something to smile about

Houston rapper promises new Texans stars CJ Stroud and Will Anderson Jr. dazzling gift from celeb jeweler

CJ Stroud Will Anderson Jr Houston Texans 2023

Texans cornerstones CJ Stroud and Will Anderson Jr. pose in front of their new office.

Photo courtesy of Houston Texans

The Houston Texans shocked the pro football world with a high-stakes grab of two potentially franchise-defining cornerstones in the 2023 NFL Draft on Thursday, April 27.

Long-suffering Texans fans literally jumped for joy when the team selected Ohio State quarterback CJ Stroud with the No. 2 pick overall. But the big shocker came when immediately after, the Texans picked Alabama pass rusher Will Anderson Jr. — considered by many the best player in the entire 2023 class — at No. 3.

Though the Texans paid dearly to move from No. 12 to No. 3 overall, the move is being largely heralded across sports media and the NFL landscape, particularly with those who've been critical of the Texans' front-office moves of late (no need to re-hash all that now).

A team forced to rebuild slowly, the Houston Texans, led by general manager Nick Caserio and head coach (and beloved former Texans player) DeMeco Ryans put the NFL on notice that they’re not only rebuilding, but ready to win now.

Nothing in the NFL is guaranteed (hence the "any given Sunday" mantra). But Stroud replaces controversial and ousted former Texans QB Deshaun Watson as the face of the offense. Meanwhile, Anderson is already being compared to perennial NFL defensive greats and could very well be this team's next Justin James Watt.

Fans packed the Texans' official draft watch party and received a video message from the two new Texans. Later, Houston rapper Paul Wall (the People's Champ) and rap icon Bun B officially welcomed Stroud and Anderson from the fan fest. The People's Champ promised Stroud and Anderson a dazzling gift from one of our most buzzy jewelers.

“Now, I talked to my boy Johnny Dang,” Wall told the duo. “He said he got your grillz ready! He said he got your grillz ready!” Instantly recognizing the swag, Stroud and Anderson laughed, Stroud even pointing to his teeth.

For the uninitiated, grills are shiny, often jewel-encrusted adornments worn over the teeth. Known as Houston's celebrity grill maker, Dang has crafted pieces for local and national celebs, including Beyoncé, Astros players like Lance McCullers, Jr. and Jeremy Peña. Dang was even featured The World According to Jeff Goldblum; the actor proudly showed off his gold, Dang-crafted grill in interviews later.

Paul Wall Bun B Houston Texans draft party 2023 Paul Wall promised grillz for the dynamic duo.Screen capture via Houston Texans/Facebook

Wall's gift promise capped off (sorry) a joyous event for the team that has a dearth of them of late.

“Couldn’t have celebrated last night’s draft pics at a better place with better people,” Bun B, who sported a No. 23 Texans jersey, tells CultureMap after the big day.

“It excites me to see what the future holds,” Stroud told fans and the media on Friday, April 28. “We don't have a limit. We can do whatever we put our minds to and whatever Christ asks us to do. So I'm really excited.”

As are fans everywhere in Houston. Here's hoping that the next big celebrity gift for Stroud and Anderson comes courtesy of our Trill OG (and frequent CultureMap Tastemaker Awards emcee) Bun B. We're sure the dudes will love a box of his Trill Burgers, the hottest smash burgers in America.

And here's hoping this glowing hardware from Dang is foreshadowing for another coveted gem: a Lombardi trophy.

H-Town rising

Houston leaps back into top 50 'World's Best Cities' list for 2025

Photo by Adrian Newell on Unsplash

Houston made a big leap back into the top 50, ranking No. 40, after previously plummeting into No. 72 last year.

Lively Houston has regained its rightful place among the top 50 best cities in the world, according to a prestigious new report by Resonance Consultancy.

The Canada-based real estate and tourism marketing advisors ranked Houston the 40th best city worldwide for 2025 in its annual "World's Best Cities" list.

The report quantifies the relative qualities of livability, "lovability," and prosperity for the world's top 100 cities with metropolitan populations of 1 million or more. New to the 10th anniversary edition, Resonance partnered with global market researchers Ipsos to include perception-based data into the rankings, surveying over 22,000 people in 30 countries worldwide to determine "the most desirable places to visit, live or work."

Houston made a major rebound after plummeting to No. 73 in last year's report. In 2022, Houston ranked No. 42.

Resonance refers to its previous "World's Best Cities" reports and its 2024 "America's Best Cities" list – which ranked Houston in the top 10 – when explaining the Bayou City's successes. The report praised Houston's vast cultural diversity and placed a great focus on its economic prosperity, even going so far as to suggest Houston residents make more money "and can sock more away."

"...[W]here America’s fourth-largest city truly takes off is in its economic heft and wealth, ranking No. 9 globally for GDP per Capita and No. 14 for Fortune 500 companies in town," the report said. "All that rolls up into an overall Prosperity index ranking of No. 36, which is even more impressive given the No. 14-ranked Price-to Income Ratio [of the city]."

Elsewhere in Texas, Austin and Dallas also earned spots on the World's Best Cities list for 2025, but only one made a similar rebound from the previous year's rankings. Dallas moved up from No. 66 in last year's report to its current rank as No. 55. Meanwhile, Austin took its first tumble out of the 43rd spot (which it had occupied for two years straight) and now ranks No. 53.

London held onto its crown as the No. 1 best city in the world for 2025, followed by New York (No. 2), Paris (No. 3), Tokyo (No. 4), and Singapore (No. 5).