The long-bubbling Houston rap scene finally took over the mainstream in 2005, getting the entire country invested in tippin’ on four-fours and sittin’ sideways — and the guy who ended up serving as the connective tissue for pretty much the whole moment was The People’s Champ, Paul Wall. In this second episode of our Vintage Almost-Pop Stardom mini-series — a spin on our usual Vintage Pop Stardom, with four episodes this month looking at close-but-not-quite pop stars during their biggest years — Jonny Auping of the My Time Back newsletter helps us look back at the undisputed king of the parking lot during the year of “Still Tippin’,” “Drive Slow” and “Grillz,” as the white rapper-jeweler with the disco ball inside his mouth became one of the most unavoidable figures in popular music. 2005 Paul Wall YouTube Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwFs58D1XAMb63lDlLTnzzXuUCvCQwoJD&si=T73JmQ11k_b-n-Yr Subscribe to Jonny's My Time Back newsletter: https://mytimeback.beehiiv.com/ And if you enjoy the pod, please consider donating to the following causes: Transgender Law Center https://transgenderlawcenter.org/ Trans Lifeline https://translifeline.org/ Destination Tomorrow https://secure.givelively.org/donate/destination-tomorrow-inc Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe https://www.gofundme.com/c/gender-confirmation-surgery-fundraising Also, please consider giving your local congresspeople a call in support of trans rights, with contact information you can find on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠5Calls.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices