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Houston lost a pillar of its hip-hop community when Big Pokey died after collapsing onstage during a performance on June 17. He was 48. The rapper, born Milton Powell, embodied the essence of the city’s scene like few others, with a velvet drawl that already sounded slowed down and smoothed out before DJ Screw, the turntablist who led the Screwed Up Click, the rap collective of which Pokey was a founding member, ever touched it.   Pokey was considered Houston’s freestyle king by peers, who also called him Sensei, and fans alike, a wizened master of flows known just as much for his humble mentality and sense of humor as his slick bars. His effortless verses served as the anchors for some of the city’s most iconic…

The post Big Pokey Was Houston’s Hip-hop Sensei. These Are His Five Greatest Raps. appeared first on Texas Monthly.

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