Roosh Williams - Unorthodox

I usually save my shout outs for the end of the post but shouts to the homey and Houston rapper, Roosh Williams. His album, Unorthodox, dropped today so mosey on over to iTunes and get that.

When I moved back to Houston, one of the first things I did was try to figure out which young H-Town artists were new and making it happen. I googled upon a couple of Complex articles on the subject both written by Houston's very own hip-hop scribe, Shea Serrano. On the list of "The 10 Best Houston Rap Mixtapes of 2013" was a fellow by the name of Roosh Williams and his project deja roo: Times Have Changed. Downloaded it. Jammed it.

Fast forward to a couple of months ago, I was contacted to work on a photo story doing artist spotlights on Houston rappers. Roosh was one of the people I reached out to. Even though the story kind of fell through (new management), I got to kick it with Roosh for a few days while he did various rapper things like shoot a video, wear a Sub-Zero costume, play basketball, eat fajitas and open for Wale. Unfortunately, I was unable to follow him into a classroom where he occasionally moonlit as a substitute teacher (seriously). Oh well, maybe next time.

OH! We did get to play a couple of games of 1-on-1 in which I am reluctant to say...I lost. He shot like 80% from 3 and I just didn't believe in his jumper. Still don't, actually. But go get Unorthodox and go watch the video he did with Houston rap gawd, Scarface. In the meantime, I'll work on a negotiation for a hoop re-match.

Wale x Houston x House Of Blues

Last Thursday, I ran into an old DC friend of mine who goes by the name of Wale Folarin at the House of Blues in Houston. By friend of mine, I mean we simultaneously lived in the same tri-state area at one time in our lives. And by ran into, I mean I took pictures of him while he performed for several hundred other people in attendance.

I've been periodically shooting portraits and documentary stuff of the homey and Houston rapper Roosh Williams for a story/spotlight that might not ever see the light of day. Roosh was one of the openers for Wale and a got a text from him a few hours before the show asking me if I wanted to shoot it. Well, why the hell not? Got to the venue, shot Roosh (killed it, so did he), and waited a couple hours while a bunch of other cats I've never heard of performed. To his credit, Folarin came out before 10pm, rocking the Fragment Jordan 1 and then the crowd. I only stayed for the 3 songs I could shoot then drove my old ass home.

Shout out to Audio Push, those two dudes are ENERGETIC!