25 Lighters still got that spark. A brief history.

The song “25 Lighters” has been around forever. DJ DMD, who is from Port Arthur, TX first recorded it in 1997 and I remember hearing it while in college. It was released on the album, “Twenty-Two: P.A. World Wide” featuring Fat Pat and Lil Keke. Lots of people may wonder what the hell, “25 lighters on my dresser” actually means. Well, in Houston they used to take cheap plastic lighters and clean them out in order to fill them with crack and / or cocaine. While on the street it’s easier and less suspicious to walk up to someone and ask to borrow a lighter than it is a bag of crack. Overall, it’s much easier to pass off a lighter to someone. So basically it means he’s got 25 lighters full of crack to sell, thus, “he’s got to get paid”. Anyhow, this was pretty much Houston’s battle cry until Lil Keke’s song Southside dropped in 98.

The song has been remixed, screwed up and sampled from everyone to Ron C to DJ Screw to Lil Ro to Devious. Below are a few major versions of the track. Including a very unique version by Cavedweller. Now, ZZ Top has recorded their own version of it and Rick Rubin decided to use it in the movie “Battleship”. I’m not sure how ZZ Top came across this track, but it’s always been one of my favorites and I’m glad to see it back in the spotlight again.

The original:

Screwed and Chopped:

Cavedweller version:

Z-Ro – Crack – 25 Lighters [Swishahouse Remix]

ZZ Top: