By Gary Suarez in FARR — Dec 13, 2024

Friday Afternoon Rap Roundup: Paul Wall

The Peoples Champ takes a victory lap for himself, plus the week's new rap album recommendations

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New Release Highlight of the Week:

**Paul Wall, Once Upon A Grind (buy it / stream it**)

Nowadays, rap is full of victory laps. Mere weeks ago, Kendrick Lamar capped off his resounding triumph in hip-hop’s volatile court of public opinion with the widely discussed GNX. Just today, some three decades after Doggystyle, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre changed positions for Missionary, a fan friendly if fairly mid affair with highs (“The Negotiator,” “Outta Da Blue”) outweighed by its cringey lows (Jelly Roll channeling the late Tom Petty, Sting doing Lord-knows-what). Quality control aside, these projects and several others like them this year from Future, Gucci Mane, Ice Cube, and more share a common thematic thread of personal victory through endurance, savvy, and strength. For some, simply being here still is, in fact, enough to warrant puffing up their chests. After all, any rapper with even a little drip can lace their rhymes with hustle tales, luxury brand namedrops, and salacious sexual conquests. But considering how much tragedy befalls so many of the genre’s brightest stars, from career-crushing contracts to momentum-sapping run-ins with the law to actual literal death, bragging about surviving and thriving is perhaps the greatest flex of all.

In the case of Paul Wall, living his best life clearly means more than ticking the boxes of health and wealth. Throughout Once Upon A Grind, the latest in a years-long string of independently projects that reframe his image without rejecting his Houston rap history, he puts it all in perspective. Sure, he’s rich as fuck, making paper even while he sleeps on “Woke Up A Millionaire.” Yet its his work ethic that he credits more than anything, expounding upon conventional capitalist catchphrase platitudes in a way that indicates he truly lives what he speaks. Approaching the 20th anniversary of his 2005 breakthrough The Peoples Champ, Wall hardly sounds anymore like the cocksure styrofoam sipper with the money-stuffed socks introduced to the masses on “Sittin’ Sideways.” Now well into his 40s, he’s a self-assured family man with business interests for whom bling and swag serve as more than mere outward signifiers of success. On “Platinum Playa,” iced-out grills and slabs with the candy paint prove as much cause for celebration as a close friend getting custody of his kids again. He has neither softened nor given in to cynicism, his point of view on “Pocket Fulla Money” seemingly leveraging the past to credit his present wins. Even with longtime friends and returning guests like Lil' Keke, Slim Thug, and Z-Ro in tow, these 12 tracks have less to do with nostalgia than living in the now, bolstered assuredly by repeat appearances from DJ Fresh. But perhaps the finest moment comes on posse cut "Underground Ambassador," where he expresses his deep and abiding love for the culture alongside a national selection of now-independent rap notables including Berner, Big K.R.I.T., and his erstwhile "State To State" partner Freeway.