Born on Chicago's south side January 11, 1971, Paul's career started back in '83 when he was dancing with his breaking crew, E.I.O.U. Freeze and knew nothing about DJing. Developing his DJ skills in the next two years, he came back in '85, when he started to have parties where he would battle other Dj's.
(from thedjlist )
He has released over 130 E.P's himself and a vast amount of music for some of the most consistently underground dance labels before hooking up with Peacefrog. 12" releases on the likes of Cajual / Relief and Dance Mania led to his debut album release 'Bump Talkin' in 1994. This and the follow up 'Feel The Music' became two of the most talked about releases of their time until 1998 when he released his biggest hit to date, Get Get Down which sold over 3 million copies worldwide. It's in the guiness book of world records and was lisenced for more than 100 CD's and house compilations worldwide. Even today this song has an effect on dance floors when played. And to go along with all of that, he's one of the best DJ's to come out of Chicago and still packs dance floors all over the planet. This man has become legendary in our time and doesn't seem to ready to stop anytime soon. His remix work for Destiny's Child,Jon B,Ce Ce Peniston,Daft Punk,K-Alexi,Stacy Kidd, Joey Beltram, Green Velvet, Armando, Ron Trent and Steve Poindexter, just to name a few, have made their way into all the big jocks boxes (ed- ayooo!), many of which remain there to this day. Over the last 6 years, Paul has been releasing singles which all have made it to billboard's top 50 and higher. "He's a hit making machine," says Bob Sinclar "and he's shown so many artists the way. Much respect to everything that Paul Johnson has done and is going to do for house music."
(from Paul's myspace)
The following joints are some of my favorites, far from a true retrospective of this man's work. Like many Chicago dudes he has a tracky hard house side and a more disco side. I tended to lean towards the more groovy side of things for this post. Some are super rare, some are quite recognizable, others are a sweet version of the Price Is Right. As always, enjoy and buy some damn PJ vinyl.
White Winds - Crydamoure - 1998
It's A Love Thang - International House Records - 1999
Get On My Camel - Full House - 1999
Side A - Groove On Da Rocks - 2000
If You Ever Call Me - Riviera - 2000
She Got Me On - Data - 2005
As a bonus here's Get Down Method by Proper Villains, which is a dope BMore joint incorporating Paul's mega-hit, Get Get Down and the piano from Method Man.
