Paul Wall has never stated he was the greatest lyricist, but he has said he was good at selling himself. He has already shown this on his first album The People’s Champ (which went platinum), and he returns again with his second studio album Get Money, Stay True. This album doesn’t have as much buzzed as it would a few years ago; Houston was hot in 2005 and it has cooled down a little. After two years of features and selling grills to everybody and their mama, let’s see how Paul Wall does on his sophomore outing.
Paul Wall starts off with “Get Your Paper” which featurse Swishahouse label mate Yung Redd on the hook. It’s not much on subject matter; riding rims, getting money, etc. The beat is vintage Houston; nothing really special and an alright intro to the album. Snoop Dogg continues to be on every album we review when he appears on “Everybody Know Me”. Paul Wall does him with his simple lyrics about money, screw, and slab while Snoop does Snoop. The beat and song are forgettable. The first single off the album, “Break ‘Em Off” featuring Lil’ Keke, comes next. The hard beat and street feel of the song wins out; and I’m always pulling Lil’ Keke [Check out the video for this song; it features Deelishis as a video girl bouncing her booty :)]. The next song is the second single from the album, “I’m Throwed” featuring Jermaine Dupri. It reminds me of Daz’s song “On Some Real Shit”, but it’s a good club song and still has a Houston sound. “On The Grind” has Paul Wall’s wife Crys Wall singing on the hook and Freeway on the last verse. The beat has a weird breakdown but changes up when Freeway raps (Freeway turns in a good performance also). Crys Wall, who actually is not bad at all, shows up again on “How Gangstas Roll” This song, as well as ‘”Bangin’ Screw” & “Gimme That” could be interchanged and I wouldn’t know the difference. Trina and Paul exchange sex talk on “That Fire”. The song is average and unoriginal, but is it me, or has Trina’s delivery gone to trash in the past years. Paul Wall links up with another white boy who does black music, Jon B, on “Tonight”. It’s an attempt to get at the ladies with lines like, “Girl you wet as a lake”. It’s not terrible, just derivative and not my cup of tea. Dipset is in the building when Juelz Santana makes a note worthy appearance on “I’m Real, What Are You?“. The song is still only a little above average though. Paul Wall delivers what might be a club banger with “I Ain’t Hard To Find”. The lyrics are average Paul Wall but the beat will have clubbers bouncing. “Slidin’ On That Oil” features Paul Wall’s supergroup Expensive Taste which also features Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker and rocker/rapper Skinhead Rob Aston. It’s not a bad song (the beat and hook aren’t bad) but true Hip-Hop fans might not take to Skinhead Rob’s vocals. I didn’t mind it personally.
Bottom Line:
If you like Paul Wall or his last album, it’s a good chance you’ll like this one too. I give him props for staying true to the Houston sound. It’s still hard to take this album in at one sitting and how many times can a man rap about his love of lean, grills, and success. The album is not what you call imaginative or creative. But in today’s world of Hip-Hop, that is what sells.
nappy Picks: “Break ‘Em Off”, “I Ain’t Hard To Find”, “I’m Throwed”
