Houston Chronicle (Blog)

2995 Staff

“Houston Rap” will focus more on Beste’s visual work with some oral history text by another Houston native, writer Lance Scott Walker. Another book “The Houston Rap Tapes” will include fewer of Beste’s photos and more of Walker’s extensive interviews with local hip-hop artists. “Houston Rap” includes an introduction by Bun B, while “The Houston Rap Tapes” includes an intro by the Geto Boys’ Willie D.

Telefonklotter

PETER BESTE has something really great coming peeps.

Coolfindr

If you’re a fan of Southern rap, then Sinecure Books’ new book, Houston Rap ($50), is probably of interest to you. The 272-page book takes readers through the Texas city’s hip-hop scene and the culture that goes along with it through interviews/writing from Lance Scott Walker and photography from Peter Beste. While it features noted artists like Bun B, Z-Ro, Paul Wall, and the late DJ Screw, it also highlights community leaders, producers, businessman, and other local influential people — all who provide insight into “a great American cultural narrative.” Explore the scene in H-Town without leaving your living room.

FATBEATS

Houston Rap is an immersion into the everyday life of the Houston hip hop community. This hardcover 272 page book features the photography of Peter Beste who spent 9 years documenting the culture alongside writer Lance Scott Walker. The book is edited by Johan Kugelberg who also worked with Peter on his previous book True Norwegian Black Metal (Vice) which to date has sold through 8 editions. “We edited the book as a 24 hour glimpse into the culture,” says Johan Kugelberg. “We take you from the projects to the studio to the strip club and back, all along with an on-going oral history narrative from the people of the culture.” “We see it as an immersion,” says Peter Beste. “The idea was always to provide an insight into the community of the arguably most powerful hip hop scene in the world today.

Hypnotik Radio's Blog

J. Monkey

Housed in a classy slipcase and profiling artists such as Bun B of UGK, Z-Ro, Willie D of the Geto Boys and Paul Wall as well paying tribute to DJ Screw, Pimp C, and Big Hawk, the book’d make the perfect stocking stuffer to anyone appreciative of Houston rap culture. But wait, and I’m saying this fully aware of the risk of sounding like an infomercial, “there’s more!” The book is up for preorders at Rappcats and can be purchased in two editions. The Slipcased Exclusive version gets you the book, slipcase and a Fat Pat/DJ Screw 7-inch, while the Deluxe Bundle gets you that plus a Fat Pat Ghetto Dreams DVD, the Houston Rap Tapes (a companion book of interviews) and DJ Screw’s All Screwed Up on vinyl, which has been pressed up specifically for this occasion.

Leveled

Jamie Maleszka

Ever on a hustle, the hip-hop scene of Houston, Texas finally gets its proper due. Houston Rap is a 272-paged book edited as a 24-hour glimpse into the culture, syrupy stylings, and community of the gritty southern rap scene. A culmination of nine years of work, photographer Peter Beste and writer Lance Scott Walker immersed themselves in the Texas neighborhoods of Third Ward, Fifth Ward and South Park to document the lives and everyday grinds of their rappers, denizens and entrepreneurs. “We take you from the projects to the studio to the strip club and back, all along with an on-going oral history narrative from the people of the culture”, says the book’s editor, Johan Kugelberg. The result is an assemblage of images and yarns that offer surprising insight through their raw candor and compassion. It is an honest look at the faces and places of true Houston hustle – not the showboating façade – where rappers are businessmen first and foremost.

