Dice Soho & Trill Sammy: Forerunners of Houston's New Generation

It was on November 26 when we first came across Dice Soho and Trill Sammy’s “Just Watch” video. The discovery process was purely accidental — YouTube hooked us up through their autoplay feature. Fredonem’s Lex Luger-esque instrumental immediately caught our ears; the rappers have the energy and youthful appearance of Rae Sremmurd but their sound is more similar to that of the Migos. Assuming that they’re Atlantan at first, we realized that Dice Soho and Trill Sammy are both from Houston shortly after because of their homage-paying names and the “Texas horns” hand signs that they occasionally throw throughout.

We instantly became fans but had a few questions: who are these guys and why has nobody found out about them yet (their video only had about 150,000 views at the time)? If they’re from Houston, why do they sound like they’re from the A? While many things remained unclear, we still decided to write a post on them.

Dice Soho (the guy with the frosted tips) is 20 years old and has been making his name known around the city since 2004 — just at the age of nine. He has been releasing music for a few years and is the co-founder of Icey Gang, which he describes to be a “collection of rappers and singers.” Trill Sammy, on the other hand, is relatively newer to the game. The 18-year-old rapper became a Vine sensation after his friend released a series of entertaining freestyle videos that went viral — most notably this “Netflix & Chill” one. They’ve been on each other’s radars for a while but had only linked up several months ago in hopes to take their buzz to the next level. So far they’ve received support from H-Town’s veterans and legends like Slim K and Slim Thug, as well as recognition from Kirko Bangs, Rae Sremmurd’s Slim Jimmy and Soulja Boy.

We reached out to them a few days after to learn more about who they are and the scene they represent. Although we’ve briefly come across music by Houston rappers like Sosamann, Sauce Walka and Sauce Twinz, the wave is still new to us. The last time we considered H-Town to re-emerge on a nation-wide scale was when Kirko Bangz and RiFF RAFF blew up. Travi$ Scott too, but like Dice Soho says, people don’t identify the Rodeo mastermind as being a “Houston rapper.” After the interview, it’s pretty convincing that these young guys have the potential to be the forerunners of Houston’s new generation. They show that there’s much more to the city’s youth culture than what the stereotypes portray. There’s more to the lifestyle that DJ Screw and Pimp C pioneered and non-Houston artists like A$AP Rocky re-popularized. In this day and age, an all-white Mercedes Benz S430 is as much of a slab as a ‘84 Cadillac Seville. Ultimately, Houston has adopted trap music in the same way that Atlanta has with lean.

Tell us a little about yourselves.
We’re both from H-Town. We pretty much grew up around the same neighborhood, but we actually didn’t start getting cool until after high school. We’ve always been popular throughout Houston but as soon as we started noticing each other’s buzz, we decided to link up and work. That’s when we cooked up the record “Just Watch” and now things are moving faster for us.

How did you meet each other?
We always knew of each other through the Internet. We was always known as two live, light skins with all the females. [Laughs] We finally met a couple months ago through a mutual friend.

The post we did on “Just Watch” blew up. There were positive and negative opinions from different people, but we definitely saw some sort of a buzz going on. Did you for expect this to happen?
We didn’t expect for the HYPETRAK post, that was surprising and super dope! Eventually, we knew that our work was going to start getting noticed sooner or later.

Even just based off on your names, we can tell that you’re proud of your city. However, most outsiders who aren’t as familiar with H-Town will probably not be able to tell that you’re from there. Even Kirko Bangz, who popped off this decade, comes off as being more “traditional” as an H-Town rapper than you. Can you tell us about why you didn’t go that direction?
We feel like it’s more Houston than what people on the outside think when they’re looking in. It’s a new generation and there is a lot of new stuff going on right now with the youth. We’re trying to portray a diverse image because everybody is stuck on one style and forgetting how to be different. We’re building our own wave.

Would you say that you adopted the “new Atlanta” style in your music?
Trill Sammy: Nah man. What Dice and I rap about, we actually live. Pouring 4s, kickin’ b*tches out, designer everything — we’re just trying to put Houston back on the map.
Dice Soho: We’ve always had creativity in our music, people sleep on Houston artist bad. It’s dope artist with dope styles all over the city; we were just one of the chosen ones. [Laughs]

People have compared the flow of “Just Watch” to Sauce Twinz and Sosa Mann’s “Off the Splash” and Sauce Walka’s “A Bag.”
Honestly, we don’t hear it so we can’t agree. Shout out to the homies Walk and Sos though!

Dice Soho

Travi$ Scott is another Houston artist you’d probably never guess was from there.
Dice: Yeah, he actually lived around the corner from me in Mo City (Missouri City). I’ve been watching him before he took off. We’ve met a couple of times and talked about the rap game and about him sending me beats. A lot of people got negativity towards him in the H because they feel like he don’t “put on” for the city. H-Town is weird when it comes to support, so I’m not mad at homie — he’s got my respect.

Trill Sammy, tell us about the “Netflix and Chill” freestyle and the Vine video that went viral.
Sammy: I really didn’t think it would blow up as fast at it did. Me and Born Stunna really did that sh*t for fun till the Internet buzz started increasing, so I gave them what they wanted.

Has anybody co-signed you guys yet?
Dice: Recently Slim Thug just reached out to us about the “Just Watch” record. He’s rocking with our moves heavy and we’re supposed to be cooking up in the studio this month. Shout out to the OG! Soulja Boy also just hit up Sammy and said that he’s diggin’ his “Trappin” remix, so I think that’s dope.

We know you’re both solo rappers right now, but you guys have been touring together as a duo. After the success of “Just Watch,” have you two thought of forming an official group?
Actually, we’re working on that right now. We’re going to continue on working together until we figure out the next plan.

Trill Sammy

Who are your biggest influences and who do you want to work with?
Dice: Honestly, my pops, friends, city and my environment influence me. They make me go harder with this music. They’re the main reasons I keep pushing. I can’t stop — especially not now. Artist who I want to work with are Big Sean, Young Thug and Justin Bieber.

Sammy: My city influences me. Houston’s new generation is going to take off soon. Artists like Gucci Mane, A$AP Rocky and Soulja Boy turn up, so I’ll link up with them soon.

Are there anyone you listen to that might surprise people?
Dice: Yeah, I’ll be having days when I want to listen to trap music, then out the blue, I’ll turn on some R&B music or pop music like Bieber or Kehlani. My bros be looking at me all weird and stuff. [Laughs]

Sammy: Yea I mainly jam underground rappers. If it’s live music, I support it, period.

What’s next for Dice Soho and Trill Sammy?
A mixtape, more shows and big tours. All we can say is be on the watch for every move we make. It’s about to be a movie!

Listen to the duo’s latest collaboration, “Money Anthem,” below.