Mark Drew

How crazy would it be if you found out from the record labels how big hip hop is in Houston? I’ve had reps from major labels all confirm to me that Houston, Screwston, or whatever you want to call it is considered one of if not the largest hip hop market in the country. So now that you know that, it should be no surprise that there are constantly new rappers coming up and releasing new albums here. One of those new rappers, is Houston’s Mark Drew. Drew has guested on songs with Guilla, as well as been hustling his own work. His album, “Sleepwalking Through Reality” was just dropped on Monday, and it’s pretty amazing. Distancing himself from the past hip hop of Houston while still incorporating jams from rap’s past and future; Drew figures out a way to add his own storyline to Houston’s rich rap history paved through his own style.



It should be noted that Drew has what I’d call a natural flow to how he drops rhymes. The album opens with the synth bassline meets simplistic piano sounds of “Sleepwalking” before Drew shakes things up with an auto-tuned backing vocal mixed with a hint of electronica. Before you know it, he’s dropping lines with a quick and intense pace. A bit of auto-tuned singing in the chorus slides in before he’s back to attacking the mic. This gets followed by the funky guitar of “Crack” where Drew quickly hits the mic. The track has a funk meets trap kind of pace mixed with a slice of chopped and screwed vocals in the chorus. By the third verse, Drew has Magno do the rapping duties, which rolls in like it was meant to be. I won’t lie, this song was stuck in my head for days after I heard it. In a nod to the past, Drew opens the third song, “Grey Goose and Dope Beats” with a similar guitar track to that of “No Sleep Till’ Brooklyn.” The song is simplistic, consisting of primarily a vocal track. That’s not a bad thing as Drew solo is just as entertaining than he is with any background tunes.



When the slow jam style of “Slums of The City” kicks in, you should realize that Drew could easily be one of the faces of Houston’s hip hop future. Complete with well mixed in samples and a simple piano track, Drew brings in Houston’s Roosh Williams who completes the H-Town vibe of the song. He goes collaborative again with the steady sound of “You and Me” which features up and comer Guilla. It’s apparent fast that Drew crafts his words just as skillfully as he crafts his backing tracks. The song has a simple sound but is made deeper with lyrics about drug use and abuse. Around the seventh track, “Go Off,” you’re deep into the album and you should already be hooked. Drew keeps it light and slow on this song, while mixing R&B with hip hop in his rhyme flow, while the song has a hint of an edm backing track. Drew bring the sexy voiced tenor of Brian Angel in on the following song, the catchy and hook heavy “6 In The Morning.” When I first saw the tracklisting, I was a little puzzled by the amount collabs on the release. But when you see them done like Drew does them, it all makes sense. He still commands the track, with little nuances from whom he features on each song. Drew closes the album with the most impressive song on the album, “Can I Vent.” The song has a very old school R&B funkiness to it, while just Drew raps atop the old school sounds. He quickly takes the pace from a slow jam to a danceable track with the quick beats fueled by his quick rhyme flow.

When it’s over, you should realize that Drew uses future sounds mixed with some of the old school to craft his own sound. In a time where some of Houston hip hop feels like it’s caught in a time warp; Mark Drew uses new talent like Roosh and Guilla to pave the way for a new generation of hip hop in Houston. You can catch Mark Drew at his album release party over at Warehouse Live on Friday December 19th. The all ages affair will feature Raj The Rapper, the doors are at 8:00, and the tickets are between $10.00 and $15.00. - Free Press Houston

Right now, it feels like Houston’s music scene is on the rise. For the first time in as long as I can remember, there are tons of artists working hard to keep their names out in the public’s mind as well as hustling to continue creating art. One thing that most people don’t know, as that when an artist drops an album, usually the songs have been around a while. So when Houston rapper and producer Mark Drew told me he was getting ready to drop a new single, I wasn’t surprised.



For those of you who don’t know Drew, he released a full length album late last year called, “Sleepwalking Through Reality.” While it was definitely next level material where he mixed together old school hip hop with new school and varying genres, the songs had been around a while when it came out, and he was ready to craft new tunes. Like most strong artists on the verge, Drew almost immediately started work on new material, he nabbed producer birdmagic as his new DJ, and has since started work on the follow up to the full length from last year. The first single, “Paid Forever” found here, is a mix of Drew’s past with hints of more future beats and the feeling of that fun “Summertime” jam.


According to Drew, the track is about anyone who has put themselves in the position of always getting paid. Whether it’s working several jobs or working on several projects, staying paid is always preferred. The catchy and upbeat song definitely has the feel of something you would hear thumping from the windows around town while rolling through the city in the hot Summer nights. Though Drew produced the track, he tapped pal Guilla to drop some backing vocals and enlisted SugarHill mastering genius, Chris Longwood to master the song. Like all things Drew does, it’s definitely all Houston, and makes us all wait in anticipation of the full length follow up he has in the works. - Free Press Houston

the last time we had heard from mark drew, he was just releasing his debut LP sleepwalking through reality. since then, mark’s been busy playing shows and of course – found his way back to the lab to start recording for ANOTHER new project. while the details of the project have still yet to be ironed out, he wanted to check in with folks to let ’em know what he’s been up to.

the weather’s getting warmer, so it’s only right that his new track, “paid forever,” reflects the mentality of summer and all the greatness of it. it’s a fun and soulful number, produced by mark drew himself, along with chris longwood.

stay tuned for more. - weworemasks.com

Mark Drew is a student of hip-hop in every sense of the word, and his debut LP “Sleepwalking Through Reality” shows his acquisition and application of all things hip-hop. Mark Drew produced and mixed most of the album, but had some assistance from Guilla and Bruce Bang. Another Houston up-and-comer Roosh Williams also lends his voice to “Slums Of The City.”

The opening track “Sleepwalking” sounds right out of Kanye West 101 in production and rhymes. The Kanye West vibe continues with “Go Off” and “Peter Pan” .There are T-Pain type of party tracks like “6 In The Morning” to go along with the rawer songs like “Can I Vent.”

The album’s big strength is the production, as it sounds slick through all 10 tracks and the beats are consistently good and flow with the vocals. To some, samples in hip-hop are over done due to the days of Diddy,but Mark Drew uses clever samples from No Doubt, Beastie Boys and even Eiffel 65 to show how effective sampling can be in a rap song.

“Sleepwalking Through Reality” is a nice introduction to Mark Drew, a local import who will be around the Houston scene for a long time.

Check out “Sleepwalking Through Reality” here . - Houston Chronicle