Photo-Eye

The Houston, Texas neighborhoods of Fifth Ward, Third Ward and South Park have grown to be hallowed ground for modern rap culture, populated with celebrities, entrepreneurs, support networks and a micro-economy of their own. Photographer Peter Beste (photographer of True Norwegian Black Metal) and writer Lance Scott Walker spent nine years documenting the most influential style in twenty-first century hip hop and the vibrant inner city culture from which it stems. Houston Rap, edited by Johan Kugelberg, profiles noted artists such as Bun B of UGK, Z-Ro, Big Mike, K-Rino, Willie D of the Geto Boys, Lil' Troy and Paul Wall, alongside reflections on the lives of departed legends such as DJ Screw, Pimp C and Big Hawk. The book also features community leaders, rappers, producers, businessmen and family members, all providing an astonishing and important insight into a great American cultural narrative. In addition to featuring Beste's previously unseen images of the contemporary Houston rap scene, Houston Rap includes a detailed timeline charting the growth of rap music in Houston from the beginning of the twentieth century.

Shipwreck'd

Houston Rap is an immersion into the everyday life of the Houston Hip Hop community. This hardcover 272 page book features the photography of Peter Beste who spent 9 years documenting the culture alongside writer Lance Scott Walker. The book is edited by Johan Kugelberg who also worked with Peter on his previous book True Norwegian Black Metal (Vice) which to date has sold through 8 editions.

Bun B

"It's a classic look inside the world of Houston rap, out of the studio, in the studio, in the house and in the street. It's very real, it's very potent. It's a galvanizing experience just to read this book and look at the pictures and to really see behind the scenes, and behind the Scene, so to speak. This is something that many people aren't allowed to see, who aren't a part of the scene. This is a world that many people are not introduced to, and are not even accepted in. Everything you always wanted to know about what's happening inside and out of the Houston Rap scene, whether it's in the studio, the club, the streets or the crib, this is the book that’s going to tell you everything you need to know.”

Okayplayer

"Houston Rap's deluxe pre-order package is a sweet deal for the Houston rap geeks out there; it includes: A DJ Screw / Fat Pat 7? vinyl record, DJ Screw's All Screwed Up 2LP vinyl, Beste's incredibly candid photobook, Houston Rap Tapes, Fat Pat's Ghetto Dreams DVD, and a nifty Sinecure tote bag to stash all your goodies."

Reciprocity Failure

“Houston Rap” culture is a gritty and raw look into the faces behind chopped and screwed, as well as the originators of “purple drank”, a concoction usually consisting of sprite and prescription strength codeine. Beste’s style he fleshed out in “True Norwegian Black Metal” makes a return in “Houston Rap”, as he photographs faces that will be familiar to those already knowledgeable about the culture, as well as not so known subjects he encounters along his way down the rabbit hole into the roots of a music scene.

Space City Rock

Jeremy Hart

Hell. Yeah. The attentive among you might recall back in the spring, when expat Houstonian writer/photographer team Lance Scott Walker and Peter Beste came through town to talk about their forthcoming one-two punch of books, Houston Rap and The Houston Rap Tapes, at the Houston Museum of African American Culture.

Turntable Lab (Blog)

Prince Klassen

Photographer Peter Beste, known for his incredible photo book covering the taboo world of Norwegian Black Metal, travels to the states and hits the Houston streets hard getting an intimate look into the lives of some of the areas best rappers, producers, and hustlers from Dj Screw to Z-Ro. From the same publishers that brought us Enjoy The Experience: Homemade Records 1958-1992 Book + 7?, this Hardcover edition is 272 pages with 130 gram matte photo paper that features color photography, oral histories, and a historical timeline. As a special bonus, Sinecure is hooking up record store order with a special edition featuring a limited edition pressing of DJ Screw’s versions of UGK’s “Tell Me Something Good” and Fat Pat’s “Tops Drop”, both major Houston staples.

