It’s a new year but Paul Wall still
rocks his platinum and princess cut studded grills which gleam when he smiles.
The Houston rapper is still sitting sideways and still considers himself the
people’s champ.
Now two albums deep, the artist born
Paul Slayton is looking at readying the release of his third and oft-pushed
back album Fast Life with an early
2009 release. Riding high since his mainstream inception People’s Champ in 2005, the Swishahouse
diplomat was instrumental in bringing Houston to the forefront of Hip-Hop and
the Billboard charts.
Yet amidst his latest return to
music, his extracurricular resume reads more like an ex-reality show celebrity
trying to hold onto his 15 seconds than a relaxed star-studded rap veteran. There
are talks of an autobiography written with the help of Internet king of drunken
sex chronicles Tucker Max, the connection with Travis Barker and Skinhead Rob
which launched a mixtape and plans to also present a
clothing line. Nevertheless, Paul Wall still plans to stand by his music, first
and foremost.
AllHipHop.com: What has been
going on with Paul Wall since Get Money,
Stay True dropped in ’07?
Paul
Wall:
I’ve really just been touring so much, and we’ve been hitting a lot of cities
like crazy man. I’ve also been preparing this new album Fast Life which should be released [March
24, 2009]. I have just been real busy with that recording the singles and
getting the promotion together for it. I’m just doing me, I’m on the grind all
day, you feel me?
Bizzy Body – Paul Wall Feat. Webbie and Mouse
AllHipHop.com: What are your
feelings about the reception Get Money, Stay True got and the finished project?
Paul
Wall:
I was very pleased with the reception Get
Money, Stay True
got. I loved that album; I think it really showed growthfrom People’s Champ. The beats on
there were crazy and it showed a lot of versatility. We put a lot into the
production especially on Get Money, Stay
True. That was the kind of joint you listen to while you’re posted up in
the parking lot. That’s the album for me, that brought everything together man.
It brought everything full circle.
AllHipHop.com: With that album,
you stuck to a formula and kept with things pretty gutter and glossy where your
first album was a bit more on the personal side like an intro into the game.
Will your next album be similar to either of them? What can we expect from it?
Paul
Wall:
Yeah true, the first album was a lot more personal and stuff. And this next
album will definitely be a mix of both of the first and the second, taking the
best of those two on this new one. We’ve worked hard on this one and made some
real dope music. I have joints with my man Lil’ Keke,
another one with Yung Joc and Gorilla Zoe, and I did
a some stuff with Travis Barker from Blink 182 and Skinhead Rob, plus I have
the single with Akon [“Girl On Fire”].Girl On Fire – Paul Wall Ft. Akon
AllHipHop.com: Has being a
family man changed you at all? And more importantly will it change the music at
all? Do you plan on embracing marriage in your future lyrics?
Paul
Wall:
I’m still the same old dude, the same old Paul Wall, baby. The only difference
now is that I got to put that bread on the table. I have more responsibility
now and have to provide for them back at home. Yet and still I have to keep
making the music my fans want to and expect from me.
AllHipHop.com: You have
definitely been instrumental in putting Houston cats on like Lil’ Keke more recently…
Paul
Wall:
Well Lil KeKe was actually one of the cats I looked
up to around the way. Lil KeKe has been in the game
for a minute back when he was in Screwed Up Click. I just achieved mainstream
success before he did, be he was definitely one of the people responsible for
me getting in the game. He really put me under his wing and taught me a lot. It just happen that I have had all this success.
But now I’m able to go back and scoop
cats up like him and give them some exposure into the mainstream. There are a
lot of talented cats coming out of Houston and if I can help them out that makes
me and Houston blow up even bigger.
Not A Stain On Me (Remix) – Big Tuck Ft. Paul Wall, Trae, & Slim Thug
AllHipHop.com: More recently,
you got people like Weezy going back and forth
wearing the grills on and off, where some are just taking them off all
together. Have grills sales slumped recently, or do you feel like less people are
rocking them now them? Do you think grills will fizzle out like a fad someday?
Paul
Wall:
The grills are still going good man. But you know they’ve been around for a
long time before I even got involved and started rocking them. They’re
definitely still in high demand. I don’t think they’re a phase at all; they
have been around for a long time. It’s like some people rock shades, when they
go out clubbing. I don’t think they’re going anywhere, anytime soon. It’s just
like rocking bling around your neck.
AllHipHop.com: What does Paul
Wall have to write about in an autobiography? What about Tucker Max and his
writing style made you want to choose him to write it?
Paul
Wall:
I was checking out the work, he did an autobiography of a good friend of mines,
Jamie Kennedy. How the book was so real and it was really funny, so I just knew
I had to have him on mine. As far as the book, I’m talking about real life
situations in there. I don’t want to give everything away. So you’ll have to
get it and find out.
AllHipHop.com: With all these
side hustles and different projects you’re dabbling in, do you think it will be
hard to make music your first priority?
Paul Wall: I mean honestly,
it’s not. Music is not my first priority anymore; I’m doing so many different
things. Music has always been fun for me, so I’ll always make time for it as
long as I can. But when you put all the time and work into it, I’ve found that
it isn’t as much fun anymore. Honestly, I have a lot of things going on and
that’s the way I like it. I can’t stay tied down to one hustle.