This Week in Texas Music History we meet the most sonorous mc of Houston’s Screwed Up Click.
Episodes written by Jason Mellard, Alan Schaefer, and Avery Armstrong
On August 20, 1974, rapper Kenneth Moore, better known as Big Moe, was born in Houston. He attended Jack Yates High and got his start in hip-hop as an original member of the Screwed-up Click, performing on DJ Screw’s mixtapes created in his Southside home.
Big Moe’s singing voice was an anchor on those tapes, including the iconic 1996 June 27th freestyle. In 2000, Big Moe’s debut album City of Syrup appeared with Wreckshop Records, a document that helped solidify the themes and iconography of Houston’s contributions to Southern hip-hop. It also featured a cross-section of DJ Screw’s collaborators including Screw himself, Big Hawk, Big Pokey, and ESG.
Big Moe’s style was distinctive, alternating between a slowed-down flow and melodious R&B songcraft, a style Big Moe called “rapsinging.” His sophomore album Purple World dropped in 2002 with the breakout single “Purple Stuff.” The song’s vibrant, psychedelic oompah-loompah themed video got Big Moe into serious rotation at MTV. “Purple Stuff” made it to number three on the Billboard hip-hop chart, success that helped the Houston scene break through nationally.
The album Moe Life with single “Just a Dog” came out in 2003, and Houston hip-hop’s influence went stratospheric in 2005—the year of Mike Jones’ “Still Tippin’,” Bun B’s “Draped Up,” and Chamillionaire’s “Ridin.’” Big Moe was in the mix and on the rise, but a 2007 heart attack tragically cut his career short. A decade later, in 2017, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner officially declared August 20th “Big Moe Day” in the city to honor his legacy.
Sources:
Carolyn M. Davis in Laurie E. Jasinski, Gary Hartman, Casey Monahan, and Ann T. Smith, eds. The Handbook of Texas Music. Second Edition. Denton, TX: Texas State Historical Association, 2012.
Shelby Stewart, “Barre Baby: Remembering Houston Rapper Big Moe on His 47th Birthday,” Houstonia Mag, August 20, 2021.
Lance Scott Walker. DJ Screw: A Life in Slow Revolution. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2022.
Lance Scott Walker. Houston Rap Tapes: An Oral History of Bayou City Hip-Hop. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2018.
