Sporting a cache of Platinum Hits that includes “Still Tippin” ,”Back Then” by Mike Jones, “Sittin Sideways” by Paul Wall, “Drapped Up” by Bun B, and “Pouring Up” by Pimp C. Salih Williams was a driving force pushing the burgeoning Texas rap scene towards widespread respectability. Salih, Carnival Beats concentrates on bridging the gap between the live instrumental feel of down home soul music and the trance-inducing repetitiveness of catchy keyboard melodies.

Hailing from Austin Tx, otherwise known as the “Live Music Capital of the World”, Salih initially entered the music business by way of a youthful r-n-b outfit called Sixx AM. Sharing the bill with his blood brothers Karriem, Tomar and Ishaq, Salih and his brother’s emerged as entertaining stage performers and hot commodities bouncing about 6th Street throughout the 90’s as members of bands such as Strat2G, The Bizness, and Hot Buttered Rhythm.

Having set a sound foundation for his decision to enter the rap game, Salih took to the studio and almost immediately hit it big in 2000 by providing the beat for Big Moe’s regional sensation “Barre Baby”. Fueling much of Big Moe’s debut album “City of Syrup” with his production inflections, Salih built further momentum by concocting just the right recipe to make the Wreckshop Family’s “Power Up” yet another regional smash. National acclaim was soon to follow as Big Moe’s second album “Purple World” hit MTV airwaves by way of Salih’s carousel of swerving conjecture titled “Purple Stuff”.

No song had dominated the rap airwaves over the course of 2004-05 as much as rapper Mike Jones “Still Tippin” . Built off of the bells from Whodini’s “I’m a Ho” and enhanced by the sickest violin loop known to man, Salih’s instrumental packs a wallop that is matched by the lyrical punch of Slim Thug, Mike Jones, and Paul Wall joining forces. Remixed by G-Unit and utilized by just about every mixtape in circulation, “Still Tippin” officially kicked in a new era of Texas rap making its mark beyond state lines.