On May 3, 2005, Billboard charting and emerging hitmaking Texas rapper That Mexican OT headlined at Nashville’s Skydeck on Broadway.
On Saturday evening, Billboard Hot 100 charting and buzzworthy Tejano rapper That Mexican OT headlined in front of a capacity crowd at Nashville’s Skydeck on Broadway.
Everything about the rising star’s performance felt like his native East Texas’ underground legendary hip-hop culture had finally discovered its most comfortable and timeless permanence in pop culture.
A rural-to-urban crossover variant of the sound and style familiar to artists who currently co-sign That Mexican OT’s rise like UGK, Screwed Up Click and Swishahouse Records-affiliated performers like Bun B, Slim Thug, Z-Ro and Paul Wall, is growing in the farms and woods outside of Houston.
These songs, characterized by ear-warming double-time flows and tongue-rolled consonants, primarily dwell on chronicling sexual impropriety, the use of marijuana, the sale of narcotics, and excitement linked to the purchase of custom jewelry and luxury goods.
The crowd became frenzied when the 26-year-old, heavily tattooed artist born Virgil René Gazca rapped songs like “Johnny Dang” over synthesized melodies and hard-dropping basslines.
The scene was so wild that men in the crowd threw Resistol hats and women threw brassieres and undergarments onstage.
Rap’s biggest stars are ‘students’ of Houston’s rap culture
Before performing, Gacza noted to The Tennessean that, in the past two decades, Houston’s rap influence has expanded beyond the city’s hitmakers’ Mike Jones, Paul Wall and Slim Thug releasing “Still Tippin’ ” in 2004, alongside collaborating with the genre’s biggest stars of the 2000s (UGK on Jay-Z’s “Big Pimpin’,” Paul Wall on Nelly’s “Grillz,” Slim Thug and Bun B joining with Houston native Beyoncé for “Check On It”).
“Drake, Future, Lil Wayne, they’ve all continued to co-sign Houston’s culture,” he said. “People used to think that our slang, lifestyle, and everything else were stupid. But now, it’s a beautiful blessing to witness the (most prominent) artists remaining students of our game.”
However, the artist’s appeal exists far beyond rap’s borders.
That Mexican OT’s hometown of Bay City, Texas, is bordered by grasslands, state parks, wildlife refuges and waters that dump into the Atlantic Ocean. At Skydeck, longtime fans of the emcee arrived outfitted in Mossy Oak hunting gear, cowboy hats and all manner of Western wear.
“Because of where I’m from and the work I did breaking horses, wrangling chickens and being around cows on my great-great-grandfather’s farm, or even the hunting I still love today, I love late ’90s and early 2000s country music,” he said.
The performer believes the swagger of artists like George Strait translates into a starched jean and cowboy-hatted machismo that defies ethnic stereotypes.
Alongside Freeport, Texas, native Drodi, a frequent collaborator who opened for him at Skydeck on Broadway, the performer goes on a 90-second coss-genre name-dropping spree when discussing those who share his perspective.
“It’s as much about how much I love country artists like Gavin Adcock and Braxton Keith as I’m working with BigXThaPlug, (the Dallas-born crossover star’s 600 crew affiliate) Rosama, (and other Houston-based emcees like) Key Glock, Maxo Kream, Sauce Walka and Paul Wall,” he says, grinning proudly. “We’ve got Texas in good hands.”
Learning ‘comfort’ amid heartbreaking circumstances
While onstage and performing, he recalled what happened when Houston’s breakthrough era coincided with his failing in the first grade.
“I was in the first grade failing every class, and my mom’s friends was tellin her, ‘Sophie he is failing all classes in the first grade what is wrong?’ And she told em, ‘F— THAT SCHOOL MY SON GON’ BE A RAPPER!!!!”
His mom was tragically killed by a drunk driver two years later. Notably, his father was incarcerated during the same era.
“I’ve been betting on myself for a long time,” said That Mexican OT, who was eventually mainly raised by his grandmother.
“Learning how to feel comfortable, good and right being myself was hard,” he offers. “But because my mother wired me to be an artist before (I had any choice in the matter), I feel my comfort only came to me as her blessing.”
Pursuing the career of his bittersweet dreams
Embracing the career he was preordained by his mother to pursue saw him battle first through drug addiction, then having his skills honed by his fellow rapping cousins and uncles.
Eventually, he stopped “wearing snapbacks and (Nike Air) Jordans and being unsure of myself.” He paired the workmanlike look of a baggy shirt, cowboy-cut jeans, square-toed boots and a Resistol hat familiar to his community with a quintet of mixtapes. That led to his Interscope debut album “Lonestar Luchador” and its platinum-selling viral sensation “Johnny Dang.”
Twenty years ago, Dang was a Vietnamese-born jeweler based in Houston whose ability to craft ostentatious custom necklaces and diamond-studded dental jewelry benefited H-Town performers’ expanded financial outlook.
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Twenty years later, he’s a status symbol whose name was screamed by nearly 4,000 predominantly Latino hip-hop fans in downtown Nashville.
As previously noted, Houston’s culture, slang and style are no longer “stupid” — they’re scream-worthy.
Another song, 2023’s “Cowboy Killer,” is perhaps too frank to be a re-printed reflection of how his life has evolved from being dangerous to being defined by overindulging in drinking and romance on tour.
“I’m just an old school villain, let’s get it / Lately I’ve been movin’ / ‘Cause there ain’t no room for an outlaw like me,” he raps.
‘Texas is coming home with the lion’s head…’
That Mexican OT believes Texas’ pop moment, aided by the Lone Star State’s unique blend of rural-tinged country and Western culture, has unprecedented national and worldwide potential.
“For 25 years, Houston’s has worked hard to set a cool … hip-hop standard. But now, people like me, a rural Southern Texan, but also Tejano to the bone, with a Texas Mexican swagger, are inspired by what Houston has done,” the rapper says.
When asked about the potential for Texas rap’s broader impact, That Mexican OT makes a hunting analogy with a heartfelt twist.
“Texas is coming home with the lion’s head — that’s beautiful,” he said. “What’s more beautiful? I’m achieving the dream my mother had for me.”
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