Posted on 05/02/2006 10:28:25 AM PDT by WestTexasWend
HOUSTON — Big Hawk, a Houston rapper whose 2001 album reached No. 45 on Billboard's rap chart, was shot to death, police said Tuesday.
Hawk, whose real name was John Edward Hawkins, was a member of the late DJ Screw's rap collective the Screwed Up Click and brother to rapper Fat Pat, who was killed in 1998.
Hawk had planned to meet a friend Monday night but apparently arrived before the friend and walked to the side of the house where he was shot several times, police said. He died at the scene.
Police do not have a suspect and their only lead involves a witness who saw a white compact car with tinted windows nearby shortly after the shooting, HPD spokesman John Cannon said.
Hawk, 36, scored a regional hit with 2002's "You Already Know" and was recently featured on the popular single "Swang" by Trae that included a posthumous contribution from Hawk's brother. His 2001 self-titled album reached No. 45 on Billboard's list of top R&B and rap albums.
Hawk's verse on "Swang" includes a tribute to Fat Pat and DJ Screw, which says in part:
"I'ma swang, and a swang, and a swang to the left, pop my trunk for Fat Pat's death. I would give my last breath if I could bring you back, bring Screw back, a matter of fact bring the whole crew back."
Hawk was respected in the Houston underground rap scene and appeared on numerous mixtapes from artists such as Paul Wall, Lil' Flip, Z-Ro, E.S.G, Lil' Keke and Big Pokey.
DJ Screw, who died in 2000, and the Screwed Up Click popularized Houston's hypnotic, slowed-down style of rap called screw music.
Never heard of Big Hawk. How many rappers have now been shot to death or suicides?
How many Jazz artists are shot in a year? How many Swing band leaders? How many Rock and Rollers? How many Vocalists? Combined?
HIGHER & FASTER would be nice...
Semper Fi
So many Artistes, so few bullets!
he's a Lil' dead.
LOL! I would like to know what the rest of the kids in that family are called. :o)
"Rapper Shot to Death" is not news.
"Rapper Dies of Old Age Surrounded by Friends and Family Menbers" Now that would be news!
Well obviously somebody dissed him big time by shooting him.
I don't know about the others, but as far the Rock and rollers and Vocalists: not enough!
The day the music died.
LOL
sadly, this is one of those days people will remember where they were when they heard this awful news. I just returned from the Department of Motor vehicles and all I saw was hundreds of state workers standing around, doing nothing, appearing listless, you could tell how this terrible loss is affecting people.
Nope. Uh-uh! Not gonna touch it.
A real shakespearan tragedy. I had all his albums.
http://www.geocities.com/~jbenz/elsinore.html
Basically this is similar to the Jamaican dub technique - DJ Screw would take beats or melodies from songs and cut and paste the parts he liked together using rough transitions like scratches and skipped beats ("chopping"), while slowing down the tempo to make the beat sound slightly "off" ("screwing").
He did this in order to reproduce the effects that being "screwed" on "lean" has on one's perception of music.
"Lean" is Houston slang for codeine syrup.
The Screwed Up Click is basically a group of musically inclined friends and hangers-on of DJ Screw, many of whom were and are involved in the "lean" trade.
DJ Screw himself died of a codeine overdose, though some claim that his codeine was spiked with "ice" or methamphetamine.
Fat Pat may have died in a "lean" deal gone sour and the circumstances of Big Hawk's death look a little suspicious as well.
The Screwed Up Click is one of the most integrated hiphop crews in the US, with their major star right now being Paul Wall, a white Houstonian.
He couldn't carry Screaming Jay Hawkins' jock strap.
Big Hawk, now Dead Duck.
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