Houston's rap, hip-hop scene goes Unwired

H Town's hottest stars get a chance to burn up MTV
By MICHAEL D. CLARK
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Houston's rap, hip-hop scene goes Unwired
H Town's hottest stars get a chance to burn up MTV
By MICHAEL D. CLARK
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

"You watching, MTV?" Houston rapper Paul Wall asks at the beginning of tonight's concert show Nokia Unwired at Hard Rock Live.
Associated Press
Slim Thug will perform cuts off his major label debut, Already Platinum.

MTV won't be the only one watching as Wall and Slim Thug accompany headliner Mike Jones during the season premiere of the half-hour program. Hip-hop fans across the country will be tuned in, thanks to a landmark year for Houston rap that has broken it beyond regional constraints.

This H-Town trio was an ideal combo to mark the return of the show formerly titled Hard Rock Live. Jones' major label debut, Who Is Mike Jones?, has sold 1 million copies, and anticipation for Slim's new record, Already Platinum (released Tuesday), and Wall's The People's Champ (due Sept. 13) is high.

Jones, whose album sparked national notoriety for Houston's rap scene earlier this year, is the focus of tonight's episode.

The show's announcer sums up the local vibe best before a commercial break, boasting that Jones, Wall and Slim will "show how Houston throws it down."

Taped at the Hard Rock Live venue at the Universal Studios' CityWalk in Orlando, Fla., the five-song performance offers a quick sample of each artist's verbal skills.

Jones' opens with Turning Lane and Back Then, two growling slams from Who Is Mike Jones? that show his success in finding the middle ground between harder rap styles of the '90s and the hook-laden choruses that made Eminem so hard to resist.

Sittin' Sidewayz, Wall's current hit single is equally hooky, while Slim's I Ain't Heard of That, the centerpiece single of Already Platinum, is re-created just as it is on the disc with DJ scratches and backing vocals from veteran Houston "gangsta" rapper Bun B of UGK.

Future episodes of Nokia Unwired at Hard Rock Live will feature Simple Plan (July 20), Good Charlotte (Aug. 3), Atlanta rap duo the Ying Yang Twins (Aug. 10), My Chemical Romance (Aug. 31) and alt-rock icons Weezer (Sept. 7).

NOKIA UNWIRED AT HARD ROCK LIVE
• Starring: Mike Jones, Paul Wall, Slim Thug, Bun B
• Air time: 7 tonight on MTV



http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/headline/entertainment/3263278