DJ Screw
BPM Converter
Enter any track's BPM. Get the chopped & screwed equivalent. DJ Screw typically pitched records down 20–50%, creating that thick, syrup-slow sound that defined Third Ward Houston in the early 1990s.
Who Was DJ Screw?
Robert Earl Davis Jr., known as DJ Screw, was a Houston rapper and DJ who invented the chopped and screwed style of remixing in the early 1990s. Born in Bastrop, Texas, he moved to Houston's Third Ward neighborhood where he began recording his now-legendary "Screw tapes" — mixtapes where he slowed records down by 20–50% and added stuttering "chops" by spinning records back repeatedly. He died on November 16, 2000, at age 29, from a codeine and promethazine overdose. His Screwed Up Records & Tapes (SURT) store on Guadalupe Street became a pilgrimage site for Houston music fans.
How Chopped & Screwed Works
The core technique involves two elements. "Screwed" refers to slowing the playback speed — traditionally done on belt-drive turntables that could be manually slowed by pressing against the platter. A 100 BPM track slowed by 33% becomes approximately 67 BPM, with the pitch dropping roughly 4–5 semitones. "Chopped" refers to the rhythmic record scratch and repeat effect, where the DJ spins the record back to repeat a word or musical phrase, creating a stutter. The combination of these two effects creates the thick, narcotic-paced sound associated with Houston rap.
The DJ Screw Chapter Tape Catalog
DJ Screw recorded over 300 "chapter tapes" between approximately 1993 and his death in 2000. The tapes were numbered as chapters and often featured guest appearances from Houston rappers including UGK (Bun B and Pimp C), Fat Pat, Big Hawk, Lil' Keke, Lil' Flip, ESG, and dozens of others. The University of Houston's Screw Music Corner digitized a significant portion of the catalog, though a complete verified tracklist for many tapes remains unfinished. Original physical copies are now valuable collectibles, with some tapes selling for hundreds of dollars.