Houston rap

But this year, I totally disagree with how they’re trying to categorize us. You know how they make us look on TV? Like we live on the front porch with flies and shit flying around us, with our stomachs all big eating watermelon rinds? That ain’t us, man. -Scarface-

Southern Shift TV sat down with Houston activist and spoken word artist, Deniz Lopez aka Dee-Colonize and talked to her about a variety of topics. We started out talking to her about the meaning behind her stage name 'Dee-Colonize' and the importance of one freeing their mind and breaking away from trappings of materialism. She also spit a nice piece for us that captured that essence.

In pt2 of our interview w/ Houston activist and spoken word artist Deniz Lopez aka Dee-Colonize we touch upon the history of indigenous and Brown folks in Houston. She says its still a border town to her. She also discusses the challenge of having Black & Brown unity in the sprawling city. We conclude by addressing the issue of police brutality. In 2009 60 people were shot by police in Houston and Harris county. Dee-Colonize does a a spoken word piece on this topic.

Matt Sonzala is a long time fixture in the Texas Hip Hop scene. He started off doing a popular radio show in Houston on our sister station KPFT called Damage Control. Him and co-host Zin who now does SOS Radio were key in granting many of Houston’s now big time stars from Paul Wall to Bun B to Chamillionaire crucial exposure when many were overlooking music coming from Texas...

We caught up w/ Houston rap star Chingo Bling who talked to us about the upcoming governor's race, education and young people and his love for custom made cowboy boots. Chingo showed off his new 'Air Chingo' boots.