T

o many, Paul Wall is all smiles. After all, the Houston star struck monumental success rhyming about his diamond-covered grill, so why not show it? Another reason to smile: Swishahouse’s top priority welcomed a son into the world early in ’06. Now, Mr. Wall is preparing for an easy transition into his next major label album, Get Money Stay True. After getting money throughout the last year and a half, Paul Wall stays true to his New York audience in performing to a packed Hammerstein Ballroom to close out AllHipHop Week.

Still, do not mistake Paul’s smiles for weakness or ignorance. The Platinum-selling artist recently traveled to Sierra Leone to see the origins of the ice he’s helped keep so popular. A different side of the usually-jovial persona surfaces when Paul Wall reflects on that social situation. Nonetheless, it’s not hard to pull the conversation back into lighthearted territory. Paul beams when his beloved Houston Astros are brought up. Read if their honorary pitcher was able to get “Rocket” Roger Clemens to chuck the deuce.

AllHipHop.com: You show up everywhere these days. Keeping yourself busy is always good, but how do you keep going?

Paul Wall: To be honest, Hip-Hop has been my passion since I was a kid. Now that I’ve got the opportunity to showcase my talent to the world, I take full and complete advantage of it. God’s blessed me so much; God’s brought me so far, and it’d be a shame to fall off and fade to black. Hopefully I’ll be able to have a long and successful career. That’s my number one goal right now: longevity. My focus is to stay consistent with what got me to where I’m at. [Rule Number] One: My hard back-against-the wall work ethic. [Rule Number] Two: Staying musically consistent – my fans want to hear me speak the ghetto proverbs and parables about cars, jewelry, and hustling. Some critics however want me to speak on other things, but my music reflects my lifestyle, and I’m not a politician. And [Rule Number] Three: Staying humble and showing love.

Man, to be honest, I feel like as long as I follow these three guidelines, I’ve got complete faith that God is gonna bless me to be right where he wants me to be. I know I’m kinda rambling, so to directly answer your question, I keep going because this is my passion.

AllHipHop.com: You were in Sierra Leone recently filming a documentary about the diamond trade. How was the trip and the overall experience?

Paul Wall: It was a phenomenal experience. Words can’t explain what life is like for those people there. It’s an atrocity to see people living that way in 2006. Our main goal with the documentary is to bring awareness to the suffering of the people. Their civil war just ended four or five years ago, but the causes of the war are still as present today as they were in 1991 when the 20 Year War started. If something doesn’t change soon, another war is inevitable. God bless Sierra Leone!

AllHipHop.com: What did you discover about the diamond trade when you got there?

Paul Wall: The people there had never seen a finished diamond. All they had ever seen were the raw uncut diamonds. When my boy [“TV Johnny”] showed them his grill, they had no clue what it was. There’s no order over there, it’s like a scattered flock with no shepherd. It was an inspirational experience. I’m extremely blessed. It’s a beautiful country over there with a whole lot of potential. The diamond trade there is all screwed up. They get paid two dollars for finding a diamond. When we went to the mine owned by a corporation, we saw the same type of thing: a big company making millions and the people of the country getting the absolute bare minimum.

AllHipHop.com: Being a jeweler yourself, how did the trip change your outlook on the jewelry profession?

Paul Wall: Naw, it’s a dirty game and it’s always been. The thing is, they mine the diamonds there then sell them off to India to get cut and polished. That’s where a lot of the money is. We are trying to set up a system where they cut and polish the diamonds there in Sierra Leone, then sell them directly off to Belgium, England, and the USA. Hopefully something will shake for them.

AllHipHop.com: How can the average American put a conscious effort to help the communities being exploited for diamonds?

Paul Wall: I mean the main goal is public awareness right now. But it’s sad to see a country such as Sierra Leone so bountiful with resources become literally the poorest country in the world. Sierra Leone has so much more to offer then just diamonds. The sad thing is that the people there are exploiting themselves. The people that own the majority of the mines are Sierra Leonians.

AllHipHop.com: You’re busy mining a few diamonds of your own for your next album Get Money Stay True. How is that progressing?

Paul Wall: It’s been a lot of fun for me. I’ve been busy in the lab with T. Farris and Lil’ Keke. We’ve been grinding hard and just having fun making good music. We’ve been in the studio with Mr. Lee, and also Travis Barker. We’ve got some good music so far. I’m excited to see where we go from here, as we are finishing up the album.

