Let us introduce you to Dallas’s latest country music duo, South Bound Twin.
Okay, that’s not entirely true. The twin brothers who form the group, Michael Joe and Show Lewis, were born and spent their early lives in Baytown, a Houston suburb. However, they moved to Venus on the southern edge of Dallas-Fort Worth at a young age and now reside in the Dallas area. Although they made it clear that they are South Texas boys, we’re going to consider them a Dallas duo for now.
Michael Joe and Show Lewis started rapping when they were only teenagers, but didn’t enter the country music genre until last year. Their first song to be released on streaming platforms was “Middle of Nowhere” in May 2024, then they released their second song, “Bottoms Up” in December that year. The reason they’re trending now is because of their latest song, “Texas Thang.” This song is a hit for many reasons, but the crossover of country and rap music is what makes this song so special. And where does the rap come from? Dallas rap legend Big Tuck.
Big Tuck helped form the identity of Dallas rap as part of the South Dallas rap group Dirty South Rydaz (DSR) and rose to fame with his 2004 album Purple Hulk. He’s still actively hitting stages around the city and frequently referencing his hometown in his music. He is often credited with putting Dallas hip-hop on the map.
Speaking with South Bound Twin, they describe how this song and their collaboration with Big Tuck came to be.
“We knew we wanted something hot for the summer and we knew we wanted to put on for Texas, and so we sat down, we came up with the song, the concept and we were just sitting there like, man, we had one verse open and we need someone hot out of Texas to get on this,” Show Lewis said.
That’s where Big Tuck came into play, whom the duo met at a Texas Rangers Opening Day event.
“Throughout the event, we were taking photos with Big Tuck for some of the guests there, and we just leaned over and said, ‘Hey, what's up with us?’ South Bound Twin and the Big Tuck collab?”
Just like that, a friendship was formed, and Big Tuck hopped on the country track to create the country-rap crossover “Texas Thang.”
They also discussed how stepping out of the spotlight and doing fewer shows to focus on music was the best thing they could’ve done for their careers, which helped them develop music like this.
“So what we did was scale back and we're like, ‘Hey man, let's focus more on the music since we are new to country,’ so we focused more on music,” said Lewis, adding, “I think we were doing it backwards, but now we’re on track.”
South Bound Twin just had their biggest release to date with "Texas Thang."
southboundtwin / Instagram
Three weeks after being released to YouTube on July 31, the “Texas Thang” music video surpassed 100,000 views, a huge milestone for the duo. The duo describes it as a rewarding, crazy and surreal feeling after working hard to enter the country music scene.
They also made it clear how appreciative they were of Big Tuck working with them.
“We're grateful, thankful and like Joe said, to have him on our playlist for years, man, and to be able to make music with him, it’s the most surreal thing ever. We still can't believe it,” Lewis said, also describing him as one of the most humble men he’s ever met.
South Bound Twin is just getting started, and they alluded to some big plans for the future, including more shows, new music and collaborations with more big names.
We hope they can continue to collaborate with more DFW artists. Check out more of their music below and follow them on social media for more updates.
