South Park Mexican

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Carlos Coy (born October 5, 1970), better known by his stage name South Park Mexican, is an American rapper, founder of Dope House Records, and convicted felon. His stage name is derived from the South Park neighborhood in Houston, Texas where he was raised.

Coy, his brother Arthur, and a friend founded Dope House Records in 1995; Coy debuted as South Park Mexican that same year with the album Hillwood under the label. His fourth album, The 3rd Wish: To Rock the World, generated the hit single, "High So High".

In 2002, Coy was convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child and sentenced to 45 years incarceration, and is currently serving his sentence at the Ramsey I Unit near Rosharon, Texas. While incarcerated, he has continued to record music.^[2]

Early life

Coy's father Arturo was a Marine from Falfurrias, Texas; Coy's mother dropped out of high school to marry Arturo. Their marriage ended three years after Coy's birth. Coy's sister, Sylvia, described herself as his "mother/sister". Coy attended various elementary schools, before entering the music magnet program at Welch Middle School. His family moved from southeast Houston to South Park, and Coy attended Woodson Middle School. Rapper Scarface (real name Brad Jordan) also attended Woodson. Coy attended Milby High School until he dropped out in 1987 while still in ninth grade. Coy obtained a GED and enrolled in San Jacinto Junior College for a business associate's degree but failed all his classes there. He then worked at a chemical plant for minimum wage, but after being again unemployed he worked as a door-to-door perfume salesman and eventually a crack cocaine dealer.^[3]

Music career

Coy began as a Christian rapper but felt that doing so made him an outcast. In 1994, Coy started rapping and recording songs as South Park Mexican and SPM. In 1995, Coy, along with his brother Arthur Jr. and good friend Jose Antonio Garza from McAllen, Texas founded his own record label, Dope House Records.^[3] As South Park Mexican (SPM), Coy released his debut album in march of 1995, Hillwood,. SPM promoted his first album for two years and by 1997 he started working on his second album. He released his second album Hustle Town by march of 1998, it contains the hit single "Mary-Go-Round", the album became an underground hit and was notable in the Houston underground rap scene. In 1998, he got underground fame and started working on his third album. On December 22, 1998 SPM released Power Moves: The Table and by 1999 he broke out the underground and had mainstream attention. On November 23,1999, SPM released his fourth album "The 3rd Wish: To Rock the World", with single "High So High" gaining much local buzz and even charting at #50 on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart.^[4][5] In February 2000, he signed a joint venture between his label and Universal Music Group which earned him a $500,000 advance and national distribution.^[3] Universal released three of Coy's albums: Time is Money and The Purity Album (2000) and Never Change (2001). The Purity Album included single "You Know My Name", which peaked at #99 on the Billboard R&B chart and #31 on the rap chart. At the 2000 Houston Press Music Awards SPM Won every category he was nominated for, winning six awards, Musician of the Year, Best Rap/Hip-hop, Songwriter of the Year, Song of the Year ("High So High"), Album of the Year (The 3rd Wish: To Rock the World) His label, Dope House Records also snatched up an award for best local label. It was the first time a rap artist had snatch that many awards. At the 2001 Houston Press Music Awards He won three awards, Best Rap/Hip-hop; Local Musician of the Year; Best Local Label (Dope House Records). His Universal releases did not gain much mainstream attention; Jason Birchmeier of Allmusic suggested: "Coy's hardcore rapping proved to be too harsh for the masses". His 2002 album Reveille Park, a compilation of freestyles, was released by Dope House.^[6] Dope House released two new albums that he recorded while incarcerated: When Devils Strike, released in 2006, debuted at #46 on the Billboard 200,^[7] and The Last Chair Violinist followed in 2008. Following a six-year hiatus, The Son of Norma was released on September 30, 2014.

Child molestation case

On September 25, 2001, Houston police arrested Coy on a charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child who was then nine years old, but he was released from county jail after posting bail.^[8] The incident occurred on Labor Day weekend that year.^[3] A Harris County, Texas jury indicted Coy on December 10, 2001 and added another charge over a 1993 incident when SPM allegedly impregnated a then-13-year-old girl, who later demanded child support payments from him.^[9][10] Two more charges followed in March 2002 for sexual assault of two 14-year-old girls; Coy was held without bail.^[11][12] Coy's trial began on May 8, 2002, when the nine-year-old girl's mother testified that the girl left a sleepover because of abuse.^[13] The next day, the girl testified that Coy touched her inappropriately when she was sleeping.^[14]

On May 18, 2002, a Houston jury convicted Coy of aggravated sexual assault of a child. He was sentenced to 45 years in prison on May 30 and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.^[3][15]

As of 2015 SPM is incarcerated in the Ramsey I Unit near Rosharon, Texas. Coy is eligible for parole in 2024. His projected release date is April 8, 2047, and his Texas Department of Criminal Justice number is 01110642.^[2] He was previously incarcerated in the Powledge Unit near Palestine, Texas,^[16] and the Allred Unit in Wichita Falls, Texas.^[17] Coy maintains his innocence in this case and there are persistent messages from online posters calling for his release.^[18][19]

Discography

Albums

Singles

Mixtapes

• Screwston: The Day Houston Died (2001)
• Screwston Vol. 2: Pink Soda (2001)
• Screwston Vol. 3: Stuck in da Mud (2002)

Compilations

• Lone Star Ridaz (2000)
• Lone Star Ridaz: Wanted (2001)
• Lone Star Ridaz: 40 Dayz/40 Nightz (2002)
• Lone Star Ridaz: Rules & Regulations (2002)

Guest appearances

See also

• History of the Mexican-Americans in Houston

References