AllHipHop.com: Success can put more pressure on people like we all saw with Dave Chappelle. After the success of The People’s Champ, did you feel more pressure on yourself when you were in the studio this time?

Paul Wall: Naw, we just maintain what we’ve been doing. We try to have fun with it.

It’s a blessing to be here in this position. I mean at the end of the day, it’s a job. We go to work. And like I said man, we just have fun with it.

AllHipHop.com: No matter how much success you have, I’ve never seen you say no to doing anything to help. How do you manage to “get money and stay true”?

Paul Wall: Man, me and T Farris talk about this all the time. We still remember how

it was eight or nine years ago. That’s how. We don’t wanna have to go back to

the struggle we endured to get here. We’re just so grateful to be here,

man, it’s a blessing for real.

AllHipHop.com: Along with your album the next Swishahouse release The Day All Hell Broke Loose Volume 3 is on its way. Was this an opportunity for all of Swishahouse to revisit the days before all the success?

Paul Wall: It’s basically a compilation of the Swishahouse artists like you said.

It gives us an opportunity to just all put our heads together and make

some killer callabos. Man, Lil’ Keke is on there doing his thing so

serious.

AllHipHop.com: Your son must be growing fast. How’s he doing?

Paul Wall: He’s three months [old] now. I love taking him out with me, to the Astros games and stuff. Man, I’m loving this dad thing. It’s real.

AllHipHop.com: The perks of being a celebrity baby. What kinds of other goodies has your son gotten besides the car seat?

Paul Wall: My boy Juvenile sent him some Gucci shoes, and my boy Mark Hoppus sent

him a bunch of Childish Clothing, from www.childishclothing.com My

homegirl Rocsi sent him a lifetime supply of Jordans.

AllHipHop.com: How has it been balancing spending time with your family and being on the road and in the studio?

Paul Wall: I love it. I bring them with me to the studio, pretty much wherever I

go. They’re sharing in the complete experience with me and it’s been

great.

AllHopHop.com: You got to throw the opening pitch at a Houston Astros game recently. That must have been crazy…

Paul: Wall: It was definitely something I’ll never forget. I’ve been a long time Astros fan for 20 something years now. I’ve been going to games since I was a little kid sitting in he one dollar seats up high at the Astrodome. Now I’m in the owner’s box yelling at the umpires. Man, throwing the pitch was serious.

AllHipHop.com: Did you convince Roger Clemens to get a grill?

Paul Wall: [Laughs] Naw, not yet. Probably in the off season.

“That’s what makes me different from every other rapper. When rappers be like, ‘What’choo want me to do, work at Mickey D’s?’ I’m the rapper that’s like, ‘Hell yeah, muthaf**ka. Then you know what it’s like. It teaches you to be a man so you can take care of your business. If you don’t never experience no pain or struggle, how can you understand the heights of success?”

Spend some time with 28-year old Rhymefest, whose debut album Blue Collar dropped this month, and you’ll quickly realize his hard-working, “man of the people” ethic isn’t from the mind of a suit or some clever marketing scheme. At the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival last month, the Chicago native was the first to arrive at soundcheck and, having taken on more than 40 jobs in his life, admits that he’s “able to eat s**t ‘cause I know what s**t tastes like, and eating s**t makes you stronger.”

By his first job, as a 12-year old movie theatre usher in Chicago, he had already been writing rhymes and as the years went on, would use writing to alleviate the countless hours of boredom at various positions. What kept him going back to jobs he hated? “I was too scared,” he tells AllHipHop.com. “I was scared of really going out and maybe not winning. Once I conquered fear, I started to conquer the world.”

That statement applies to Rhymefest conquering his way onto J Records, and into the ears of the mainstream Hip-Hop listener. As one of Chicago’s brightest gears up to perform at AllHipHop Week’s Breeding Ground Showcase on August Tuesday, August 8th. Support Blue Collar as well as a plethora of blue collar MCs anxiously awaiting their chance to rock on SOB’s stage before breaking further into the industry.

Meanwhile, Rhymefest revisits his resume to show some of the degrading and dirty dues he’s paid just to be here…

Delivery Guy, Flower Shop

Duration: One Year.

