<\/p>\n
\n\tWhen Mike Jones, Slim Thug and Paul Wall first cut \u201cStill Tippin,\u2019\u201d they weren\u2019t seeking superstardom, just a bonafide street hit. But with the classic track, the three Houston MCs \u2014 and the people behind them \u2014 propelled Houston into a hip-hop hub.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cStill Tippin\u2019\u201d received its major release on November 12, 2004 \u2014 though it was a hit in the streets and clubs of Houston over a year prior. But Jones had spent years just trying to make it as an artist.\u00a0At his side was his mother and grandmother, who were his biggest supporters in his creative journey \u2014 and inspired the famous \u201cWho? Mike Jones!\u201d adlib. <\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI was trying to go to the club and get my music played,\u201d Jones tells Billboard<\/em>. \u201cPeople were making fun of me, like, \u2018Are you Biggie?\u2019 I\u2019m like \u2018I\u2019m Mike Jones.\u2019 and they\u2019d be like, \u2018Who?\u2019 And my grandma and mom said, \u2018Throw it back in their face\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tJones was discovered by Swishahouse founder and president Michael Watts in the late \u201890s, after artist manager \u2014 then A&R man \u2014 T Farris suggested Watts get him to rap on Swishahouse mixtapes. At the time, Watts says that Jones was performing freestyles and mixes at strip clubs for the women to dance to. \u201cI went there to go check him out,\u201d Watts recalls, \u201cand I said, \u2018Hey, why don\u2019t you come to the studio and lay down a few freestyles?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tJones would later cut some tracks for the Swishahouse crew before signing in the early 2000s, but his Houston breakthrough would come in the form of \u201cStill Tippin\u2019\u201d \u2014 in its original 2003 iteration.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThe song first appeared on Swishahouse\u2019s The Day Hell Broke Loose 2 <\/em>mixtape, not necessarily as a Jones single, but a compilation track comprised of the Swishahouse roster. \u201cThe song was so strong, that we ended up partnering with Asylum. So we used this song that was hot on the streets as a single for Mike Jones,\u201d says Watts.<\/p>\n