"Diamonds Are Forever with Paul Wall" written and interviewed by Badnews

Posted on Monday, April 28, 2008

For the past couple years we gotten to know alot about Houston Texan Paul Wall the rapper/dj/jeweler/promoter/bandmate. but we havent really explored deeper into the hustler side as well as the products he serves. well i sat down with the peoples champ and we talked about his new rap group featuring travis barker, the clothing line dropping this summer even what he thinks we can do to help thwart the conflict diamond situation thats still a big problem in africa today. so check out this interesting interview and see why this diamond stays shining.

Badnews: How did you get into music?

Paul Wall: I started off local working for street teams doing all there promotions and that got me familiar with all the important people in Houston and that lead me to Michael Watts. I started promoting for him and that lead to me getting on a mixtape and then took me to a whole other level and here I am today.

Badnews: So it was like the Scarface process: you started at the bottom and worked your way to the top.

Paul Wall: Yeah. I mean I had to grind for a while at the bottom and take chances, and that’s the reason why I’m here today.

Badnews: That’s what’s up. Now on top of being a rapper, you’re also a certified jeweler and your biggest earner out the business is your world famous grills. I don’t really see too many people wear them right now and they seem like there disappearing. Have you noticed that?

Paul Wall: Yeah my partner Johnny Dang still has the grills and we also sell other jewelry like bracelets, necklaces… we even have our own line of watches and we do everything from scratch. But were selling a lot of grills. Were selling more this year than we did last year. Were seeing more celebrities wear them, new faces. Then the ones that have been wearing them for years, but I see the new generation of celebrities wearing the grills.

Badnews: Now as you said earlier, you did street promotion for different types of labels like Def Jam and No Limit. What did you lean from your time street promoting and apply that to get you where you’re at today?

Paul Wall: One big thing that I apply today and still use is visibility. If you’re out of sight then you’re out of mind. You have to stay in peoples minds for them to care. But back then we use to do all sorts of little things in street promotion that nobody else was doing. People would stick flyers in a windshield but we would roll them up and stick them in the car door or door handle. Another thing is stay working. The more you work the more you eat. So basically those two things that keep me afloat are visibility and working.

Badnews: Ok. Now everyone knows you as Paul Wall the MC, but at one point you were even a DJ. What made you stick to being a MC?

Paul Wall: Rapping is my first love but I love to DJ. I hated going to parties and clubs and seeing the DJ not take his craft seriously. Some DJ’s will be wrapped up in playing singles and songs that people don’t want to hear but they play them because there forced to. But one thing Michael Watts told me is play good music. Don’t do the pay or play thing, that’s not cool.

Badnews: That’s a good point.

Paul Wall: Yeah. I would play songs that I wanted to hear. Sometimes it would be singles or it would be songs that were on track number eight. Just play songs people want to hear.

Badnews: That’s what’s up. Now did you go by another DJ name like DJ Paul Wall or something?

Paul Wall: (Laughs) Nah I kept the same name. I use the same name doing anything. DJ’ing to Jewelry anything I do I use Paul Wall. People would use to say “Paul Wall? There’s a DJ named Paul Wall? Well I know a jeweler named Paul Wall”. And then over time they would just put two and two together, and that’s what helped me get a little bit more attention so I always go by Paul Wall.

Badnews: That makes total sense. Damn you are a hustler for real though you do everything. Now I wanted to talk about the whole diamond situation a little bit more. You were recently in a special on VH-1 where you and another bunch of rappers like Raekwon traveled to Africa to view the diamond crisis first hand—and by crisis I mean the fighting over the diamonds over there also known as the blood diamond. Now you being a jeweler yourself, what are you doing to ensure the customer that you’re selling conflict free diamonds?

Paul Wall: The name of the show is Bling, a Planet Rock and its now on DVD. The DVD has a whole lot more footage and extras on it than the show. But me and my partner Johnny Dang switched up after our trip to Serria Leone. We get our diamonds from somewhere else. But honestly, it’s hard to say where the diamonds come from. There will never be just conflict free diamonds being sold. It’s like the drug industry. Where there is a need for a high—a cheap high at that, then there will be drugs. But you can’t be sure where the diamonds come from. Now in Serria Leone there is no longer any fighting so the diamonds are conflict free, but as far as other countries where there is fighting you can’t be sure. But as a customer, all I can do is encourage you to ask.