“Delivering flowers was the worst job I’ve ever had. I had to go to rich peoples’ homes, like Oprah Winfrey, and see how they live. I had to deliver to people who looked at me like of piece of s**t, and they had everything and I had nothing. And I had to take their tips, their little scraps. I don’t want scraps. I was about 19 or 20 and that’s what made me realize I needed something better. I didn’t know what but that’s when I started to wake up.”

Peanut Vendor, Comiskey Park

Duration: One Month.

“It was hot and racist. It was white men going to see baseball and they see you selling peanuts and yell, ‘Hey boy!’ It was horrible. I didn’t even enjoy baseball all that much, let alone selling peanuts.”

Court Reporter/Bailiff, Environmental Court

Duration: One Year.

“Environmental Court is when peoples’ homes are in conditions where they not even livable, like landlords who have f**ked up tenants. Being a bailiff was worse than court reporter because you had to play hard all the time, like ‘All rise, the Honorable blank is now taking a the bench. And people would be talking and you’re like, ‘Shut the f**k up! This is court, b*tch.’”

It was pretty easy though. You had cats who were like, ‘Help me, I’m dying in court.’ I was just like, ‘Hey baby, meet me after court, I’ll see what I can do about those warrants.’ I could never do anything about it, but I could play like I did.”

Grill Cook, KFC/McDonald’s/Checkers

Duration: Four Years (combined).

“This was the best job. You sit back there, cook up some burgers, flip ‘em, throw ‘em in my mouth, and write raps.”

Janitor, Purdue University

Duration: Three Years.

“When I was a janitor, somebody had smeared s**t all over the stalls, floor, and toilet. They told me to clean it. I guess I’d been slacking off a few days before. I’m in there cleaning the s**t and look back and my supervisor is standing over me. She’s like, ‘Y’know, lately I feel like your heart hasn’t been into the work.’ I looked at her, I looked back at the dookie, then I looked at her [again], and said ‘You’re right. I f**kin’ quit.’ I’m gonna rap and would rather eat s**t in the world than eat s**t here.”

Substitute Teacher, Elementary School

Duration: Six Months.

“I hated it. I loved the kids but I hated being in one room with four walls for eight hours with birds and s**t on the walls. Being trapped, especially when you’re a free spirit like me, is prison. When I saw how dumb as rocks those f**kin’ kids were, that’s when I realized I loved children and the best way I could teach them is through music.

With my music, my message is from God and I’m using it as a vessel to deliver it. There is no method to the madness. I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m not trying to play with your emotions. I’m just delivering the message I was given. However you take it, it’s what it is. If you don’t like me, don’t be mad at me, be mad at God.”

A

lmost thirty years ago in 1977, the Rocksteady Crew came to life and set a standard in the Hip-Hop culture that would echo decades later. Richard “Crazy Legs” Colón, a then youngster with the liquid motion, evolved from a crew favorite to President of the Rocksteady empire. One of the longest standing crews in Hip-Hop, the Rocksteady Crew is much more than the league of extraordinary members that compose it. B-Boys, B-Girls, MCs, producers and activists alike, individually walk this earth to respect and represent this historic army in their own unique ways…with their leader Crazy Legs still standing and still dancing, after several surgeries and herniated discs.

Catching up with Crazy Legs on the eve of their annual Rocksteady Anniversary weekend, he recalls the events from the past and what’s new with the crew for the future. The legendary Hip-Hop humanitarian drops some knowledge on what not to break in, who not to invite to your party, and what the definition of Hip-Hop really is.

AllHipHop.Com: So what’s changed this year for Rocksteady?

Crazy Legs: [sings] I’ve got a new attitude! [laughs] You know, I used to get a lot of pressure from people to like get like a big headlining artist and that’s never been what the Rocksteady Anniversary’s been about. Basically, this year I’m just saying to all of those people, “Go to hell,” and we’re gonna keep this a satellite Hip-Hop concert event. I’ve got satellite radio, and I want this to be the satellite radio of events. So that’s what it’s been in terms of my thinking and just preparing for it, but outside of that…we really try to keep the same formula every year and that has always worked for us. I think it’s one of the things that people can really count on, and what usually happens is people are usually surprised at who ends up showing up out of nowhere! And that’s the good s**t right there! That’s one of things that keeps it different every year. We don’t even know who’s gonna show up sometimes. One year it was Wyclef, another year it was Fat Joe, people just pop up like, “Yo that’s the s**t I wanna do.” So that’s basically what’s going on.

