Artist: Paul Wall
Interviewer: Da Metrognome

A year ago, the world at-large was unaware of the Houston rapper, Paul Wall. As the Southern rap influence continues to creep into speakers all over the nation, so does Paul Wall’s name, courtesy of guest appearances featuring his syruppy-slow verbal flow. With a new album, entitled The Peoples Champ, dropping in the next two weeks and his verse on Kanye West’s new record, Paul Wall is poised to do big numbers and garner more respect than even he may have expected. SoundSlam.com got up with Paul Wall for a conversation covering a variety of topics. Read what the Houston native says about his entrance into the rap game, what he loves doing more than rapping, and how his intelligence and general respect for people have allowed him to make major moves. The Champ Is Here. Check it.



SoundSlam: Hey, what’s up Paul?!

Paul Wall: Eh, what’s up, baby. What’s goin’ down?

SoundSlam: You tell me!

Paul Wall: Man, just getting ready for this album to drop…I can’t even tell you how excited I am.

SoundSlam: I bet, I bet. A long time comin’…

Paul Wall: Yea, for real, man. And this particular album, I been working on it for about a year and a half now.

SoundSlam: Everyone knows you have this new project coming out, but I’d like to show the people where you’ve been prior to now, know what I mean. So, you grew up in Houston’s northwest side, is that right?

Paul Wall: Yeah.

SoundSlam: And you got into the music game through the street team hustle. Tell me a little bit about what you were doing and who you were doing it for.

Paul Wall: Yeah, I started off with Michael “5000” Watts. He was putting out the number one-type mixtapes around the neighborhood. And then from there, he really took me under his wing and grew me, just as a hustler. And from that, it went to me doin’ stuff for Def Jam, for No Limit, and just putting in hard work.

SoundSlam: What sort of insight or advantages did the street team sh*t give you over the other cats that were just trying to rap, just trying to put out demos and they didn’t see the business side of it all?

Paul Wall: You know, it went on my mind and taught me first hand what it takes to have a successful album. You know, it ain’t just about music. It’s a combination of a lot of things. And one of those things is having a strong street presence…and in music, you gotta have the right look for what you’re doin’. Not to say that you have to look this or that way, but just whatever works for you. But, other than that, you have to have a strong team behind you and part of that is having a strong street team.

SoundSlam: I’m a DJ and I know that you have a history DJ’ing too. What I’m curious about is why you decided to go the DJ’ing route if you were already trying to push your rapping skills?

Paul Wall: I’ma be honest wit you, man. I like rapping…this sh*t cool, but man, I LOVE TO DJ. Man, I love to DJ waaaaayyyy more than I like to rap. I mean, you know, it was just fun for me to DJ…it was quite an experience. You know, just controlling the crowd is way more fun and exciting than rapping was. And you know, at that time, it didn’t seem like there was that many people out there that was trying to be DJs. Everybody wanted to rap and only a few people really wanted to DJ.

SoundSlam: That’s because DJ’ing is expensive than a maf*cka. But yeah, I feel you. There’s nothing like DJ’ing. Okay, now I read this and have spoken to people that have been around you personally before and it’s been said that you’re really humble and down-to-earth.

Paul Wall: Yeah, man. That’s just how I was raised. I was taught to respect people, whether you the CEO or the mailroom guy.

SoundSlam: Okay, I was gonna ask if it came from a specific source. I was curious if it had to do with negative circumstances that kept you humble or if it was the way you were taught to be?

Paul Wall: Yeah, that’s just the way I was raised. My mother taught me to be that way. I mean, and it’s in the bible, you know. He exalts himself should be humble and he who is humble shall be exalted. So, just how I was raised.

SoundSlam: Okay, okay. It just doesn’t appear to be all that common among a lot of Hip Hop heads or superstars.

Paul Well: Yeah, well, my ultimate goal wasn’t to be a rapper or a superstar…it was just to have money and overcome poverty. You know, so keeping that in mind, f*ck bein’ a rapper. If someone came to me with a job as an executive or something, or if I had those opportunities that’s what I’d be…but I didn’t have those opportunities. I only had the opportunity to rap.

SoundSlam: Yeah, just takin’ advantage of the situation you were in.

