Swishahouse is a Southern hip hop record label owned and founded by Michael "5000" Watts based in Houston, Texas in 1997.
History
Swishahouse was founded in North Houston in 1997 by founder and President Michael "5000" Watts and OG Ron C as a response to the popularity of chopped and screwed music from Houston's south side. The label began by distributing a mixtape series that featured chopped and slowed versions of R&B songs. Many of the current and former artists come from Acres Homes, Homestead, Rosewood & the Tidwell/Gulf Bank areas. The series includes:
A song that originally appeared on the compilation album The Day Hell Broke Loose 2, Mike Jones' "Still Tippin'", achieved mainstream success in 2004. The single would go on to be certified Platinum by the RIAA. This led to Swishahouse signing a national distribution deal with Asylum Records. Jones released his major-label debut, Who Is Mike Jones?, on Swishahouse/Warner Bros. in April 2005; the album was certified Platinum by the RIAA, for selling over a million copies in the United States of America, that June.[1]
Aftermath A&R Angelo Sanders said that the great advantage to independents like Swishahouse is that, "They're able to get their product out on the streets to specific regions at a greater speed than a major ... They're able to flood that whole Texas market with a product before the majors are able to notice what is going on out there."[2]
Swishahouse released Paul Wall's commercial debut studio album, The Peoples Champ‚ in September 2005. The album debuted and peaked at number one on the Billboard 200, and was ultimately certified Platinum in America.[3] Before embarking on his rap career and while still at school, Wall had worked in the Swishahouse office.[4]
Swishahouse has archives hosted by Rice University's Center for Engaged Research and Collaborative Learning, a center under the Kinder Institute for Urban Research. The physical materials are hosted in the Woodson Research Center at the university's Fondren Library.[6]
