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. The moment took over radio, TV and eventually the charts, with pop stars as massive as Nelly and Beyoncé eventually having huge hits influenced by this H-town movement. And while he might not have been the most obvious star for the moment, one guy ended up serving as the connective tissue for pretty much the whole thing: The People’s Champ, Paul Wall.

This month on the Greatest Pop Stars podcast, our Vintage Pop Stardom spin-off series Vintage Almost-Pop Stardom is welcoming on first-time guests to look at really interesting artists during years in which they brushed up against pop stardom, but perhaps never quite got all the way

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