Badnews: Wow that’s crazy after all this time there are blood diamonds still out there on the market. So there is really isn’t a way a store can know if there selling conflict diamonds or not.

Paul Wall: If you go into a store, there’s no way you can tell. If we can encourage enough people to ask maybe the stores will give a damn, but most sellers are only in it for profits. And some sellers don’t even know when you ask. I don’t even know. But when the diamonds are mined, they go through the Kimberly Process (The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme , popularly known as KPCS is a process designed to certify the origin of rough diamonds from sources which are free of conflict) that means everything has to be registered to make sure there are no slaves working in the mines. Not too long ago, and I mean years ago the biggest diamond seller on the market had 80% of the diamond market. They were selling conflict diamonds and the buyer wouldn’t know.

Badnews: Wow. So a guy who would had came in that store trying to buy a engagement ring for his girl wouldn’t even know if the diamond was conflict free or not.

Paul Wall: Yeah. That’s why it’s real important to just ask. Enough people who are buying diamonds over here ask then something can be done.

Badnews: That’s what’s up. Is hard to transition back into talking about music again but hopefully people will check out the documentary your in and obviously look up more information about the whole situation. Ill be sure to but up some links. Now going back into your music career, you’re in a group with rockers Travis Barker and Skinhead Rob named Expensive Taste. How did the group form?

Paul Wall: Well Travis Barker and Skinhead Rob were in a band named The Transplants. Well Barker also produces hip hop tracks and one day we were in the studio just kicking it and I said we should start a group. So we did a couple songs and right now were trying to drop a studio album but were all with different labels so it’s a little difficult. But for right now, were just trying to build our fan base and Skinhead Rob is selling the shirts, we have a sick ass logo that Mr. Cartoon designed and were dropping a clothing line this summer that I'm really excited about.

Badnews: That’s what’s up. Now you don’t have a studio album out yet, but you all do have music out there right?

Paul Wall: Right. We have a mixtape out hosted by DJ Skee we songs out like Slidin’ on that Oil and Pop One of These. And you can download the mixtape on our myspace page or website (expensivetaste.net).

Badnews: That’s going to be crazy. I’ll definitely be on the look out for the line. Now right now you’re on a tour with Tech Nine right?

Paul Wall: Yeah. It’s called the Fire and Ice Tour and we are on the west coast right now, but you can get the dates on my myspace page myspace.com/paulwall

Badnews: How crazy is the love you get out there? I hear that the west coast is the wildest parts of the country you perform

Paul Wall: Man the love out here is crazy. They show me a lot of love, but I get love everywhere I do a show; east coast, west coast down south I just love to perform and sign pictures and show the people love

Badnews: That’s why you’re the peoples champ. I can tell you enjoy it I seen you in action a couple times and you’re a real cool person. One time when you came out to Denver I could had swore you stayed in Independent records for a extra hour just taking pictures and showing love. That’s real rare to see that from an artist. Now you got the tour, the jewelry business and your group, do you have anything else coming out we can look forward to?

Paul Wall: Yeah, I got an audiobiography that I’m working on with the help of Trucker Max. It’s just a book about my life that I don’t really talk about and I wanted to put it on paper so that’s coming out soon. Trucker Max is an author who has this book out that on the best sellers list named I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell. He even has this crazy movie coming out about his life from drinking beer to knocking down chicks I hope I get a part in that.

Badnews: Damn, I hope you do it sounds interesting. So let’s wrap it up; Paul Wall: rapper, DJ, jeweler, clothing line, and hopefully actor. You’re the hustler’s hustler. What advice can you give the rest of us hustlers to keep us on our grind?

Paul Wall: You have to work. Bust a sweat, its not going to come to you got to get it. Just work.

Badnews: That’s what’s up. We thank you for taking the time to talk to me so early and good luck with the tour and be safe.

Paul Wall: It’s a pleasure. Thank you.

Source: BadNews - Writer for HipHopRuckus

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