HOUSTON (AP) — Family and friends gathered at the funeral over the weekend for Houston rapper Big Pokey, an original member of the pioneering group Screwed Up Click.
Pokey, who was born Milton Powell, died June 18 at the age of 48 after collapsing at a performance in Beaumont, located east of Houston. Those attending his service Saturday at Fountain of Praise church in Houston included Mayor Sylvester Turner, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and rappers Paul Wall, Trae Tha Truth and Slim Thug, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Pokey was known for Texas and Gulf Coast hits such as “Ball N’ Parlay,” “Who Dat Talking Down,” and a verse on DJ Screw’s nearly 36-minute freestyle known as “June 27th.” He was also featured on Megan Thee Stallion’s 2022 “Southside Royalty Freestyle.”
The 29th annual Essence Festival of Culture is revving up in New Orleans. Most of the free workshops and celebrity meet-and-greets at the festival, which opens Thursday, will be inside the Ernest N.
Busta Rhymes took home the Lifetime Achievement Award with a tribute performance. The night’s biggest surprise was a public performance by Quavo and Offset, the surviving members of Migos, who did a rendition of “Bad and Boujee” in front of an image of Takeoff.
Big Freedia goes back to her roots on the 16-track “Central City,” the Queen of Bounce’s first full-length studio album in nine years.
Nationally, Pokey was most known for a featured appearance on Wall’s 2005 debut hit song, “Sittin’ Sidewayz.” The chorus was sampled from Pokey’s verse on “June 27th.”
Pokey, who grew up in Houston, began garnering local fame in the late 1990s as an original member of the Screwed Up Click, a friend group-turned-rap collective led by DJ Screw, who developed a slowed, pitched-down music style known as “chopped and screwed,” which become synonymous with Houston.
Pokey released his debut album, “Hardest Pit in the Litter” in 1999 and “Da Game 2000” the following year.
