Big Pokey

Among the standout figures in the Screwed Up Click, Big Pokey linked up with DJ Screw during the early 1990s and began contributing rhymes across the DJ’s numerous mixtapes. His debut full-length effort, Hardest Pit in the Litter, finally arrived near the close of 1999 and ranked among the stronger underground releases to emerge from the South that year. The following year brought D-Game 2000, another collection built on midtempo 808-driven beats that included guest appearances from several Houston peers. In 2001 he joined the Wreckshop Wolfpack on Tha Collabo, then issued the solo follow-up Da Sky’s da Limit in 2002. Endowed with a rap style reminiscent of Notorious B.I.G., Pokey had earlier devoted several years to football and kinesiology studies at Abilene Christian College before committing fully to a music career. On June 17, 2023, Big Pokey collapsed onstage during a performance in Beaumont, Texas; he was taken to a hospital and passed away the next day at age 48.