With the celebration of the 50th anniversary of hip-hop continuing, the CW39 Spotlight is on Houston’s hip-hop culture that is so unique to the city.What started as a dissertation for his doctoral degree at Indiana University, Langston Collin Wilkins returned to the city where he grew up to illuminate the complex relationship between place, identity, and music in Houston’s hip-hop culture.What came out of it is a book called Welcome 2 Houston: Hip Hop Heritage in Hustle Town.
Wilkins conducted interviews with local rap artists, producers, and managers to find out how artists, audiences, music, and place interact to create a heritage that musicians negotiate in a variety of ways.“I went back into Houston 10 years ago to do a deep study into Houston’s hip-hop scene,” Wilkins said. “Out of that, I have turned that dissertation into a book, so not only there’s an academic part, but I’m a big Houston hip-hop fan, and it’s a love for Houston and hip-hop in this book.”
Street-based musicians, avant-garde underground rappers, and Christian artists offer candid views of the scene while Wilkins delves into related aspects like slab, the area’s hip hop-related car culture. What emerges is a portrait of a dynamic reciprocal process where an artist, having identified with and embodied a social space, reproduces that space in a performance even as the performance reconstructs the social space.
A vivid journey through a southern hip hop bastion, Welcome 2 Houston offers readers an inside look at a unique musical culture.
The Collection is hosted by Brad Gilmore.
A production of Gilmore Media LLC.© 2025 Gilmore Media LLC. All rights reserved.
For inquiries, contact Brad at bradgilmore@cantwaitforever.com or visit bradgilmore.net.
Brad Gilmore is a Houston-based multimedia personality, author, and producer who has built a career at the intersection of sports, entertainment, and storytelling. Known to fans as The BOAT (“Best of All Time”), Brad has hosted and produced programming across ESPN Radio, CW39 Houston, and Reality of Wrestling alongside WWE Hall of Famer Booker T.He is the creator and host of The Collection, a podcast where he sits down with some of the most influential figures in film, television, and music. Brad is also an accomplished author, with forthcoming titles including Why We Love Back to the Future: 40 Years of Fandom, Flux Capacitors, and Timeless Adventures (Mango Publishing, 2025). His interviews, live events, and media work reflect his passion for pop culture and his gift for making conversations both insightful and entertaining.Beyond the microphone, Brad is committed to building platforms that spotlight creativity, amplify voices, and connect communities through media.
