Paul Wall

Paul Wall plays the State Fair of Texas on Saturday, October 10, at 7:45 PM. If you've followed the Houston rap scene over the last two decades, you know the name. Born Paul Slayton in Houston in 1980, he's one of the few white Southern rappers to build a real following in the region, and he's spent most of his career right in the thick of the Texas sound.

He first made a name for himself through Swishahouse Records and as one half of the Houston duo The Color Changing Click, alongside Chamillionaire. Much of that early work was built on mixtapes and party DJing in the 'screwed & chopped' style pioneered by the late DJ Screw—that slowed-down, pitch-shifted sound that became a hallmark of the city's hip-hop identity. That Houston connection is a big part of who he is as an artist, and it's the sound he's known for.

His reach went beyond the Gulf Coast, too. His work with The Color Changing Click on "Drive Slow" landed on Kanye West's Late Registration, and his major-label debut, The People's Champ, produced the hit "Sittin' Sidewayz." Off the stage, he's a Jersey Village High School graduate who spent three years studying mass communications at the University of Houston.

It's a single-bill show, so the focus is entirely on him. He'll be performing at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas on Saturday, October 10, with the set starting at 7:45 PM.