Soul of Sydney

Soul Of Sydney

Houston Rap is an intimate look at the city’s local rap scene through images and interviews by photographer Peter Beste and writer Lance Scott Walker. The book is edited by Johan Kugelberg. Possessing its own self-contained celebrities, entrepreneurs, a support network, and microeconomy within the city of Houston, the neighborhoods of Fifth Ward, Third Ward, and South Park have grown to be hallowed ground for modern rap culture. The Houston musical style and slang, while currently an imitative craze in Top 40 hip-hop radio, first grew organically here as an intense community art form. Houston Rap profiles many of the biggest names in the game, including Bun B of UGK, Willie D of the Geto Boys, Lil’ Troy, and Paul Wall of Swishahouse, alongside reflections on legends such as DJ Screw, Pimp C, and Big Hawk

JOIA

Daniel Klauser

Houston Rap es una inmersión en la vida cotidiana de la comunidad Hip-Hop de la ciudad de Houston, Estados Unidos. El libro de tapa dura ofrece 272 páginas con fotografías realizadas por Pete Beste, quien pasó 9 años documentando la cultura rap junto al escritor Scott Walker. El libro está editado por Johan Kugelber que trabajó en el anterior libro de Peter titulado True Norwegian Black Metal (Vice). En el libro se pueden ver a los más importantes representantes de la escena de Houston como: un B de UGK, Z-Ro, Willie D, Paul Wall , DJ Screw, Pimp C, and Big Hawk. La investigación cuenta con el retrato de los líderes de la comunidad; raperos, productores, empresarios y miembros de la familia que han proporcionado una visión sorprendente sobre la cultura rap estadounidense.

JUXTAPOZ

A great new book from photographer and former Juxtapoz featured artist, Peter Beste. (You know Beste for this series as well as his series covering Norwegian Black Metal). Houston Rap is an immersion into the everyday life of the Houston Hip Hop community. This hardcover 272 page book features the photography of Peter Beste who spent 9 years documenting the culture alongside writer Lance Scott Walker. The book is edited by Johan Kugelberg who also worked with Peter on his previous book True Norwegian Black Metal (Vice) which to date has sold through 8 editions. Houston Rap profiles noted artists such as Bun B of UGK, Z-Ro, Willie D of the Geto Boys, Paul Wall to name a few sharing their reflections on the lives of departed legends such as DJ Screw, Pimp C, and Big Hawk. The book also features community leaders, rappers, producers, businessmen, and family members, all providing an astonishing and important insight into a great American cultural narrative.

Green Label Sound

Green Label

Photographer Peter Beste is publishing a new 272-page hardcover book entitled "Houston Rap." The book will allow readers to get a view of daily life in Houston's hip-hop community. Beste spent nine years documenting the city's hip-hop scene and the book includes photos of and anecdotes from UGK's Bun B, the Geto Boys' Willie D, Paul Wall, and Z-Ro. Look for "Houston Rap" to hit the shelves on November 30, but if you're willing to pay an extra $100, you can purchase the Deluxe Bundle that comes with a Slipcased exclusive version of the book featuring artwork by GONZO247 with a DJ Screw/Fat Pat 7” vinyl, a fold-out poster, "Houston Rap Tapes", a DVD of "Ghetto Dreams", a signed photographic print by Peter Beste, and a 2LP limited vinyl edition of DJ Screw’s All Screwed Up. The Bundle is limited to 800 copies.

UNOTRE.COM

Kikko

Il libro sui raga di Houston che a quanto pare si sanno divertire. Puoi comprare la versione normale o quella deluxe con dentro mille figate.

Ballerstatus.com

Jay Casteel

A new book is on the way, offering a look into the rap scene of one of the genre's most influential cities: Houston, Texas.In Houston Rap, being rolled out by indie publisher Sinecure Books, writer Lance Scott Walker and photographer Peter Beste provides a look at the city's hip-hop scene through images and interviews. Both spent eight years documenting the culture, so they know it very well, earning praise of Texas rap legend Bun B, who penned the book's foreword. "This book defines Houston Hip Hop," the rapper says.
The 272-page book takes readers through the notorious neighborhoods of the Fifth Ward, Third Ward, and South Park; and profiles noted artists like Bun B, Z-Ro, Big Mike, K-Rino, Willie D (of the Geto Boys), Lil Troy, and Paul Wall, as well as late legends like DJ Screw, Pimp C, and Big Hawk. It also spotlights community leaders, producers, businessmen, and family members, all providing insight into a great American cultural narrative.

