Paul Wall’s The People’s Champ is a nigh twenty-track virtuoso of the full-blown glory of Houston Rap. Released in ’05, it features many of the biggest names in the southern scene, from Bun B to Three Six Mafia to T.I. It’s low on message, low on content, high on materialism, and really fun to listen to. The tracks are slow, the Houston Rep is high, and the overall effect makes you want to drive through traffic with a couple twelves in your trunk, ten layers of candy-paint on your oversized truck and let the rest of the city know just how long its been since Pimp C was found dead.
This might not be the CD that put The South on the map, but it was the CD that put The South on the map for me. Which was a surprise for me, because I was expecting it to be a chore. Coming from a couple of weeks of Geto Boys, I figured all Houston rap artists would make me break out my thesaurus to look up new and interesting ways of saying ‘It’s good… if you’re into that sort of thing’. But The Peoples Champ is both distinctly Houston and distinctly awesome, as much as Mai’s, Frenchy’s, or Miller Outdoor Theatre.
Houston production revolves around the chopped/screwed style, pioneered by the late DJ Screw, which involves dropping the pitch down into vocal numbness and blatantly repeating specific lines/words/phrases on the vocal track while letting the beat continue unabated. The use of this technique on Paul Wall’s album is tasteful, and adds to the production value without interfering with the vocalistic integrity of the work, which was the point in Screw’s actual work.
Starting with ‘They don’t know’, The People’s Champ references singularly Houston phenomenon, from Timmy Chan’s chicken wings, to candy painted cars, drank/syrup, and the 59 freeway. This technique is really simple, but its importance can’t be overlooked; while major-label artists have a fan base so wide they’re above throwing out bones to the local crew, southern artists, particularly Houston, get little love on the national stage, and so are forced to find other ways, such as this, to expand their market. The local populism fuels the rappers popularity until they’re doing mixtapes with artists in other districts. It’s like networking, for professionals.
That said, when I say this CD is low on content, I mean… holy fuck. There’s really no thematic play, aside from ‘I have a car/it looks cool/I live in Houston/DJ Screw.’ I swear to God, the phrase ‘candy paint’ appears on this album 44 times. ‘Sippin drank’ shows up 52. The CD’s message is about as deep as the leather interior in a classic Cadillac. Which is absolutely perfect.
It’s easy to want to hate the narrowness of the Wall’s topics. Life is more than getting paper, getting laid, candy paint, and sippin’ drank. And yet, to be able to put out a CD that entirely revolves around that, with an hour of music, and have it sound good is a feat that requires nothing short of muse-like inspiration and bacchanal endurance.
If there is a more sublime theme, it slips in by accident, and it’s the protestant work-ethic that drives urban youth to hard work. There’s the assumption throughout the scene (as in, not just Mr. Wall) that in order to obtain success, there has to be work involved; success is neither given by God, nor delivered by luck. This mirrors real life, in the fact that most rappers start out as entrepreneurs and salesmen, develop contacts with the scene, promotional materials, and make numerous, numerous attempts to sell and sell and sell before finally succeeding. I see it as proof that they understand the numbers game.Its one of those lessons life teaches you, that they apparently learned early enough to become successful. Well done, guys.
On my scale of awesome, I grant The People’s Champ a ranking of The People’s Eyebrow. It towers above the rest of the audio of the Houston scene, is an important record for one of the most electrifying acts in rap entertainment today, while simultaneously doing and saying nothing of substance. Paul Wall deserves to be sittin’ sideways while driving slow, because they don’t know.
This might not be the CD that put The South on the map, but it was the CD that put The South on the map for me. Which was a surprise for me, because I was expecting it to be a chore. Coming from a couple of weeks of Geto Boys, I figured all Houston rap artists would make me break out my thesaurus to look up new and interesting ways of saying ‘It’s good… if you’re into that sort of thing’. But The Peoples Champ is both distinctly Houston and distinctly awesome, as much as Mai’s, Frenchy’s, or Miller Outdoor Theatre.
Houston production revolves around the chopped/screwed style, pioneered by the late DJ Screw, which involves dropping the pitch down into vocal numbness and blatantly repeating specific lines/words/phrases on the vocal track while letting the beat continue unabated. The use of this technique on Paul Wall’s album is tasteful, and adds to the production value without interfering with the vocalistic integrity of the work, which was the point in Screw’s actual work.
Starting with ‘They don’t know’, The People’s Champ references singularly Houston phenomenon, from Timmy Chan’s chicken wings, to candy painted cars, drank/syrup, and the 59 freeway. This technique is really simple, but its importance can’t be overlooked; while major-label artists have a fan base so wide they’re above throwing out bones to the local crew, southern artists, particularly Houston, get little love on the national stage, and so are forced to find other ways, such as this, to expand their market. The local populism fuels the rappers popularity until they’re doing mixtapes with artists in other districts. It’s like networking, for professionals.
That said, when I say this CD is low on content, I mean… holy fuck. There’s really no thematic play, aside from ‘I have a car/it looks cool/I live in Houston/DJ Screw.’ I swear to God, the phrase ‘candy paint’ appears on this album 44 times. ‘Sippin drank’ shows up 52. The CD’s message is about as deep as the leather interior in a classic Cadillac. Which is absolutely perfect.
It’s easy to want to hate the narrowness of the Wall’s topics. Life is more than getting paper, getting laid, candy paint, and sippin’ drank. And yet, to be able to put out a CD that entirely revolves around that, with an hour of music, and have it sound good is a feat that requires nothing short of muse-like inspiration and bacchanal endurance.
If there is a more sublime theme, it slips in by accident, and it’s the protestant work-ethic that drives urban youth to hard work. There’s the assumption throughout the scene (as in, not just Mr. Wall) that in order to obtain success, there has to be work involved; success is neither given by God, nor delivered by luck. This mirrors real life, in the fact that most rappers start out as entrepreneurs and salesmen, develop contacts with the scene, promotional materials, and make numerous, numerous attempts to sell and sell and sell before finally succeeding. I see it as proof that they understand the numbers game.Its one of those lessons life teaches you, that they apparently learned early enough to become successful. Well done, guys.
On my scale of awesome, I grant The People’s Champ a ranking of The People’s Eyebrow. It towers above the rest of the audio of the Houston scene, is an important record for one of the most electrifying acts in rap entertainment today, while simultaneously doing and saying nothing of substance. Paul Wall deserves to be sittin’ sideways while driving slow, because they don’t know.
Sorry I got a little behind. Today will publish two entries: One for last and this week respectively.
ReplyDeleteMore will follow.
Thanks for your readership.
It is also worth pointing out that Paul Wall is a really nice guy. His rep (from a dude I trust) is that of a kind hearted family man who is very professional and charges reasonable fees for his services.
ReplyDeleteAlso it is worth acknowledging the alternative forms of income which Houston rappers generate. From Little Flip's Liquor to Paul Wall's Dental Care (www.grillsbypaulwall.com), Houston rap illustrates an entrepreneurial spirit which would make Mrs. Rand squeal with delight.