About Houston’s Third Ward – Musical Home to Big Floyd
In our previous blog post [https://alldatnoise.com/2020/06/16/george-floyd-was-a-houston-rapper-and-hip-hop-artist/], we talked about the involvement that George Floyd [aka Big Floyd] had in Houston’s Third Ward Music Scene. Let’s take a closer look at the Third Ward.
Texas’ Third Ward is home not only to Big Floyd, but also to other artists such as the late DJ Screw [a friend and collaborator of Big Floyd’s] and Beyoncé Knowles [who frequently makes Third Ward “shout-outs”]. Drake, though not from the Third Ward, has adopted it as his representative city. Many other rappers reference this district in their lyrics, too. It is nicknamed “The Tre.”
Houston’s Third Ward is home to the “chopped and screwed / screw-top” music scene, of which George Floyd was a part of. It is a hub for Texas rap and hip-hop.
Ronnie Lillard [artist name: Reconcile] was a friend of George Floyd’s and got to know him through church connections. Lillard said that Floyd listened not only to screw-top, but to a lot of Christian hip-hop, as well. Check out Reconcile’s music video below, which was filmed in the neighborhoods of the Third Ward:
About “Never Would Have Made It” [the Christian rap song shown above], Reconcile says, “We actually shot that in Cuney Homes Projects, right in the middle of the court. It sounds like the most Houston music you can make. You’ve got the organs, keys, because that was the sound of Texas rap. You’ve got that church influence.”
Alongside music, Reconcile [Ronnie Lillard] is involved in youth ministry and juvenile detention outreach. “Floyd coming out of jail and changing his life and becoming somebody who was a beacon of light and hope and refuge and a mentor and everything that he became, that’s what we pray to see happen to young men.”
Photos:
