In the recent interview Paul Wall
had with Melanie Cornish here on HipHopDX, he noted that this album gave
him the opportunity to have fun again. “It just
encouraged me to have fun and go out and do my thing and that is what I did
with the album. You can hear that through the music.”
There is definitely truth in that. While many may complain that the album
lacks depth or substance, it cannot be said that it lacks fun. With plenty of
catchy hooks, thumping beats, witty (albeit simple) similes and his overall
charismatic flow, you can’t truly knock the fun he’s having.
However, you can knock the weak efforts. “That Fire,” a horrid Trina-assisted track is one that will
leave folks looking for that fire department to put this out right quick.
“Tonight” (featuring Jon B) is
another example of this, offering up a sappy, trite love song below the
standards set by “Oh Girl,” which wasn’t bad at all. Aside from this, some of
the production and topic selection gets repetitive and other tracks including “Get
Your Paper” and “How Gangstas Roll” are about as generic as their titles would
suggest.
Still, as we mentioned, when having fun, he shines like one of his custom-made
grills. The infectious nature of his flow, mixed with some of the beats
provided by Mr. Lee offer up serious
catchy hits welcomed in clubs, radio stations and cars. “Call Me What U Want,” “I’m
Throwed,” “Break ‘Em Off,” “Bangin’ Screw” and “I’m Real, What Are You?”(featuring
Juelz Santana) deliver said goods.
Guests also add a bit to the mix. Freeway,
Juelz Santana, Jermaine Dupri and Snoop
Dogg all provide something extra, while Young Redd and Lil’ Keke
get outshined every time they appear. Travis
Barker also shows up to produce “Slidin’ On That Oil” as 1/3 of Expensive Taste. Wall flows freely over Barker‘s
drums and the style actually helps build anticipation for their collaboration.
At the same time, the final 1/3 of the crew, Skinhead Rob, makes that track very hard to listen to.
In the end, I’m sure you just want to know; what it do? Well, with fun on
his mind, Wall certainly provides a fun record. It definitely needs more
substance, you can only listen to wood grain grippin and candy paint drippin
for so long. Calling a spade a spade, Paul
is usually very good at what he does. Unfortunately with his second major label
LP he didn’t do it all that well and delivers an album a clear notch down from
his debut.
