Paul Wall – The People’s Champ Review
Posted by Selwyn DeSa on 12.16.2005
Is this a breath of fresh air or just air pollution?
Paul Wall has been a fixture on the underground scene for a long time, and now along with his SwishaHouse homies he is breaking out into the mainstream. Known for his custom grills as much as for his microphone skills, is Paul Wall’s The People’s Champ a breath of fresh air or just air pollution?
You know the routine, bump means turn it up while you are Sittin’ Sidewayz, Skip means throw it out of your candy paint Impala...did I say that right? Who cares?
Bump –
Track 1) I’m A Playa: I like that Three 6 Mafia appears on this track, none of these guys would be around without them, a good opener, Paul’s laid back delivery draws you in almost immediately.
Track 2) They Don’t Know: This serves as a roll call of everyone he knows and everything he does, Bun B appears, I dig the beat.
Track 3) Ridin’ Dirty: Trey Songz appears on the chorus, chill laid-back type song.
Track 4) State To State: Freeway appears on this track and is ok at best, Paul Wall is his normal self, nothing bad here just nothing great either.
Track 7) Sittin’ Sidewayz: Damn this song is addicting, Big Pokey is horrible but Paul Wall shines likes his teeth and cars.
Track 9) Trill: Paul Wall, Bun B, and B.G. take turns telling us what Trill is, sounds like every other song in the world playing on the radio but that does not make it bad enough to pass over.
Track 10) Sippin’ Tha Barre- This is the perfect type of beat for Paul’s delivery, highly enjoyable, best track so far.
Track 11) Drive Slow: Anything Kanye touches usually turns to gold and this is no exception, GLC also appears but Kanye’s verse steals the track and also makes it.
Track 16) Sip-N-Get High: I have never heard of Aqualeo before but he outshines Paul Wall on this track, I bet you can guess the subject matter.
Track 17) Just Paul Wall: A real good way to close out the album as Paul Wall goes beyond the color of his cars and shows that he can pour out his heart a little bit.
Skip –
Track 5) So Many Diamonds: I did not like T.I. on this track and I did not particularly enjoy the beat either, Paul was decent but could not save it.
Track 6) Smooth Operator: This is the first track that does not feature a guest artist and Paul Wall did not come off well alone, as this song is easy to skip.
Track 8) Internet Going Nutz: I like the concept here but it badly executed, it is worth a laugh to hear Paul Wall rap about chat rooms and email though.
Track 12) March N’ Step: This was just a mess from start to end; the Grit Boys contribute a lot to the problem.
Track 13) Got Plex – Archie Lee and Cootabang appear on this track and make me wish they did not, do you a favor and skip this.
Track 14) Girl: Awww what a sappy beat, sounds like some old remake and Paul Wall has the delivery to pull it off and make it work but he does not in this case.
Track 15) Big Ballin’ – This song is doomed from the extremely irritating intro, which lucky us is also repeated during the chorus, man this CD has gone downhill fast.
This has a few to many guest artists for my taste and when Paul went at it alone he only hit half the time, I could suggest a handful of mixtapes I have heard that would simply blow this album out of the water but I can understand the audience he was being marketed to. This is by no means a bad album but could be so much better.
The 411: If you have been listening to Paul Wall for a while then you might share my opinion about how he could have done so much better, but new fans will probably enjoy this more just not having past work to compare. This is still an average album that might not be the worst thing in the world to find in your Christmas stocking.
