By Carlton Wade
Original member of the late DJ Screw’s illustrious Screwed Up Click, South side Houston, Texas game spitter E.S.G. has banged out more trunk-rattling hits and mixtape freestyles than your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper. With a career that dates way back to the days of Screw’s infamous grey tapes, the Everyday Street Gangsta played a major factor in the popularization of the Lone Star State’s signature “chopped and screwed” style.
Now after keeping his faithful fan base satisfied for season after season with a string of albums, mixtapes and features, E.S.G. returns with the highly anticipated summer release of his umpteenth forthcoming G.O.A.T. Entertainment/SFL Malaco Records-distributed album The Owner’s Manual. Relax and take notes; this is the sound of success.
Block2Block: Tell me a little about the upcoming album The Owner’s Manual.
E.S.G.: It’s a monster. It’s a classic ready to be heard. I got records with Slim Thug, Z-Ro, Bun-B, Paul Wall and a couple of people in my camp. It’s that Ocean of Funk mixed with Return of the Living Dead with a splash of City Under Seize and Swangin’ and Bangin’. This is an album where you can get anything you want. It’s for everybody whether you’re struggling to survive or if you’re living above the recession.
The lead single “Internet Thugs” featuring Z-Ro has been causing quite a buzz online. How did that come about?
I did that for all of the Internet thugs out there as a word of caution. I leaked out “Internet Thugs” to let people know that I had an album coming. I don’t have an official single right now.
What kind of response have you been getting for your new music?
Every time I do a show and let people hear it, they love it. You can see it in their eyes. People think that a hit record is a sound. But like my partner always said, a hit record is a feeling.
You have been in the game for quite some time now. How have you managed to stay relevant over the years?
What are you talking about? I’m still a young artist (laughs jokingly). But really, I’m still in my prime. I’m still five years younger than Jay-Z. I stay relevant cause I stay touring the whole South. People want a new E.S.G. album. They wanna see the Screwed Up Click surviving and dropping good music. They wanna see the whole Houston keep dropping good music. And I’m gone make sure the Screwed Up Click lives on.
Do you feel that you played a part in laying the groundwork for other Houston artists who signed major label deals?
I dropped my first album Swangin’ and Bangin’ straight out of high school. We was so young; we was ahead of our time. By the time the world got to hear the Paul Walls and the Chamillionaires and Slim Thugs, we was doing everything on the independent scale that the world never got to hear. The light has never been shed on h town in general like it should have been.
You are the only solo artist to collectively sell one million units. But still you’re not known in certain parts of the country. Do you feel like you’ve been slept on?
Man, of course. The whole Screwed Up Click has been slept on. I was one of the first ones to ever sell 100,000 units independent for three (or) four times in a row. We was never in a major system where we could benefit from that.
That sounds lovely.
It was so lovely down here by us doing this independent that we didn’t really care about no DefJam. I’ve flew to New York and met with a couple of labels but they don’t understand the vision that we have. They would love a dumb nigga, an artist who creates a buzz and just willing to sign. They’re willing to take the 360 deals. That’s cool for a young artist; I guess. But when I came up, we ate off record sales and touring. Now, they’re trying to make it where you just eat off you’re touring.
How else has the independent music scene changed around Houston over the years?
By DJ Screw being gone, there is not as much Screw influence as it used to be. In Houston, the music scene is like it is in the rest of the country. A lot of the smaller mom and pop music stores have moved on. So a lot of people buy their music off the Internet and out of Target. But Targets don’t carry all of the independent music like a lot of other people carry it. Then, there’s only one powerhouse station in every city now and either Clear Channel or Radio One controls that. Everything is political. Back in the day, we had people putting up posters everywhere. But nowadays you get fines and tickets for putting up posters.
Have you suffered at all from all of these changes in the music industry?
I’ve been living the same way for years like a lot of these artists you see on MTV. I’ve been in my neighborhood for 11 years. It’s very secluded. Most people can’t afford the taxes to live out here. The Lord has blessed me to where I never had to have a job and survive off my craft. There are a lot of artists who had a Grammy or number one video but don’t have the financial funds to survive.
Have you always been blessed with so many opportunities?
I lived a rough life. I came up straight out the ghetto. My momma dropped out of school in the eighth grade. I was an athlete in school, played sports. And since the seventh grade, I been able to make hits with words.
I guess the only thing missing is a platinum plaque.
I got a platinum plaque from writing Lil Troy’s “Wanna Be A Baller.” I wrote the hook when I was just 22 years old at the time. I got a platinum plaque for being on Chamillionaire’s first album Sound of Revenge. And I’m still due a platinum plaque from Master P for being on Down South Hustlers. It went gold back then when he was on Priority but it hit the platinum mark. If you know him, tell him to send it to me. (laughs)