A Screwed Up History: March 28, 2012

Moderators

Julie Grob

Julie Grob is Coordinator for Digital Projects and Instruction for Special Collections at the University of Houston Libraries, where she works with faculty to introduce students to primary source materials and provides oversight for the development of digital collections.

Grob has published articles in RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cultural Heritage and portal: Libraries and the Academy, and a book chapter in Past is Portal: Teaching Undergraduates Using Special Collections and Archives. She curates collections in the areas of literature, World War II history, and Houston hip hop.

Maco L. Faniel

A native Houstonian, Maco L. Faniel is currently a graduate student in History at Texas Southern University. After earning his M.A. in August 2012, he will pursue doctoral studies in History. His current research project is entitled "Houston! Can Anything Good Come From There: The Historical Context of Houston's Hip hop Culture, 1979 – 1991." He received his B.A. in Speech and Communications from Texas A&M University.

Faniel has written for the Houston Defender, Tre‘ Magazine, Regal Magazine, and TheBlackSnob.com. He teaches GED courses through Houston Community College, teaches life skills at a local homeless shelter for youth, and is an active board member of the Bread of Life, Inc.

Lance Scott Walker

New York-based writer Lance Scott Walker is a native of Galveston, Texas whose work has appeared in the Houston Chronicle, Houston Press, 002 Houston, Free Press Houston, Dazed and Confused, Fader, Vice, RollingStone.com and USA Today. He co-produced the 2007 music documentary Screwed in Houston for VBS.tv along with fellow native Texan and New York-based documentary photographer Peter Beste. Most recently, Walker and Beste have collaborated on a book of interviews and photographs called Houston Rap, which is due out in Fall 2012.

Langston Collin Wilkins

Langston Collin Wilkins is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Folklore & Ethnomusicology at Indiana University. A native of Houston, Texas, he received a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Texas at Austin. He also holds master's degrees in African-American & African Diaspora Studies and Folklore & Ethnomusicology from Indiana University. He specializes in African-American music and culture and his in progress dissertation focuses on the relationship between music and place in hip hop culture.

Dr. Ronald J. Peters

Dr. Ron Peters is an Associate Professor of Behavioral Sciences at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health. Dr. Peters has held faculty appointments at the University of Houston, Houston Baptist University, Prairie View A&M University, and Texas Southern University. He also served as the Director of the Historically Black College and University Applied Research Initiative with the Southwest Prevention Center and was the principal investigator of the "Houston Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program" funded through the National Institute of Justice.

Dr. Peters has published over 75 peer-reviewed papers in the professional literature and his research has been featured on ABC News, CBS News, CNN, ESPN, National Public Radio, NBC News, NFL Live, and in USA Today.

Matt Sonzala

Longtime champion of the Houston hip hop scene, Matt Sonzala is a Music Festival Coordinator for South by Southwest, booking hip hop for the internationally known music festival. Sonzala got his start as a music writer, penning articles on Houston rap for publications including Source and Murder Dog. In 2002, he started the influential radio show "Damage Control" with DJ Chill on KPFT. In 2005, he began blogging about hip hop, first at houstonsoreal.blogspot.com and now at austinsurreal.blogspot.com. He is a frequent speaker at conferences, including the Moshito Music Conference in South Africa.

Dr. Anthony B. Pinn

Anthony B. Pinn holds degrees from Columbia University (BA) and Harvard University (MDiv., MA, PhD). He is currently Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities and Professor of Religious Studies at Rice University. He is also director of research for the Institute for Humanist Studies (Washington, DC). Pinn's areas of interest include religion and popular culture, contemporary theologies, humanism, theory of African American religion, and religious aesthetics. He is author/editor of twenty-six books, including Noise and Spirit: The Religious and Spiritual Sensibilities of Rap Music (2003).

Artists / Panelists

Big Pokey

Warning Shot, Oarfin Records, (2010)
Evacuation Notice, Koch Records, (2008)
D-Game 2000, Chevis Entertainment, (2000)
Hardest Pit in the Litter, Chevis Entertainment, (1999)

Chingo Bling

Masahouse (with Michael Watts), Big Chile Enterprises, (2012)
They Can't Deport Us All, Asylum/Big Chile Enterprises, (2007)
The Tamale Kingpin, Big Chile Enterprises/Harves, (2005)
Duro en la Pintura (mixtape), (2002)

DJ Chill

Damage Control, KPFT 90.1 FM (with Lil' Randy and Young Zeak)

ESG

Owner's Manual, Pyramid Media, (2011)
(With Slim Thug) Boss Hogg Outlaws, S.E.S. Entertainment, (2000)
Sailin' da South, Perrion Entertainment/Priority Records, (1995)
Ocean of Funk, Perrion Entertainment, (1994)

Steve Fournier

DJ, Rhinestone Wrangler and other clubs
Founder, Rap Pool of America
Publisher, The Rap Connection

Meshah Hawkins (wife of HAWK)

HAWK, Endangered Species, Ghetto Dreams Entertainment, (2007)
HAWK, HAWK, Game Face Entertainment, (2001)
HAWK, Under H.A.W.K.'s Wings, Dead End Records, (2001)
Dead End Alliance (D.E.A.), Screwed for Life, Dead End Records, (1998)

Jukebox

Ghetto Boys, Makin' Trouble, Rap-A-Lot Records, (1988)
Ghetto Boys, "Car Freak" 12", Rap-A-Lot Records, (1987)

K-Rino

Deeper Elevation, Black Book International, (2012)
Book Number 7, Black Book International, (2007)
Time Traveler, Black Book International, (2006)
Stories from the Black Book, Electric City Records, (1993)

Lil' Keke

Testimony, Hustletown, (2011)
Loved by Few, Hated by Many, Universal Motown, (2008)
It Was All a Dream, Jam Down,(1999)
Don't Mess wit Texas, Jam Down, (1997)

Lil' Randy

Damage Control, KPFT 90.1 FM (with DJ Chill and Young Zeak)
Trae Day 2011 (Lil' Randy mixtape)
A Letter to Screw (Lil' Randy mixtape)
96 Live (DJ Screw mixtape/Lil' Randy and Ron'O personal)

Paul Wall

Heart of a Champion, Swishahouse/Asylum, (2010)
Get Money, Stay True, Swishahouse/Atlantic, (2007)
The People's Champ, Swishahouse/Asylum, (2005)
(With Chamillionaire) Get Ya Mind Correct, Paid in Full, (2002)

Willie D

Geto Boys, The Foundation, Rap-A-Lot Records/Asylum, (2004)
Loved by Few, Hated by Many, Rap-A-Lot Records/Virgin Music America, (2000)
Geto Boys, We Can't Be Stopped, Rap-A-Lot Records/Priority Records, (1991)
Geto Boys, The Geto Boys, Rap-A-Lot Records/Priority Records, (1990)

Z-Ro

Meth, Rap-A-Lot Records, (2011)
Crack, Rap-A-Lot Records, (2008)
The Life of Joseph W. McVey, Rap-A-Lot Records/Asylum, (2004)
Look What You Did To Me, Fisherboy Entertainment, (1998)