The time-honored tradition of fans tossing roses on stage to express gratitude for a thrilling performance has been around since the days of matadors and gladiators. “Echar flores” is Spanish for “to throw roses” at someone, and Texas rapper Thoweda Rosas is certainly worthy of being thrown an entire bouquet. Heavily influenced by the Chopped & Screwed movement (also known as Slowed & Throwed, from which the rapper takes his name) and West Coast gangsta rap of the 90s, Thoweda Rosas crafted his own rhymes as he grew up in Harlingen, Texas, the city closest to the U.S./Mexico border, where the lure of the drug trade and the promise of making fast easy money can captivate a young man who doesn’t have his head on straight. Growing up so near the drug trade affected Thoweda’s rap style in multiple ways: writing lyrics helped to channel his anger and allowed him to address demons of dark depression, anger, stress, and struggle, and it also entrenched his music in both Hip Hop and Latino street culture, slowing down his beats and coating his lyrics with thick cough syrup psychedelic vibes. Thoweda Rosas new album, Trip N’ Trap, is out this May 2021, featuring the R&B laced cheating and break-up single “Fake Luv” and the Trap anthem, “Water,” featuring an undeniable, dripping, Migos-style flow.