WELCOME TO HOUSTON 9. Sharpstown Mall (7500 Bellaire Blvd.) Houston’s #1 “Hood Mall,” you can get everything here from the latest mixtapes to the latest fashions to gold and platinum grills and chains. Paul Wall and TV Johnny’s spot is located here as well. 10. Breakfast Klub (3710 Travis St.)
www.thebreakfastklub.com You won’t find a better breakfast in the entire span of Houston. Their unique menu runs the gamut from Chicken & Waffles to Crawfish Etouffee with Katfish.
11. Screwed Up Records & Tapes (7717 Cullen Blvd.) www.screweduprecords.com Opened just a short time before he died, DJ Screw’s Screwed Up Records and Tapes is still the main place to get your hands on the man’s extensive catalog, South Side oriented,T-Shirts, and new mixes by Screw’s cousin Big Baby. 12. SF2 (215 W. Greens Rd.)
myspace.com/sf2store The spot for exclusive Hip Hop and streetwear, SF2 has their own lines designed by Houston heroes like Mike Frost and Happy Perez as well as all the new Nikes, New Eras and shirts that look like a Pokemon vomited on them. Which, for many, is obviously not a bad thing.
13. Premium Goods (premiumgoods.net)
Located just steps from the prestigious campus of Rice University, this small boutique stocks the most exclusive shoes you will find anywhere in Texas, alongside their own lines of streetwear and gear from around the world.
14.Warehouse Live (813 St. Emanuel St.) www.warehouselive.com When this venue opened in Houston, no one could have guessed the impact it would have. Hosting everything from hood rap to major label rock, Warehouse Live serves every musical community in Houston and boasts one of the most professional sound systems in the city. 15. Rap-A-Lot Records (2141 W. Governors
Circle) www.rapalotrecords.com For more than 20 years Rap-A-Lot Records has brought the hottest music from the southern streets to the world. If you can get past the gates, you’re in for a musical history lesson on par with walking into the Motown Museum.
16. This Is It (207 W. Gray St.) www.thisisithouston.com The neighborhood that This Is It calls home used to be straight hood. 4th Ward / Freedmans Town was built on land donated to freed slaves, just after Texas got around to telling them they were free (two years after the rest of the South). Nowadays, with its close proximity to downtown, they are surrounded by yuppies and condos, but still provide some of the most succulent soul food you’ll find in H-Town. 17. Spec’s (2410 Smith St.)
EVENT LOCATIONS
1. George R. Brown Convention Center 2. Hilton Americas 3. Main Street - Venue, Vault, Club Glo 4. Four Seasons Hotel 5. The Roxy 6. Bar Rio 7. Dave & Busters 8. Warehouse Live 2 // OZONE OZONE AWARDS MAG 2008
www.specsonline.com The world’s largest liquor store is one of the most fun places a drinker could ever walk around on a Saturday afternoon. Beautiful women serve free samples of everything from Russian vodka to Chilean wines to Canadian beers while you peruse their unparalleled selection of beer, wine, liquor and cigars.
18. Texas Southern University (3100 Cleburne
St.) www.tsu.edu The historic Black university, located in Houston’s 3rd Ward, is a prime spot for watching young hotties strut their stuff back and forth between class. And their annual Battle of the Bands is one of Houston’s biggest musical events every time. (There’s plenty more spots to see in Houston, but all of these places are in fairly close proximity to downtown – by Texas standards, or quite easy to get to by car if you are staying downtown for the OZONE Awards).