NY Times on Paul Wall The People's Champ
mandrew
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Paul Wall"The Peoples Champ" (Swishahouse/Asylum/Atlantic)Compared with many other Southern hip-hop scenes, the one in Houston might seem pretty unassuming, if only it weren't so fertile, and - this year, anyway - so visible. Whereas rappers in other Southern cities sometimes gravitate toward flashy, frenetic, futuristic dance tracks, Houston hip-hop tends to be rambling and slow. Paul Wall is the latest Houston rapper to make a major-label debut this year, and while he has never clamed to be the city's deftest rapper, his persona captures part of what makes Houston hip-hop so seductive. On "The Peoples Champ," he portrays himself as a genial, hard-working fellow.[/b] Like all of us, he's trying to make an honest buck, though unlike many of us, his aim is to convert that honest buck into diamonds that he can use to further bejewel his teeth. The task is made easier by his other job: as well as being a rapper and D.J., he's also an entrepreneur in the booming field of dental gemology. Paul Wall is also a white rapper, although he knows he has nothing to gain from rapping about it. This is a consistently entertaining CD, not counting a pair of duds near the end. And he spits leisurely rhymes in the Houston style (lots of triplets and extended syllables), with lyrics that are charming variations on a high-carat theme: "I got a deep freezer up on my neck/ And snow cones up in my ears/ A ice tray up in my mouth/ I'm looking something like a chandelier." Elsewhere, he promises a potential lover, "I'll be the cream in your coffee." "The Peoples Champ" also includes the woozy Kanye West collaboration "Drive Slow" (you can also find it on Mr. West's new album), plus an entire song built around Wall's most famous catchphrase. "I got the Internet going nuts," he once bragged, and on "Internet Going Nutz," he goes online - to sites like blackplanet.com, it should be noted - in search of offline companionship; maybe this time, he shouldn't mention coffee. KELEFA SANNEHfromhttp://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/12/arts/music/12choi.html?th&emc=th my thoughts: regardless of hype, i'll still need to give this a listen before purchase. pawa hasn't won me over that easy.
Comments
People these days are talking like hes god or something.
Mike Jones is such a bad mc, anyone after him would sound like god.