chopped and screwed
what it is
''Chopped and screwed'' refers to a technique of remixing hip hop music which developed in the Houston, Texas hip hop scene in the 1990s. This is accomplished by slowing the tempo and applying techniques such as skipping beats, record scratching, stop-time and effecting portions of the music to make a "chopped-up" version of the original. The origin of the technique is usually attributed to DJ Screw, a Houston hip hop DJ who allegedly was inspired to this slow-paced technique by the local fad of consumption of "purple drank" (a term for the mixture of cough syrup containing codeine and promethazine with soft drinks and candy; the "purple haze" color which permeated the cough syrup has influenced the now-standard marking of "chopped and screwed albums" with a purplish exterior).
✦ start here: albums
✦ who's making it, level by level
level 1 · mainstream
the pop everyone knows
level 4 · further
art pop, hyperpop, and the underground
level 5 · all the way
deep experimental
✦ make chopped and screwed a playlist
turn these 17 artists into something you can press play on.
✦ nearby genres
questions
What is chopped and screwed?
''Chopped and screwed'' refers to a technique of remixing hip hop music which developed in the Houston, Texas hip hop scene in the 1990s. This is accomplished by slowing the tempo and applying techniques such as skipping beats, record scratching, stop-time and effecting portions of the music to make a "chopped-up" version of the original. The origin of the technique is usually attributed to DJ Screw, a Houston hip hop DJ who allegedly was inspired to this slow-paced technique by the local fad of consumption of "purple drank" (a term for the mixture of cough syrup containing codeine and promethazine with soft drinks and candy; the "purple haze" color which permeated the cough syrup has influenced the now-standard marking of "chopped and screwed albums" with a purplish exterior).
What are good chopped and screwed albums to start with?
Try YAYAYI by YAYAYI, Back to the Witchhouse by Black Kray, Red Dragon by Salem, and The Complete Myspace Collection, Vol. 4 by Lil B.
Who are some women making chopped and screwed?
musicisforgirls.com/genres/chopped-and-screwed/girls lists women, non-binary artists, and bands with women making chopped and screwed, from mainstream to underground.
genre notes from last.fm listeners · artists and albums from last.fm, updated 2026-10-21