Houston is one of hip-hop’s meccas. When it comes to the dirty south, Atlanta, New Orleans, and Houston are the names that come to mind. Home to everything from underground legends to mainstream superstars. H-Town has had an impact on music from slang, to cars, to jewelry, to production, and also holds a place in the art of the “freestyle.” Even rap’s biggers star, Drake, was MADE in Houston. According to local radio personality and hip-hop influencer AshleeOnAir, setting trends is something Houston does naturally.
As a young hip-hop listener, I grew up listening to a plethora of Houston cats like UGK, Scarface and the Geto Boys, Slim Thug and the Swisha House movement, Devin The Dude, Z-Ro, and many of Mike Dean’s contributions to the genre. As of late, we’ve been covering the likes of Travis Scott, Maxo Kream, Megan Thee Stallion, DJ X.O., D Flowers, and StackzTooTrill.
There’s a lot of new names coming out from the city, some already catapulted into hip-hops higher atmosphere and others making a name out the mud in within the city limits. We wanted to get the low down on the scene from a macro view and thought of none other than 93.7 The Beat’s AshleeOnAir. Check out our interview with the Houston media personality and hip-hop aficionado below.
1. Top 5-10 H-Town artists out right now? (no need to name Travis Scott/Superstar or legendary level artists)
- Megan thee Stallion – without a doubt, Meg is holding it down one for Houston, two for women and three for actual bars. We’ve seen her movement take storm on social media, but she is a whole entire movement out here and stays repping South Park
- Maxo Kream – from the SWAT, Maxo and I had a really eye-opening conversation about artists from Houston having to LEAVE in order to ‘make it,’ which is what he had to do. His project ‘Brandon Banks’ comes out 7/19, he has a billboard up off 59, in his hood, with the single, ‘She Live,’ was jus to JMBLYA and Rolling Loud, Maxo’s one of the most thorough dudes out here.
- Dice Soho/Trill Sammy – They are two solo artists but their movement in the young Houston scene and the younger generation is fierce. They live in LA, but always back home in the community. Dice and I are good friends and he’s always cookin up with a wide array of artists. They both keep their finger on what’s hot and collaborating with who’s hot.
- Doeman Dyna – Doeman and I met at SXSW this year, but he is absolute BARS. His manager and I met a while before that, and I’ve been on him ever since. We also had an in-depth convo about Hispanic hip hop artists having to work twice as hard to earn respect, but he is absolute complete bars.
- Don Toliver – Don is with Travis and Cactus Jack, but his artistry is crazy. Someone, everyone Houston is excited about and can’t wait to see him really pop that superstar bubble.
- **Honorable mention: Ashton Travis – he just signed to Def Jam, but his pen and his artistry are ALSO CRAZY. He used to collab with Travis and OG Chase B early on. I”m excited about him.
2. Your opinion on the local scene and where it’s at currently?
Young Houston has Travis, Megan, Maxo, Lizzo, Dice and Sammy, Don Toliver, Ashton Travis, XO, Boston George, Tisa Korean, Doeman Dyna all totally different styles and they’re all making waves right now. With the internet, if you’re genuine and people rock with you – they’re going to rock with you regardless. Something Houston is known for is being influential and setting the trends, and that’s what all these artists are doing.
3. Rap-A-Lot / The Prince Family’s influence on the region?
The Prince’s are royalty around Houston, one of them is at every show, every community event; they have their finger on the pulse of the city. But they are also smart businessmen that make smart and calculated moves, so if you see Jr, Sr, Jas or Mike with somebody, you know that new artist is something serious. Jas is management to YK Osiris right now and we see how he’s building crazy, it’s nothing but smart business moves. Mob Ties.
4. Your favorite thing about Houston’s hip-hop scene?
I got introduced to Houston hip-hop during the Swisha House/ chopped and screwed era, and even when somebody would 1-off pop like a Kirko Bangz, I thought that’s just what Houston hip-hop would continue to sound like.. and though Houston takes hella pride in that genre, (shoutout OG Ron C, Hollygrove, Candlestick the Chopstars), there are so many different sounds coming out of the city. You have the Travis movement, You have R&B with Chris Landry, who is Bobby Valentino’s new artist, Tisa Korean, he’s a whole new fresh vibe.. Megan, a female talking that slick pimp shit, still got the trap sound with a Boston George too, there’s so much variety coming out of the region, the Houston hip-hop movement is building back up easily.
5. Who are a few artists you think are prime to break from Houston to the mainstream?
Megan thee Stallion and Maxo easily, they are already doing that as we speak – congrats to Megan being on the XXL Freshman 2019 cover, but she is already just outta here. Maxo already has the fan base in Houston and outside and that ‘She Live’ record is a HIT, those two I know for sure are just poppin. Also, though she’s considered ‘pop,’ Lizzo is killing the game right now.
6. Anything else on local Houston music?
Even though I’m not from here, I’m so grateful I was chosen to be part of the Houston music scene during such an exciting time. To go from DMing Megan last year for an interview, getting to meet her mom and T. Farris, before the 300 deal, her team is literally like family to me. And now, watching her build into what she is now and meeting Maxo, Dice, Doeman, Boston George, just watching all these people grind and put on for their city is an honor to me. Just look out for Houston man, the new generation bout to SHUT SHIT DINE as we say.
