While Houston rap isn't nearly as huge coast-to-coast as it was during its 2004/2005 commercial heyday, most of H-Town's major players are still active and putting out good music. Slim Thug has been around since the late '90s, originally recording for Swishahouse before starting his own independent label. The EP Welcome to Texas picks up where 2010's Tha Thug Show left off; it's a nine-track effort that finds him working with Ludacris ("Rep the Dirty"), Pimp C ("Wanna Choose"), and Rick Ross ("Paid the Cost"). Unlike many money-minded rappers, Slim Thug is a legitimate financial whiz, with true-life success in real estate and business ownership; he even wrote a book called Surviving the Recession. But first and foremost he remains a dope emcee, flexing his unmistakable husky flow on quality joints like "Throwed" and "Goin Hard."