DJ Michael “5000” Watts is a part of Houston culture, many Houstonians childhood. His mother lived in the same neighborhood as I did growing up. His loss felt like a piece of my childhood chipping away. This past monday, hundreds celebrated his impactful life-King’s Day.
The day started with a private funeral service at the Luke Humble Church where Pastor Walter August facilitated the service. Guests included the family of Watts, entertainers such as Slim Thug, Mike Jones, D-Reck of Wreckshop Records, OG Ron C, Lil O, and more. Watts was a weekly regular on 97.9 The Box, where he did the mid-day mix, 5 O’clock mix, and Sunday evening Swishahouse Mix for the city. His long-time co-workers of Radio-One Houston were in attendance, and his former boss, Terri Thomas provided expressions that illustrated the greatness of Watts as a DJ but also his tenacity as a person.
Directly after the private service, over 500 people showed up at Bell Tower, where a community “King’s Day” took place. Guests arrived 2-hours before the start of the service to ensure they were able entry. As guests entered, they immediately saw a signature seamos beverage curated by Exotic Pop in which proceeds from each drink benefited the family. Each guests experienced a journey of Watts’ life, legacy and career through life-size photos, a video tribute, and a memorabilia mini-museum that displayed paraphernalia, awards, plaques, photos and honors. As guests enjoyed lite-bites, a live DJ set took place that featured DJ J-Que, DJ Mr. Rogers, and DJ Mankind. These DJs played some of the top hits by Watts that ultimately left some guests dancing while others were in tears. Congressman Christian Menefee provided words of proclamation for Watts as well in-between the DJ tributes.
Watts’ wife, Tammie Watts, provided words of gratitude to the audience following the DJ set. Directly after a prayer, a horse and carriage carried the body of Michael 5000 Watts to his final resting area while over 100 Slab cars (traditional Houston cars) followed in a procession.
We send prayers of comfort to his family.
*Photos David Settle