HipHopDx

Soren Baker

Bun B wrote the forward for the forthcoming book Houston Rap. Due in stores November 25, the book was written by Lance Scott Walker, features photography from Peter Beste and provides a look at the city’s rap scene through images and interviews. Beste and Walker spent eight years documenting the culture. “This book defines Houston Hip Hop,” Bun B says in a press release about the book.

Aerosol Warfare

Editor

The HOUSTON RAP book is available for pre-order now! AW friends Peter Beste & Lance Scott Walker have been working on this book for the last 8 years and it has now launched via publishing company Sinecure Books. Houston legend BUN B wrote the forward and our very own GONZO247 designed and created the slipcase cover art.

The Rap Up/ Therapup

J. Monkey

Houston Rap (Sinecure Books) is an immersion into the everyday life of the Houston Hip Hop community. This hardcover 272 page book features the photography of Peter Beste who spent 9 years documenting the culture alongside writer Lance Scott Walker. The book is edited by Johan Kugelberg who also worked with Peter on his previous book True Norwegian Black Metal (Vice) which to date has sold through 8 editions.

Jukebox DC

J. Cudder

Lance Scott Walker has teamed up with Sinecure Books and OG photographer Peter Beste to release Houston Rap. They spent the last eight years exploring the underground rap world in Houston. The book profiles rappers such as Bun B, Z-Ro, Big Mike, K-Rino, Willie D, Lil’ Troy, Paul Wall, DJ Screw, Pimp C, and Big Hawk. If you pre order the Houston Rap‘s deluxe package it includes: A DJ Screw / Fat Pat 7? vinyl record, DJ Screw’s All Screwed Up 2LP vinyl, Beste’s incredibly candid photo book, Houston Rap Tapes, Fat Pat’s Ghetto Dreams DVD, and Sinecure tote bag .The book is set to hit stores on November 25th, but pre-orders will ship 10 days early.

The Double Truth

Well-traveled photographer Peter Beste recently published the book "Houston Rap" which documents his time following the Houston (Texas) rap scene and the culture of the often ignored music scene that birthed notable figures in rap history The Geto Boys, DJ Screw, UGK and many others. According to Beste, he spent nine years with "full immersion into the everyday life of the Houston Hip Hop community". The 272 page book offers profiles on local music fans, community leaders, music producers, local businessmen, "Sizzurp" chefs, family members and profiles new cats and veteran artists like Bun B, Z-Ro, Willie D, Paul Wall, DJ Screw (RIP), Pimp C (RIP), and Big Hawk (RIP). To make the book even more notable, the Slipcased Exclusive version is packaged alongside a Fat Pat/DJ Screw 7-inch and the Deluxe Bundle is the book with limited edition slipcase, a Fat Pat/DJ Screw 7-inch, a Fat Pat “Ghetto Dreams” DVD, the Houston Rap Tapes companion handbook and DJ Screw’s musical opus, All Screwed Up, pressed to wax as a 2LP vinyl for the first time ever.

002houston

Carla Valencia De Martinez

Rap, hip-hop, local scene friend 002houston contributing writer Lance Scott Walker and photographer Peter Beste have been working on a sick anthology (read 9-year documentation) of the Houston Rap Scene aptly called Houston Rap. The 272-page hardcover book opens with a forward by Bun B. This book is a stellar gift.

Miss Rosen

I been fanning Peter Beste since when ? I can’t even remember how we met, but I remember the day we sat at a cafe on Prince Street, me paging through his luscious prints. Page after page after page of madness. I was home as my fingers swept across the protective plastic and my eyes bulged out my head and my heart did a little dance, as each turn of the page took me somewhere else. And so it has come, as the inevitable does, Houston Rap is now a book from Sinecure and an exhibition at Boo Hooray Gallery, New York, opening November 7. I like it like this. Peter graciously agreed to an interview, and to let me share of his work. These are a few of my favorite things. Enjoy

Process&Skills

I went to this amazing opening last night for the photographs of the Houston rap scene by Peter Beste. The subjects included Bun B of UGK, Willie D of the Geto Boys, K-Rino, Street Military, and Lil’ Troy.

