E.S.G.
Cedric Hill made one of the defining Houston records of the 1990s and was present at the formation of the Screwed Up Click, without ever getting the national attention several of his contemporaries did.
Early life and origins in Houston
He grew up in Houston's South Park, the neighbourhood that produced DJ Screw and most of the original Click. The name stands for Everyday Street Gangsta.
Swangin' and Bangin'
His 1994 debut and its title track are foundational Houston records. The song is about slab culture — customised cars, swangas, candy paint — and is one of the earliest to make that culture the explicit subject rather than the backdrop.
Album discography
Ocean of Funk (1994), Sailin' da South (1995), City Under Siege (1998), Shinin' n' Grindin' (2000) and a long independent catalogue since, including collaborative work with Slim Thug.
The Screwed Up Click
He was among the earliest voices on DJ Screw's tapes and appears across the catalogue. He also recorded with Fat Pat and Lil' Keke, and features on "25 Lighters", one of the most enduring records to come out of the scene.
What he is known for musically
A relaxed, melodic Southern delivery that suited screwed tempos naturally, over funk-derived production. He was making music designed to be slowed down, which is a fairly specific design brief.
Independence
He has released independently for most of his career and continues to. Like most of the Click, his commercial peak was regional and his influence travelled much further than his sales did.
Swangas and slab culture
"Swangin' and Bangin'" is about slabs — Slow, Loud and Bangin' — the customised Cadillacs and Lincolns with candy paint, wire wheels and protruding swanga rims that define Houston car culture. Making that the explicit subject of a record in 1994 helped codify the whole aesthetic.
Working with DJ Screw
He appears across the Screw tape catalogue from early on. His melodic, relaxed delivery worked particularly well at slowed tempos, and several of his best-known performances exist only as Screw tape freestyles.
25 Lighters
The DJ DMD record with Fat Pat and Lil' Keke, released in 1998, reached well beyond Texas and remains one of the two or three most recognisable Houston records of the decade. It has been sampled and referenced repeatedly since.
Later career
He has continued releasing independently, collaborated with Slim Thug and others, and remained a fixture in Houston. Like most of the original Click, his influence on how Southern rap sounds is considerably larger than his sales figures indicate.