Chopped and screwed (sometimes called
screwed and chopped or
slowed and throwed) refers to a technique of
remixing hip hop music which developed in the Houston hip hop scene in the 1990s. This is accomplished by slowing the
tempo down to between 60 and 70 quarter-note
beats per minute and applying techniques such as skipping beats, record
scratching,
stop-time, and affecting portions of the music to make a "chopped-up" version of the original.
DJ Screw is largely recognized as the innovator behind the chopped and screwed genre. DJ Screw's key technique involved playing the same record on both turntables with a delay between them of one beat, and quickly moving the
crossfader side to side. This created an effect where words or sounds would be repeated in the music but would still keep the tempo going. A subgenre called
ChopNotSlop created by
OG Ron C has received major attention via
Drake's
Take Care album and the Houston music scene started by SUC.