THRWD.COM

Javier

From the projects to the studio to the strip club and back, Houston Rap, provides insight into Houston’s powerful hip-hop scene, arguably the most unique in the world. With images and interviews by photographer Peter Beste and writer Lance Scott Walker, ”Houston Rap profiles many of the biggest names in the game, including Bun B of UGK, Willie D of the Geto Boys, Lil’ Troy, and Paul Wall of Swishahouse, alongside reflections on legends such as DJ Screw, Pimp C, and Big Hawk.” Together, Beste and Walker, spent 8 years documenting the neighborhoods of Fith Ward, Third Ward, and South Park and the results, “is an unprecedented look at the contemporary rap world and the definitive photo book of the Houston scene.”

COMPLEX

Dale EISINGER

By 2013, the Houston rap scene has been recognized as one of the most important and fertile in the country. And now nine years of photographing and cataloging the goings-on of Willie D of the Geto Boys, Lil’ Troy, Paul Wall, Z-Ro, Pimp C and DJ Screw will see the light of day in a 272-page hardcover book under the Sinecure label. While copy in the volume was handled by Lance Scott Walker, the photographs were taken during almost a decade’s worth of shooting on the part of Peter Beste. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg—the foreword of the book was written by none other than Bun B, himself a lecturer at Rice University in Houston. Plenty of shots of lean and weed make their way into the volume, as you can see.

East Village Radio

On the November 6, 2013 edition of Baller's Eve, in addition to spinning the latest and greatest in southern hip-hop and beyond, the crew welcomed photographer Peter Beste to the program. Beste's gorgeous photos are featured in Houston Rap, a new book published by Sinecure Books documenting the Texas city’s hip-hop scene. Read more about Houston Rap here and pre-order the book ahead of its November 25 release via Sinecure.

The Source

Bryan Hahn

Houston Rap has a simple two-pronged goal when it hits bookshelves on November 25th: document the Houston Hip-Hop scene and its relationship with the rich, in all senses of the terms, community it continues to flourish in. Famed photographer, Peter Beste, and Texas bred writer, Lance Scott Walker, spent 9 years interviewing and photographing locals as well as important figures who have witnessed and contributed to the growth of the culture. But the book is much more than a collection of pictures and words put together on the Hip-Hop culture. It’s a detailed tour on the good and the bad, the past and a look into the future, and everything in between on H-Town. This book is a very necessary addition to your library. Period.

East Village Radio

A new book chronicling Houston’s ever-fertile hip-hop scene is on its way via independent publishing house Sinecure Books. Houston Rap features photos by Peter Beste, words from Lance Scott Walker and a foreword from Bun B, who says the forthcoming tome “defines Houston hip-hop.” Its publisher promises Houston Rap “profiles many of the biggest names in the game, including Bun B of UGK, Willie D of the Geto Boys, Lil’ Troy, and Paul Wall of Swishahouse, alongside reflections on legends such as DJ Screw, Pimp C, and Big Hawk.” Two exclusive editions are being sold direct through Sinecure—one housed in a slipcase accompanied by a DJ Screw 7” and a deluxe bundle featuring a DJ Screw double-LP, a DVD, a tote bag, the aforementioned 7”, a bonus publication of oral histories and a signed print by photographer Peter Beste.

Noisey

Snake

The Houston Rap Book Has Some of the Greatest Rap Photography You'll Ever See. This is an art book, yes, and it’d be a mistake to second-bill the photography here. Beste, of course, has been taking these photos for a while—some of them you may have seen in a VICE photo issue from seven years back. (He also produced the True Norwegian Black Metal video series for Vice, which was based on his book.) Houston Rap seems at first a bit of a stretch as far as subject matter goes, but it’s not that different. The access in both books is incredible, and the context for these images are the best out of any subculture books out there. Are these things all in the frame? Is that baby actually sitting on the counter next to that small plate?

