S.G..).

Essentially, what this set does is give a contextual basis for the works of DJ Screw, as well as show eir influence in the Houston rap scene. Individuals may not have heard of eir before picking up this album, but chances are good that after purchasing this, interested fans will be picking up all the DJ Screw and DJ Screw-affiliated music that they can. The production quality of both the video and the audio in this CD/DVD set is stellar, to the degree that I could very well imagine “The Untold Story” being played on mTV, Encore, or even BET.

Hopefully in the future, this documentary can be packaged with DJ Screw’s first or last album, to really give an individuals a visual view of eir life, an audio view of the acts and artists that ey influenced, and a full blast of the music that ey created on eir own. The fact that an individual could have the foresight to make a rap revolution out of something in screwing that I would do with my albums when I stuck my finger down and made the vinyl go slower still astounds me. The fact that the tracks are so different from their full-speed counterparts is something that masses of the rap-listening public is finally starting to hear more of. It is just unfortunate that DJ crew is not with us now to see the rapid escalation in the level of fame of the screwed style, as I have little doubt that ey would be proud in the same way a father is proud of eir son. Pick this CD/DVD set up, pick DJ Screw’s disco up, and lock yourself in a room for a few weeks to soak it all in.

Rating: 7.1/10

[JMcQ]