D N A T S E W D E T I N U E FROST IK M : S O T O H P DOUGLAS N H G U A V e D : S WORD
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“At the last SXSW I was DJing to a real mixed crowd. So I put on some Kelly Clarkson and started screwing and chopping it.”
y now, the whole world knows of Swishahouse’s rise to fame: A small label headed by DJ Michael “5000” Watts which produced its own northside brand of screwed music popularized by southside Houston legend DJ Screw. Throughout the late 90s Swishahouse carved out a niche in Southern music putting out the music of regional stars Slim Thug, Chamillionaire, Mike Jones, Paul Wall and others. The label, like many other Houston acts, seemed content selling hundreds of thousands of records independently and maintaining their local celebrity status. That all changed last year with the breakthrough success of Mike Jones’ “Still Tippin’,” which led the charge of Houston rap music onto the national stage. Slim Thug has now appeared on top selling tracks with Beyonce and Gwen Stefani and continues to make noise on Pharrell’s Star Trak label. Chamillionaire has a platinum album and won both an OZONE Award and a MTV Video Music Award for his “Ridin’ Dirty” video. Every rapper is running down South to have Port Arthur natives Pimp C and Bun B bless them with 16 bars, and that small label started by Watts and T Farris boasts two of rap’s biggest names with more to come. Thanks to Biggie, the whole world also knows that with more money come more problems, and Swishahouse is going through a couple growing pains. Rumors have been circulating about Mike Jones and his break with the label so that he can run his own label, Ice Age Entertainment. Swishahouse is also breaking away from Asylum Records, the division of Warner that helped bring their brand of screwed and chopped music to the masses. These two situations alone are large enough to topple any record label, but Swishahouse remains optimistic about their future; a future which includes Mike Jones, a new label, and an expanded roster of artists including a southside Houston legend.
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arlier this year, magazines began to report that Mike Jones was no longer with Swishahouse and planned to devote all his attention towards his own Ice Age Entertainment. He separated with his original management and hired Rap-A-Lot Records to represent him, placing considerable doubt on the release of his sophomore album The American Dream. Then, almost as soon as the controversy began, Jones and Swishahouse were working together again, leaving fans to question what exactly happened. It is a question which Swishahouse exec Mike Clarke believes has an easy answer. “In the beginning of a relationship everything is really good because it’s simple,” explains Clarke of the Jones situation. “I think you hear about Mike Jones because the relationship between him and us is more complex. There are a lot more royalties and dollars that need to be split up. Artists like The Rolling Stones routinely renegotiate as their situation becomes more complex. Nobody questions the complexity of that situation. It’s just that when that when rappers do it, people think it’s beef. One of our artists acquired a lot of success so we went back and negotiated with him. People mistake that for animosity when there is none.” In response to Swishahouse’s feelings about Ice Age, Clarke is clear. “From day one we’ve been supportive of Mike Jones’s Ice Age movement. Ice Age is not an entity of Swishahouse so we would not actively promote it, but it’s nothing that we would try to stop or kill.” With one of their top selling artists back on board, Swishahouse execs now feel that it is time to leave Asylum Records and seek out a new home. Clarke further explains, “There is no problem with Asylum. They are designed to be an incubator label, meaning they take up and coming labels and groom them to get them ready for that next level. Swishahouse just reached that next level much quicker than anyone’s anticipation. We got value from the relationship with Asylum and now that they have helped us build our brand it’s time for both of us to move forward. Right now we are just looking for the best place for our team.” 46
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hat is your take on the artists that feel you are profiting off of DJ Screw’s legacy? Watts: First of all, we can’t take from DJ Screw. That’s his name. I know a lot of people feel differently but I look at the music like an art form like jazz or rock. It just happens to be that DJ Screw created it out here. I think people should look at it as more of an honor because his name carries right along with it. Okay, what do you have that’s about to come out? Watts: We have The Day Hell Broke Loose Part 3. It’s a compilation that comes out every year and a half. The first one broke Slim Thug, Paul Wall, Chamillionaire, and Mike Jones. For the new album we have some new artists like Coota Bang, Archie Lee, E Class, and Yung Redd as well as Paul Wall and Lil Keke. Any plans to screw other artist’s music? Watts: Yeah that hasn’t changed, but now I’m opening up the playing field a little. At first I did a lot of Southern music but now I’ve branched off into doing rock. I’ve also been doing some overseas stuff with people from Japan. Japan? What artists are you working with from there? Watts: There is a group signed to Def Jam called Teriyaki Boyz. They’re part of the Bathing Ape clique. I screwed and chopped their record. So you’re trying to expand the sound of the label? Watts: Yeah, exactly. The Swishahouse movement has a wide fan base – from rock to rap to R&B. The thing is now trying to get involved with all those genres. I heard you recently worked with the rock group Korn. Watts: Rock is just something I always digged. I just really did it for the