Noisey/Vice

"This is a book mostly about America. Beste and Walker's subjects and photos speak for themselves, and leafing through HOUSTON RAP is like breaking into a neighborhood and eavesdropping into its conversation...it's almost like Studs Terkel's 'Working' but about people in Houston who may or may not have been rappers and musicians: Their lives are in this book."

The Daily Swarm

Peter Beste formerly made an awesome book about the Norwegian black metal scene, but in his newest work, Beste focuses his lens on his syrup-drenched hometown of Houston, TX. Via Noisey: Page-big photos that accompany a breadth of interviews, with Walker talking to effectively everyone from around then (between about 1985 to last year) and getting good info out of them. There’s good stuff from big names like Scarface and Bun B (who wrote the intro) to Chingo Bling and whoever your favorite Houston rapper is to KB Da Kidnappa to what seems like the better half of South Park Coalition. After reading this book, you’ll know how the Geto Boys (née Ghetto) were formed and evolved; about the last days of DJ Screw’s life, about Pimp C’s talents, about Willie D’s mom stabbing a white man in the 1960s, and about ill-fated tours to St. Louis and a thorough explanation of most facets of the after-hours (read: strip club) phenomenon. You’ll learn that DJ Screw’s dad goes by Pappa Screw and that he refers to his deceased son as Screw, and that O.G. Style predated Ghetto Boys as far as rap went in Houston and that Z-Ro has what look like Audioengine A2 speakers with the yellow cones in his room. Talk of life in the Third and Fifth Wards and South Park, Houston neighborhoods and home to a lot of the principals involved, is interspersed throughout, and it sings.

SOFADELICS

Antwuan Flanders

A look into the popular and influential Houston rap scene will be hitting shelves worldwide in the very near future. Houston Rap is 8 years of images and interviews collected by photographer Peter Beste and writer Lance Scott Walker all fit in to a 272 page book edited by Johan Kugelberg. With profiles of many of the biggest all the way down to the lesser known entities involved in the Houston rap scene and a foreword provided by the Trill OG himself Bun B this book is a must have.

Flea Market Funk

Dj Prestige

Houston Rap, the second release from Sinecure Books (available Nov. 15th), takes a look at everyday life in the Houston Hip Hop community. It features the stunning photography of Peter Beste who, along with writer Lance Scott Walker immersed themselves into the culture, spending 9 years documenting it. The book contains profiles of Houston notables such as Bun B, UGK, Z-Ro, K-Rino, Big Mike, Lil’ Troy, Paul Wall and Willie D of The Geto Boys as well as legends who have since passed, like DJ Screw, Big Hawk and Pimp C. It strolls through the sacred neighborhoods such as Fifth Ward, Third Ward and South Park, exploring the everyday goings on with rappers, producers, community leaders, family members, and businessmen. This insight into the culture has never been documented like this before. Touching not just Hip Hop stories, but weaving a tale of the special American narrative of this culture and human life itself, Houston Rap explores the real life told through the lyrics of the music itself.

Hypebeast

Roberts Marshalll

Having spent nine years documenting its culture, photographer Peter Beste will release Houston Rap – a hardcover 272-page book that provides an intimate look into the everyday life of Texas’s most notable hip-hop community.

FRANK 151

Jordan Lebeau

Peter Beste is a Houston-born photographer with a love for the early Houston rap sound. Some time after college, he was drawn back to the scene, and reached out to some of the area’s unsung heroes to tell Houston’s story beyond the syrup, cars, and bass.

The New York Times

Jon Carananica

'Houston Rap,' the book, is a handsome collection of photos by Peter Beste and interviews by Lance Scott Walker that capture the city’s hip-hop history in full.

BBC

In their book Houston Rap photographer Peter Beste and writer Lance Scott Walker introduce the world to the heavy bass and slowed-down sounds that perfectly fit the city's sweltering climate.