Proudly hailing from Houston, Paul Slayden, better known as Paul Wall, is a rapper and entrepreneur. He has collaborated with many fellow Houston rappers, such as Slim Thug, RiFF RAFF, Chamillionaire and Kirko Bangz.

Paul started selling grills to local rappers in the Houston area before actually getting in the booth himself. He would go around selling the grills from the trunk of his car. He made a name for himself, and eventually went into business with infamous TV Johnny.

In 2001, he and Chamillionaire formed the group The Color Changing Click, and were poised to be the next big group out of Houston. Unfortunately, the two had a major falling out. No one knows exactly what caused the friction between the two artists, but they officially disbanded in 2005, which was the peak of hip-hop in Houston.

Around this same time, Paul saw his career explode with two big hits. The first was “Still Tippin,” which also featured Mike Jones and Slim Thug. This song essentially put Houston on the mainstream rap radar. The second was “Grillz,” which he won a Grammy for, alongside Nelly, Big Gipp, and Ali Jones. Although he’s since dwindled from the national spotlight, Paul has steadily released albums—in 2018 he dropped Bounce Backs Over Setbacks.