Let’s talk about the library—that storehouse of information and home to the Houston hip-hop special collection curated by this week’s Campus Celebrity Julie Grob.
Before earning her master’s degree in library science, Grob studied history and art history at Rice University. It wasn’t a personal affinity for hip-hop that inspired Grob to start the collection; it was just the historian in her.
“In special collections, we collect a lot of materials that document Houston history and culture,” she said. “We were documenting famous writers, architects, theater companies; all kinds of people who did notable things in Houston. I knew that there was a DJ named DJ Screw [the creator of the “chopped and screwed” subgenre] who was known for being really innovative.
“I felt like if someone like that was in any other field and they were known internationally for creating a new genre of something, they would be in an archive,” she added. “I thought that it would be short-sighted of us not to try to collect material about DJ Screw.”
The collection is composed of thousands of artifacts—most notably 1,500 of DJ Screw’s vinyl records, a notebook of rapper Big Hawk’s handwritten lyrics and interviews with influential people in Houston’s hip-hop scene.
“There was a lot of legwork [that went into starting the collection],” Grob said. “It started with a personal connection who knew DJ Screw’s family and I also knew someone else who had worked with a lot of rappers. There was a lot of contacting people, asking questions and listening to people’s stories.”
Grob—or as I’d like to one day call her, “MC Unruly Julie”—doesn’t play favorites.
“There are a lot of great rappers out of Houston, both famous and less well-known,” Grob said. “I really like the Screwed Up Click sound—Fat Pat, Lil’ Keke and those guys. Pimp C was amazing. I also like K-Rino and Doughbeezy.”
The Houston hip-hop special collection is located on the second floor of the M.D. Anderson Library. It is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. The collection is open to students and the public. A photo ID is required for admission.