AllHipHop.com: The outdoor concert is back in Jersey again. Is New York still slipping?

Crazy Legs: You know what? Sometimes you’ve just gotta go with what works. We had our fight with New York. The New York City Parks Department is real shady, just by my dealings with them and the fact that when we previously were going to do the Bronx event; the woman went ahead and lied to her superiors and all of this other stuff. We’re like you know what, man? Jersey is showin’ love. They love Hip-Hop, the mayor’s office is very supportive of Hip-Hop, and let’s go where the love is. I think it’s New York’s loss.

AllHipHop.com: Style-wise with your clothing and the proper gear for breakin’, what has been for you the evolution of the “breakin’ shoe”?

Crazy Legs: [laughs] Well for one thing, a lot of people are under the impression that we like to break in shelltop Adidas when that is not true! Those are some of the worst sneakers to dance in. Even today, we did the WB 11 Morning Show, and I was dancing and wearing some shelltops. Normally, I would’ve worn another sneaker but I was in a rush to go through all of my sneakers. And my sneaker actually started coming off! It’s not an athletic sneaker. You know, you’ve got your Nikes out there, a really dope AirMax. I like dancing in AirMax, or the Jordan Olympics. Those are dope: a light sneaker; it’s contoured. I mean one is made for running, but still something that works. We didn’t have that type of technology back when we first started dancing. So we have more options now.

AllHipHop.com: What would you say is the worst clothing to break in?

Crazy Legs: The worst? That’s a personal preference, but I hate dancing in jeans. I hate it. That’s like my worst nightmare! That to me is the same as like dancing in a suit.

AllHipHop.com: It’s funny because now that everyone is breakdancing in commercials, you see everybody, especially girls spinning around in tight jeans.<br?

Crazy Legs: Those are stretching jeans, because maaan! Yeah, the girls know what they’re doing [laughs].

AllHipHop.com: There’d be a lot of rips and tears if they weren’t.

Crazy Legs: Yeah [laugh]. Like the guys, for me, I wear them a little bit baggier, a heavier material. Those stretchy jeans for girls, are contoured I believe, but at the same time light and stretchy. That works for a lot of the b-girls out there.

AllHipHop.com: Speaking of fashion, you had a fashion show a few years back mixing Punk with Hip-Hop.

Crazy Legs: Yeah! Punk Rock Rap.

AllHipHop.com: Did you take part in the Punk culture at all, being that’s a similar subculture like Hip-Hop?

Crazy Legs: Well when we first started hitting the downtown scene, our manager at the time in 1982, her name was Cool Lady Blue, she moved to New York from the UK. She used to work with Malcolm McLaren and the Sex Pistols, and groups like that. Her being a Punk rocker caused this fusion between Hip-Hop and Punk. She was throwing the first Hip-Hop event in Manhattan in a club called Negril. It was called “Wheels of Steel Night” at Negril. It eventually went to Danceteria, and then to the Roxy. But the crowd that was going there was pretty much a Rastafarian, Punk rocker crowd and B-oys. The way that worked out was Negril was pretty much a Reggae club, a Punk rock promoter going in there. Next thing you know, it moved to Danceteria, which had three floors: Hip-Hop, Punk, and Reggae. The Roxy always had this culture clash that the press was telling everyone to witness. You had people coming out there like David Bowie, Farrah Fawcett, and Andy Warhol. People like Laurence Fishburne used to hang out there, Mario Van Pebbles, Rocksteady, it was one of the first places New Edition performed at in New York. It became this whole spectacle that people came to watch these three cultures coming together. We didn’t know what the hell was going on. We were just chillin’ and having fun. The older people were, I guess, impressed with the fusion going on at the time.

AllHipHop.com: Now that you [Rocksteady] are grown up, do you see that light in the younger kids to carry on Rocksteady?

