Paul Wall

Biography

Paul Wall knew from a young age he wanted to break into rap music, but he was also realistic enough to know he had to find some “in” into the business to make himself stand out from all the other would-be rappers out there. As a young teenager, he began doing street promotion for labels like Def Jam, No Limit, and Cash Money in his native Houston. He worked hard and built his clientele base, at the same time building valuable contacts for himself. His first break came from one of these clients in 1999. Michael 5000 Watts of Houston mix tape label Swisha House gave Paul a chance to do a radio intro, which was then included on a mix tape. The response was huge, and Watts included Paul and more and more tapes. At the same time, Paul began to hone his DJ skills. His DJing won him even more fans and lead to Paul making a deal with local indie label Paid In Full Records.

Paul Wall recorded four albums for Paid In Full:

• Get Your Mind Correct
• The Chick Magnet
• Controversy Sells
• How to be a Player

In a remarkable turn for relatively low budget, indie releases, each album spent 15 weeks on the Billboard rap charts.

The success with Paid In Full got the attention of major label Atlantic Records, and, bringing everything full circle, Paul’s fifth album, The People’s Champ, was released jointly in 2006 by Swisha House, Atlantic, and Asylum Records.

The Music

Houston has a very distinctive music scene that has influenced Paul’s music greatly. The music is referred to as Skrew, or Screwed and Chopped and was created by DJ Screw. It involves a slow, laconic vocals and slowed beats. Many of Paul’s lyrics describe life in Houston, southern culture, and his own personal trials and tribulations.

Paul Wall claims to influenced by:

• T.I.
• Lil’ Keke
• Fat Pete
• Screwed Up Clique

The Boy with the Golden Grill

Paul Wall has designed jewelry and "grills" for his fellow hip-hop stars.

Paul Wall is well known for his diamond encrusted golden smile, but it’s not just a fashion statement - it’s another business. Distributing fliers for a local Houston jewelry when he was a teenager led to the creation of TV Jewelry, Paul’s jewelry designing business. He has designed gold fronts and grills for a number of fellow rap stars, including:

• T.I.
• Master P
• Nelly
• Kanye West
• Slick Rick

The Future

Paul is working on a “supergroup” called Expensive Tastes. Aside from Paul himself, the group contains Travis Barker from Blink-182, and Rob Aston. Their album is due out before the end of 2006.

Trivia

• Paul has appeared on over 30 collaborative singles

• He married his longtime girlfriend Crystal Slayton in 2006.

• He owns a Houston area Subway franchise.

Listen to Paul Wall

Paul Wall’s MySpace page