[Music] foreign
H-Town was founded in Houston Texas in the early 90s by Brothers Delon O'Connor AKA
Dino and Solomon Connor AKA Shazam as well as their friend Daryl Jackson AKA GI the members
all grew up together on the south side of the city where violence drugs and gangs were abundant the
brothers even got caught up for a time to put a stop to it they were sent to live with their
grandmother while there they got the chance to watch their uncles jam on their instruments the
experience was enough to inspire the Conor boys to move away from the street life and go towards
something more positive like music classmate and neighbor GI grew up in a family full of athletes
but ended up developing a love for music he started things off by first working as a DJ
for a local skating rink and then moved on to honing his rapping skills since the trio lived
in the same neighborhood from around the age of eight or nine they knew of each other however
their musical collaboration didn't start until high school as teens the Connor Brothers found
themselves part of once singing group while GI was part of another while in attendance at an
audition the organizer suggested that the three of them should form a group so they did they
call themselves The gens they recorded their first album titled it's no dream it featured the ballad
A Time For Us with Shazam on Lee vocals the album was only released locally and didn't achieve the
outcome the guys hoped it would after meeting their producer he would make the wise decision
to put Dino in the lead singing role seeing his potential and rare voice as the formula for the
group's success then the group's manager who just happened to have a connection to two Live
Crew rapper and record label executive Luther Campbell hooked the boys up with an audition
before they knew it the gents became the first act Luke signed to his label Luke records their
name though didn't sit well with the boss Luke suggested they change it to what would then become
known as the local nickname for their hometown of Houston H-Town h-town's debut album fever for the
flavor was released in April 1993 the first single called knock into boots would become
their biggest hit and also their signature song the track which contained samples from zaps be
all right hit the top spot on the r b chart and peaked at number three on the hot 100. [Music]
we're feeling the song so much that it made some of them do strange things Shazam told one
story of a woman who he invited to his hotel room noticing a familiar pair of Footwear she
asked him if they were the actual boots that he wore in the knock into Boots video as soon
as he confirmed that they were she took off running with them and disappeared later she
did come back but without the boots of course he asked for her to return them
but she insisted that he wouldn't want them anymore why because she had made love to them
foreign ly the group's follow-up single lick you up didn't do anywhere near as well according to
H-Town the reason simply had to do with the lyrics being just too raunchy so much so that lick you
up Remain the album version and an alternative mix was created called kiss you up the following
year the group made their first movie soundtrack appearance with Part-Time Lover for the sports
drama film Above the Rim produced by devante's Swing of Jodeci the track made it into the top
10 on the r b chart also at this time the group received the best new R B artist award at the
1994 Soul Train Music Awards the Trio's vocal ability wasn't the only thing on display they
also wrote produced and arranged many of their popular songs another Ace they had in their back
pocket was their looks especially Dino and Shazam the brothers who were born just 11 months apart
looked nearly identical they both sported attractive facial features a smooth caramel
complexion and great physiques later those factors provided the with the perfect gimmick
marketing themselves as twins many years later though information would come to light via their
Texas State birth records that Shazam was born in December 1973 and Dino was born in November 1974.