Paul Well: Yeahhhhh.

SoundSlam: Okay, let’s talk about your style a little bit. I think your wordplay is more clever than its given credit for. You have this slow drawl, but you put your words together in an interesting way…like other Southern artists I can think of….so, describe your flow and writing to the people that might be reading this that have maybe never heard Paul Wall.

Paul Wall: I mean, I’ve just always been a clever and a witty dude. Even in my writing back in school, in English class. I mean, my mother was a teacher so she taught me to read a lot of books and when I watched, or watch TV, it ain’t just cartoons and videos all day. It was actual educational programming too. And actually, I’m a real smart dude. Last time I was tested, my IQ was around 182. So, I’m something like a genius, haha. On some for real sh*t though, I do what I do. In terms of the rapping, its fun putting the words together and clever punch-lines together, but for the music we’re tryin’ to make, we’re also tryin’ to make timeless, classic music together.

SoundSlam: Now, I’ve heard people criticize rappers like you though, saying all types of things. What type of criticism have you heard or faced and what sort of responses have you given to those critics?

Paul Wall: Uhh, I haven’t really heard too much criticism really…not negative, at least, to be honest with you. I mean, I just do my thing, do me and keep it movin’. I’m not asking anything from anybody. Just give me a chance. If you don’t like the music, it’s all good, I ain’t mad at you, different strokes for different folks. Whatever floats your boat and makes you happy is cool. I’m out here tryin’ to make money and the thing that’s making me money right now is the grills and the music.

SoundSlam: Now, how did you get into the grills business?

Paul Wall: Something I always wanted.

SoundSlam: But, how do you go from wanting something like that to being involved in a business to put metal in people’s mouths? What avenue did you take?

Paul Wall: Man, it was just like, this dude came down here making em…my boy, Crime. And Crime was making ‘em and I wanted one but couldn’t afford it. So, I said, ‘Look, I’m gonna promote for you and bring you some clientele and business if you’ll hook me up with one.’ And it happened, he hooked me up with one, and man, it was all over from there.

SoundSlam: Okay, now let’s get to this record, The Peoples Champ. Number one, when does it hit the shelves?

Paul Wall: September 13th.

SoundSlam: About damn time, haha. Okay, now what can we expect, what topics do you cover on this record?

Paul Wall: Well, the main agenda for this album was to represent that Texas culture and lifestyle. I wanted to introduce that to the rest of the world. So, you hear a lottta lotta large Texas influence. Like, you may hear a bunch of different Texas sayings, phrases, slang, you know, things specifically from Houston and Texas.

SoundSlam: Which, I know, came up on that MTV special “Houston: My Block.”

Paul Wall: Oh yeah, definitely. The Peoples Champ is like the soundtrack to that, basically.

SoundSlam: What about production? Is it strictly regional? Strictly down south?

Paul Wall: Well, for the most part, yeah, strictly down south, but it wasn’t necessarily on purpose. I mean, I just work with the people I work with, you know. I use my tools. We have a production team in Houston called ‘The Gridiron’ and I work closely with them and it’s always like that.

SoundSlam: Did they produce everything on the record?

Paul Wall: The majority of it, yeah.

SoundSlam: Any outside production with names people may recognize?

Paul Wall: Three Six Mafia, yeah. GLC from the Medicine Men, Beats By The Pound.

SoundSlam: Word. What about some unexpected guest appearances on yours?

Paul Wall: Freeway, from Philly.

SoundSlam: Now, this is something else I found interesting…you are on the Kanye record, you did that track with Jim Jones, recently, and you have Freeway on yours. That seems so strange because stylistically there are so many differences between you and those other cats. But, with Freeway, how did that network happen?

Paul Wall: I’ve always been a Freeway fan. I’ve always liked his music and his style is so different. And I just wanted to work with him and he happened to be coming through Houston on tour and I ended up hooking up with him and we made it happen.

SoundSlam: That’s what it is. So, is there anything else you want the world to know, you want to say?

Paul Wall: Uhh, just that the album is coming out…that’s the most important thing.

SoundSlam: And don’t bootleg, right?!

Paul Wall: Yeahhh, haha, for real.