Paul Wall, born Paul Slayton on March 11, 1981, is the People's Champ, a rapper to the Swishahouse Records. Paul Wall tickets have sold well around his hometown of Houston and throughout the southwest, but he is gaining ground, as evident by the recent album's entry in the Billboard 200.
His rise in the music industry came the hard way, constantly working on his game and enduring an unpaid internship with Swishahouse, his current record label. Wall and friend Chamillionaire convinced DJ Michael "5000" Watts to allow them to rap on his program. The performance impressed Watts to the point he put them on a mixtape released in 1999. That mixtape launched Wall and Chamillionaire as local celebrities. The two performers remained friends and music partners, releasing mixtapes under the name The Color Changin' Click (CCC). A local album contract for a single album led to over 200,000 sold records.
This album, released through Paid in Full Records, gave each of them the attention they needed. With their new fame, the CCC partnership dissolved, with Chamillionaire remaining an independent artist and Paul Wall resigning with Swishahouse.
Finally, in 2005 Paul Wall went from mixtape to full length studio album, debuting The Peoples Champ. The album peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The strong chart position did not result in album sales certification. Still, the album has been listed among the top rap albums released by a white rapper and Paul Wall tickets continued to sell as his dedicated fan base continued to offer their support.