even though the group was achieving a tremendous amount of success their pockets weren't getting
any deeper after producing a hit song and platinum album they found themselves still living in the
hood thus began a major battle between the members and their label over money as well as creative
control despite all of that drama going on behind the scenes the guys pressed on and completed began
after dark their second album and dropped it in November 1994. half a dozen singles were released
with the most popular being emotions it just missed claiming a top 10 placement on the r b
chart coming in at number 11. while promoting the album H-Town made probably their most memorable
TV appearance ever on BET's video Soul the trio didn't hold back with their words or their attire
they came out on stage in outfits that resembled prison Garb complete with shackles on their ankles
Dino and Shazam let it rip that they weren't happy and didn't feel that their label was giving their
work the push it deserved GI sat in silence in their 2015 unsung episode Luke admitted that he
felt hurt over the interview and didn't understand what the group was upset about their manager
pointed out that the guys didn't even attempt a more professional approach to sit down with
Luke and work things out another movie soundtrack opportunity came up when H-Town recorded a cover
version of the persuaders a thin line between love and hate featuring Shirley Murdock and
Roger Troutman for the 1996 film of the same name the song gave the group another top 40 pop and top
10 r b hit at this time and due to other business issues plaguing the company eventually resulting
in a bankruptcy filing H-Town moved on from Luke records while shopping around for another deal
relativity records a division of Sony came with the best offer so they took it the group then did
and about face that was showcased on their next project ladies Edition Women's World released in
October 1997 the album's general theme serves as an apology to women for 1 its members feel
have been Grievous transgressions in Attitude on the part of the hip-hop world GI explained
the move to the LA Times we're apologizing for every man not just us we know we're looked at
as Role Models if we put it across some people will take heat of it and change their ways some
songs call women bees and ages and we want to redirect that we never use that but you hear it
so much on the radio so much in the streets tracks like ways to treat a woman a natural
woman and the one and only single they like it slow have a more respectful tone and conscious
attitude towards the opposite sex according to the liner notes the album was dedicated to
homicide victim Nicole Brown Simpson ex-wife of former professional football player O.J Simpson
as well as all the women of the world numerous National Women's telephone helplines were also
listed on the back cover the label however didn't share the same love for the project as the guys
did as a result they weren't interested in putting any promotion behind it and just wanted the group
to go back into the studio and back to their old sound while on a phone call with the president of
their label Dino lost his cool when he heard them offer the group two million dollars for a sexier
album he told them that if their current work didn't receive the attention it deserved that it
would be the last H-Town album the label would ever get and then he hung up things would now
go from bad to worse the group was in breach of their contract and without any new hits the kind
of money they were making from live performances dwindled significantly now seemed as good a time
as any to go on a Hiatus GI focused on work behind the scenes while Shazam and Dino both worked on
solo projects shazam's got released in 2000 Dino ran into a lot of difficulty trying to release his
so it ended up never getting off the ground the disappointment kicked off a depression he also
eventually filed for bankruptcy after a heart to heart with his brother Shazam Dino decided to put
the pass behind him move forward and get back to doing what he loved H-Town reunited started doing
shows again courting offers from record labels and began organizing a tour then the day that they
were all scheduled to meet to sign some contracts Dino was a no-show sadly the reason would soon be
revealed that it was because he and his pregnant girlfriend were involved in a major car accident
when a group of people after committing a robbery fled at a high rate of speed ran a red light and
crashed into the couple on January 28 2003 Dino's girlfriend died at the scene while dinos succumbed
to his injuries on the way to the hospital he was 28 years old in the group's unsung episode Shazam
would reveal that Dino actually wrote a song Just weeks before his passing about his own death when
Shazam questioned him about why he would choose to ride the track call the day I die Dino's response
was that he felt he wasn't going to be on earth for very long the label didn't want to continue
with the two-man group and told Shazam and GI that they needed to find another member to continue
with their deal they decided to walk away the following year H-Town released their fourth album
imitations of Life the last project Dino worked on before he passed it didn't produce any hit singles
Shazam still mourning the loss of his brother began drinking heavily and in his own words gave
up on life for a while years later GI decided to open up some social media Pages for H-Town
he was pleasantly surprised at how many followers and how much love the group was receiving after
being out of the spotlight for so long he showed the results to Shazam and before long H-Town was
back in 2015 they released their last studio album today titled child support the title is
a nod to the fans who claimed that H-Town owes them money after procreating to the group songs
that title would also really hit home for one of the two surviving members that same year Shazam
and would be arrested for failure to pay his own child support his tab 170 thousand dollars [Music]
three years later TMZ reported that he got busted again for the same offense the duo
continues to release music in various forms including their first mixtape called call
me Mr Pac-Man in 2017 and their first EP title date night in 2021. in 2019 H-Town
accepted the honor of being inducted into the national r b Hall of Fame currently Shazam and
GI continue to record and tour together while striving to keep h-towns and Dinos Legacy alive
thank you