HISD: Students of the Game

Houston’s best kept secret is finally ready for its shine. H.I.S.D, also known as the Hueston Independent Spit District, is an eight member collective consisting of four emcees, three producers and one photographer/DJ. Having been on the scene only since 2005, emcees Savvi, Ldavoice, Equality and Scottie Spitten along with producers King Midas, Soul One, E. Classic and photographer/DJ Jason “Flash Gordon Parks” Woods sat down with theblvdmag.com to discuss Houston’s lack of diversity on the airwaves and how they plan to make their mark in music history.

The team is from the hometown and joined creative forces to bring their full-length album The District to the world in 2007 under their independent label Peace Uv Mine Entertainment. Their most recent effort Summer Sessions, released in July 2008 has gained popularity by word of mouth and “is most popular probably because its free,” says Ldavoice.

It should come as no surprise that you may not have heard of this collective until now, especially with the same songs in heavy rotation on the local radio stations. Focusing on creating quality music is priority number one.

“We try to let the product speak for us instead of impose it on others,” says Savvi. “What makes this collective so unique is we genuinely would do this if we didn’t get praise from anyone else.”

The music is indeed speaking for itself creating a buzz on the Internet, which has brought them enough attention to be featured at the 2009 South by Southwest Music and Film Festival. “We have really been blessed in a sense that we really didn’t do any serious marketing for our album,” says Ldavoice. “It was purely off the music alone.”

The group rehearses in an area they call the Gold Room, known for housing dope rhymes and healthy debates.  At this particular rehearsal the topic of discussion was centered on whether Rakim wrote the lyrics to the DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince classic, Summertime. The discussion then turned to who was best vocalist between Sade, or Anita Baker – a friendly argument that has yet to be settled.

“These conversations and debates we have, it’s inspiration for our music” says Ldavoice, “What always happens is that we end up going back and listening to that stuff because we wanna make sure our argument is valid, so we’re gonna go back and study it.”

By making themselves students of the game, they are distancing themselves from the predictable mode of Houston rap. The American public at large, and much of Houston, only knows DJ Screw, Mike Jones and Chamillionaire.

“We wanna make hip hop music for people that really don’t like hip hop music,” says Equality, although it’s quite obvious that they are influenced by hip hop groups like Little Brother, The Roots and the Wu Tang Clan. “That’s what makes us so special, that we are from this place making this type of music. You would never think it would come from here,” says Woods.

For those who may have doubted, Houstonians are capable of producing a different sound that both southerners and music lovers abroad can appreciate. The secret to their new found success is the way in which the group works together collaboratively. “Anything that comes out from us, eight people have to approve of it, so that’s like built in quality control and some stuff ain’t easy to get off the cutting board,” says Savvi. This system of checks and balances has worked thus far and therefore makes it hard for their efforts to go unnoticed. In fact, HISD has received nods from greats like ?uestLove of the Roots, Maceo of DeLa Soul and Phonte of Little Brother and Foreign Exchange.

Their music production is easy on the ears similar to the production of a Common album; and their lyrics are thought provoking unlike your typical southern rap referencing cars, bling, and bitches.  Don’t be fooled though, there’s no mistake where these guys are from when listening to their music. There are plenty of Houston references in their lyrics, from the Galleria, to the hot weather. Complaints of traffic lace the Houston slang they drop in their rhymes, and anyone can hear HISD represents our beloved city to the fullest.

© 2009, A. Onesauce. All rights reserved by Sub Urban Media Group.