Mike Jones: King of Houston's Streets

I bet you know a few Mike Jones, or perhaps knew someone named Mike Jones back in the day. Who hasn't? But to know one who is one of the brightest lights of the Houston hip hop scene. Well, that's a whole different story, now isn't it?

And that is the Mike Jones we're talking about right? The Mike Jones, born in 1981 in somewhere called Aldine, Texas, who got his first big start with Swishahouse records, named after Swisher Sweet cigars, and who recently returned to the label to help him distribute his on record company's products.

That record company is called Ice Age Entertainment, probably more for ice as in diamonds rather than the period in history when glaciers and hairy elephants ruled the land. But perhaps the main claim to fame for Mike Jones is that he is very very friendly. He is so friendly that, if you listen to Mike Jones on one of his mix tapes or on any of the Mike Jones albums out there, he frequently yells out his cell phone number during his songs.

More Than Just a Number

What's his number? Well, go to one of the Mike Jones shows, and you can also get a Mike Jones shirt with his name and number on it as well, with the words "Property of Mike Jones" typed on it too. But OK, here's his number: 281-330-8004. If you listen to Mike Jones even today, he says that number is still working. So why not give it a try?

Another big claim to fame for Mike Jones right now is that one of his songs is used as the official team song for a US soccer team, of course his hometown Houston Dynamos. Do people in the United States play soccer? Sure! Do they really watch professional US soccer? That's a different story.

But what is Mike Jones really known for? Well, for starters, he is keeping up the tradition of Houston rapping, which really has been going strong since the Chopped and Screwed sound got its start way back even in the 1990s. This sound comes from the special effect given when a song is mixed twice, and both versions are played back at the same time but at differing tempos and pitches. A whole bunch of other sound altering (and sometimes mind altering) effects are also spliced in, with rap lyrics on top of it all.

The Southern Leader

Chopped and Screwed helped put Houston on top when it comes to Southern music. It slipped a little, but since the first Mike Jones album came out in 2005, he has surely helped to put the area back on top. That first Mike Jones record was "Who is Mike Jones?" He followed that up with "The Voice of the Streets" in 2008.

But Mike Jones doesn't just do studio albums. There is the 2007 Mike Jones EP called "The American Dream," as well as a host of mix tapes, such as the 2004 "King of the Streets" and the 2007 "Running 4 President."

From Mike Jones to Hip Hop Music