For Houstonia Magazine I interviewed multi-hyphenate (actor, comedian, musician, host) Amanda Seales about her earliest connections to Texas.
Enjoy an excerpt below and read the full interview here.
Did you ever visit Texas growing up, or did that not happen until you were an adult?
I feel like the first time that I ever visited Texas was when I performed at Texas A&M University as a poet, during my senior year of college in 2003 or 2002. I went to A&M so many times to perform that I had a legit boyfriend there.
Can you remember when your early awareness of Houston rap music came to you?
That was when I had a man at A&M. He made me a CD called “Texas Jointz.” Joints was spelled J-o-i-n-t-z, of course. That’s how I learned about Z-Ro and ESG and UGK and Lil’ Keke. That’s how, to this day, I’m like, [sings] “I’m chillin’ with my [broad] and you already know and if you wanna reach me hit me on the down low. And if I don’t call back, don’t put on a shoooow.” I still have the CD. That was when Lil’ Flip was starting to emerge, so I have old Lil’ Flip freestyles over Screw beats. That’s when I learned about DJ Screw.
I feel like I was late to Houston, but then once I was put on, I was immersed. The people I was around when I would come to Texas, these brothers loved music. Then I ended up being on Slim Thug’s album, Already Platinum, on the song “The Interview.” I remember having the opportunity to be in the mix when Houston started really poppin’ because I was on MTV at the time. That was when Paul Wall, Chamillionaire, and Mike Jones started movin’. It was really dope to just be there and see them emerge on a national scale but still stay authentic.