4/5 stars
Houston, Texas, has indeed blown up in the rap world. The monster hit “Still Tippin'” from Swishahouse mates Mike Jones, Slim Thug and Paul Wall put Houston on the map and announced these three Southern MC’s as the next great rap group.
It also ushered in a new sound in hip-hop called “screwed & chopped,” a slowed-down beat that creeps along like syrup, or sizzurp as the MC’s like to call their favorite drug of choice.
Out of the success of “Still Tippin'” has come great success for Mike Jones, whose phone number is now known worldwide, and Slim Thug, who has gone platinum with his CD Already Platinum and had two hit singles.
Now it’s time for Paul Wall to make his mark. Known around Houston and the hip-hop world for making custom grills, Wall can now add “hip-hop heavyweight” to his r‹¨sum‹¨. His debut CD The People’s Champ has already sold close to half a million records and won’t stop anytime soon.
Led by the hypnotically slow car-banger “Sittin’ Sideways,” which finds Wall conversing with the ladies and everyone else about his ride and his mack dominance: “Trying to find some ‘Honey Love’ my macking game is top rank/These ho’s peeping me, ill hustling on the side/Eavesdropping my conversation, trying to figure which car I drive,” all over a dizzying keyboard riff that makes this single an instant classic in Southern hip-hop.
Wall displays his bling on “I’m A Playa:” “I got a deep freezer up on my neck and snow-cones up in my ear/A ice tray up in my mouth, I’m lookin’ somethin like a chandelier/ You can call me the ice man, I cause a blizzard every time I breathe,” where the beat sounds similar to “Still Tippin’,” but is nonetheless mesmerizing.
In “They Don’t Know,” Wall and Bun B. attack the haters who don’t understand the Southern slang and the customs of the third coast rappers: “Out of towners be comin’ around/Runnin’ they mouth, be talkin’ down/But you don’t know nothing ’bout my town/Either hold it down or move around.” A speedy beat and numerous samples of other Houston rappers proclaiming the same message help fuel this song’s aggression.
Wall brings out his weird side on the odd “Internet Goin’ Nuts,” where he tries to pick up girls online over an eerie beat: “So I log on to the Facebook, I’m tryin’ to find me a good look/I’m lookin’ for a lil’ one night love, I throw the bait and they bite the hook/I holla at that boy Goo, my partner puttin’ me up on the game/He let me know which girls are freaks and e-mailed me their screen names.”
Wall shares his hard life and pain of being famous on “Just Paul Wall:” “It’s more to me than all this glamour and glitz/I spent my whole life broke, I’m just tryin’ to get rich/I kept it real all my life, I never stepped on toes/But somehow my friends keep turnin’ into my foes.” The relaxed strings and old-school drumbeat add more emotion to this heart-wrencher about Wall’s rough life and his sensitive side that no one ever sees.
Elsewhere on People’s Champ, Wall fuses his Southern rap with gospel organ (“Ridin’ Dirty,” “Big Ballin'”), blasting horns (“State to State,” “Drive Slow”) and striking synths (“Got Plex”). He even makes time for a ballad on “Girl,” where he samples Chi-Lites’ “Oh Girl” to impressive results, even though it doesn’t quite fit with the rest of People’s Champ’s bling-boasting bangers.
Paul Wall has made his mark with The People’s Champ, a dizzying array of Houston grit, Cadillac worship and sizzurp-slow rhythms. Wall may not be the next Eminem, but his distinctive flow and knack for hypnotizing beats put him in the upper echelon of Southern rappers changing the hip-hop game for the better.