Spend any amount of time in Houston, Texas and you become quickly acquainted with slab culture. Vintage cars in candy-coated paint and dazzling rims poking outwards cruise the local streets. You’ll see them swangin’, where drivers slowly veer and sway from side to side on the road in unison with other cars. Meanwhile, inside the car, they’ll play classic Houston rap songs with the heftiest bass you could imagine. That’s why they’re called slabs after all— it’s an acronym for “slow, loud, and bangin’.”
For those uninitiated with the rich culture in Houston, Noisey has selected four songs that you’ll definitely hear booming out of slabs.
4 of the Best Songs You’ll Hear out of a Slab in Houston
‘Pimp Tha Pen’ by Lil Keke & DJ Screw
You can’t call yourself a Houstonian without bangin’ Screw, let alone ride a slab. “Pimp Tha Pen” is one of the defining Houston rap songs in its history, coded in a distinct language you could only understand after Googling or immersing yourself in the culture. “I’m draped up and dripped out, know what I’m talkin’ ’bout/Three in the mornin’, gettin’ the gat out the stash spot,” Lil Keke raps. Think of “Pimp Tha Pen” as a starter guide to Houston slab culture. The more you’re around it, the more you see what Lil Keke was rapping about.
‘Swangin In The Rain’ by Paul Wall
Houston hip-hop has always been great about relying back on the classics. Legends aren’t simply tossed aside for the hot new thing. Consequently, you’re inclined to hear a lot of the same tried-and-true classics from the 1990s and early-to-mid 2000s. Paul Wall fits the description with a few different records in his catalog.
But it’s “Swangin In The Rain” that resembles the slab culture the most. The record is a loving ode to the rims poking out like elbows and how to drive a ride like that. “Raindrops on my window/Elbows poking out past the fender/Turn sharper than a No. 2 pencil/The way I avoid hitting curbs is monumental“, Paul Wall vividly raps. It’s not just a fun pastime—it’s a deeply rich culture people take pride in.
‘June 27’ by DJ Screw
A record so iconic, people organize entire days and events around it in Houston. For instance, in 2025, they organized shortly after June 27th to celebrate Screw’s legacy with the most gorgeous cars and slabs you’ve ever seen. What other artist could release a 35-minute freestyle and captivate fans the entire runtime? What other city’s artists would even rap on a song for that long?
“June 27” defines that slab acronym, droopy like molasses with a loud thump that would devastate all stock speaker systems. With Big Moe howling in between the staggering 10 verses, the record hardly registers at 35 minutes. You’re destined to hear a different part of the song for every slab passing by on the streets.
‘Wanna Be A Baller’ by Lil’ Troy
Eventually, Houston rap’s mission statement becomes increasingly clear: make money, drive a slick slab, and maybe get a little high in between. No song quite captures that feeling quite like Lil’ Troy’s “Wanna Be A Baller”. The way Big T howls about his ambition to be a baller will make the hardest working man ask for more hours. Everyone wants to live lavishly and comfortably. Lil’ Troy and his all-star cast of features are working by any means necessary to achieve that dream—whether there’s a better way or not.
The post Defining Slab: 4 of the Best Tracks From Hip-Hop’s Boomiest Subgenre appeared first on VICE.