Crazy Legs: Yeah. The younger generation that we have in Rocksteady is schooled by us, as well as them having their own identity that always plays a role in Rocksteady. We always try to recruit people that have individuality. For instance, you have [Popmaster] Fable, the Vice President of Rocksteady for years. Fable was also into Punk, he was a Punk rocker; he was a Hip-Hopper. So diversity is good. I would prefer more diverse people because Hip-Hop now compared to the ‘70s and early ‘80s, it’s completely different. Everything is pretty much segregated, and it’s like you go to a B-boy jam or a rap concert or a turntablist event, or a graf event. When we were throwing events back in the days, every event consisted of [all] those things. It was dope; there wasn’t overkill of anything. So I think this generation is missing out big time. There are so many people who wish they grew up in the ‘80s [laughs]…even if it was just for the drinking age. [laughs]

AllHipHop.com: You were there to witness how New York had the crown for so many years, but now everyone is talking about the South with regard to Hip-Hop. How do you feel about that?

Crazy Legs: I think they have the crown as far as commercial radio, not Hip-Hop. When you say Hip-Hop to me, I think of the whole B-boy scene, B-girls, graf artists, DJs. I think of everything. They may have this industry on lock, but that has nothing to do with Hip-Hop really because how many of those artists are really into Hip-Hop? If they weren’t making records, would they be throwing jams the way it was done back in the days? Probably not, because this is an opportunity for people to make money on something that’s mass-produced. When we did it, there was no money involved and we just did it…for many, many years with and without the money. So is the South ruling Hip-Hop? Not even close.

AllHipHop.com: You’re going on record saying that too [laughs].

Crazy Legs: Oh no doubt. They’re [the South] not ruling Hip-Hop. They may be running the rap game on a commercial level, I’ll give them that…and what they do is dope. At the same time, I believe there needs to be more of a balance between all the styles of music out there. All styles of rap and party music and s**t like that, you know, but um, there are cities that are stronger for different elements of Hip-Hop.

AllHipHop.com: What’s your opinion of krumpin’?

Crazy Legs: I think they should do their thing and get their shine on. I don’t really know the history of krumpin’. We actually worked on a couple of projects with Tommy the Clown and some of his boys; we did that actually with Daddy Yankee for two shows. They’re good people, they do their thing and more power to them. There’s no, “Oh, we hate that krumpin’ s**t;” nothing like that [laughs].

AllHipHop.com: Definitely not! So how do you go about choosing who gets to participate in the Anniversary each year?

Crazy Legs: I usually reach out to people. Then we have a lot of people that just call us, because they know the type of crowd that’s gonna be there, so they know that it’s probably their core audience that buys their records on an underground level. There are people that just love Hip-Hop. Then we get sponsors. I really try to stay away from the record labels as much as possible, because record labels cause the most problems when they come in as sponsors.

AllHipHop.com: Were there ever any artists that you’ve actually turned down?

Crazy Legs: If an artist comes in that wants to perform and we aren’t really familiar with them, we have to take into consideration that the outdoor event is a free event, and there’s gonna be women and children there. There has to be a certain level of restraint when you’re on that stage. I’m not trying to control what they do as artists, but if you can at least keep in mind what you’re putting together for your show. It would be cool if you didn’t go acapella like, “Muthaf**k this, f**k you, and f**k that, this f**kin’ place!” [laughs]. You know what I mean? We have to take all that stuff into consideration. I’m not gonna say who I’ve turned down, but um we’ve had situations where label execs come up to us and say, “I’ve got [x] amount right now. Here’s the money right here. Let my artist go on for five minutes.” I’m like, “I don’t know who your artist is, you’re buggin’, and you’re insulting my integrity right now.” <br<

AllHipHop.com: This year’s big major label artist is Rhymefest…

Crazy Legs: Yup, and Rhymefest has a buzz. To tell you the truth, I don’t know much about him, but I have enough people around me that work through Fat Beats, and Q-Unique and Tony Touch; DJ’s who’ve advised me like, “Yo we recommend that you put this guy on.” I’m like, “Aight, cool. I don’t know him, but you’re vouching for him.” But then I’ll go to their websites also and listen to their music so I’m not a complete idiot [laughs].

AllHipHop.com: Rhymefest always brings Kanye West with him, so you never know…

Crazy Legs: We’d love to have Kanye West, ya know? I think that would be dope. Kanye West is pretty commercial, but has a certain appeal to the underground.