Paul Wall talks State Fair of Texas, forming his band, “Grillz,” Beyoncé & eyeing the Grand Ole Opry
By: Ian Saint
Paul Wall returns to the State Fair of Texas’ Chevrolet Main Stage after the “Red River Rivalry” Texas Longhorns vs. Oklahoma Sooners game Saturday, albeit in a different location. After decades on the fair’s northern perimeter, the State Fair’s main stage was moved indoors to the Fair Park Coliseum, next to the Cotton Bowl’s southeast corner — which means there will be air conditioning and thousands of seats beside the standing pit up front.
I spoke with Paul shortly after he and his band — a relatively new addition to his concerts — headlined the State Fair’s Red River Rivalry post-game concert last year, which included a special appearance by Mexican-American artist Frankie J, whose output of both English and Spanish language records include the 2005 Top 5 pop hit “Obsession (No Es Amor)”. Paul has promised more exciting special guests for Saturday’s show.
Paul embraces nostalgia in his live show — last year’s State Fair performance closely coincided with the 20th anniversary of his #1 debut album, The People’s Champ, plus landmark collaborations with other new millennium rap legends like “Drive Slow” with Kanye West and the #1 single “Grillz” with Nelly — but he has also been remarkably prolific, releasing two studio albums (Fortune & Glory and Repeat Repeat Repeat with Termanology) plus additional singles in 2026.
A transcript of our State Fair of Texas conversation last year, edited for length and clarity, follows.
PAUL WALL: Aye, what it do?
IAN SAINT: Hey, Paul. How are you?
PAUL WALL: Doing great. How you doing?
IAN SAINT: I’m doing great, too, thank you. I’m still on a high from you playing the State Fair of Texas for the very first time.
PAUL WALL: Aye! Me, too.
IAN SAINT: What were the highlights for you?
PAUL WALL: Just being there with the squad and crew. We’ve been working on this show for a long time — things like working on my endurance, how long I’ve been running, trying to get in shape, changing my diet, just things that we specifically worked on for the show. Then being able to perform for such a great group of people. People that come to the fair aren’t typical Paul Wall concert goers. The fair has a lot of families. The age gap is amazing — when you see how young the youngest person is, and how old the oldest person is. You really see that at the fair, because it’s a very diverse group in terms of age and where they’re from. Some people are there for the Texas vs. OU game and they stick around for the concert, some people are there for the fair and stick around for the concert, some people are there for the concert. Either way, to perform for those people that maybe typically wouldn’t be at a Paul Wall typical concert, it’s a great opportunity for me.
Then with our band, we put a lot into that. We don’t get an opportunity to perform with a band very often — usually, it’s either the venue isn’t a band type of venue, or the event isn’t a band type of event. So when we do, we really appreciate that opportunity to do something different and showcase that we’re capable. We didn’t even know we could perform as a band — most people from our era or our genre, when they think of performing with a band, they get dressed up with a suit and think “this is rock ‘n roll” or something. We’ve been doing this for so long — the first time I rapped on a Swishahouse tape was in 1998 — so to be able to continue to do this so long and do it different with a band is exciting.
IAN SAINT: You made some great points, that I’m really glad you highlighted. I mean, my first thought was about how a lot of people don’t realize that all State Fair concerts are included with fair admission. So you raised a great point about how many people who might not ordinarily see you perform — maybe they can’t afford to bring their whole families to concerts, but they can to the State Fair. I loved hearing you play with your band, too, since it is so common for rappers to play with tracks.
PAUL WALL: Absolutely. I always talk about when we perform with a band, you can feel the music — whereas when you play it with just a track, you can hear the music. When that bass guitar is [makes thump noises] you can feel it. So some of that I was really excited about. They also … I don’t know the exact names of the instruments, but my boy was playing the bass. He also played a bass synth keyboard.
IAN SAINT: I saw you feeling it for “Swangin in the Rain,” with that bassline.
PAUL WALL: Absolutely. Yeah, Carson was playing that. And then Logic is the one who came out with the saxophone on “Girl.” Little aspects like that, where we don’t really get to showcase it when it’s just us with a track, with a track or DJ. With a band, it’s so much more. In the past, I went on tour with Fall Out Boy, Blink-182, Frankie J, Louie TheSinger, country singers, Tejano singers — I get to do a lot of stuff with other genres, and I see how they do it. And every time, it is so encouraging for me to step up my own show.
IAN SAINT: I’m glad you brought up Louie TheSinger, because he’s closing the State Fair and I just caught his first Nashville headlining show at EXIT/IN.
PAUL WALL: I performed with Louie at Billy Bob’s [honky tonk in Fort Worth]. That was my first opportunity to perform at Billy Bob’s; but after that, I did a solo show, then another solo, and now I’m performing at Billy Bob’s once a year. I’m performing there [annually now], but had it not been for me performing with Louie the first time to open that door up, then it might not have happened. Performing at Billy Bob’s opened the door a little bit for me to perform at the State Fair, and now doing the State Fair has opened so many doors for us because it shows we can perform with a band and we can do a family-friendly show where everybody’s having a good time. Now we’re available for the Houston Rodeo; now we’re available for the Grand Ole Opry, or any other venue that you think wouldn’t typically book hip hop acts — but those are places where we kill it, where it’s a crossover crowd that likes a little bit of everything.
IAN SAINT: Now you’ve got me thinking about you playing the Grand Ole Opry. Post Malone and Jelly Roll have played it. That seems like a natural progression for you.
PAUL WALL: Right. Well, I’m definitely available.
IAN SAINT: I definitely want to highlight the 20th anniversary of your debut album, The People’s Champ, because that was such a groundbreaking record. Where you were when you learned that it debuted at #1?
PAUL WALL: When it debuted at #1, I remember being, I think, in the Atlantic Records offices. There used to be the hub, where we’d do a ton of interviews or voiceovers. I remember someone coming in saying, “Hey, we think you’re going to be #1. It’s out of you and Kanye West.” His album [Late Registration] came out two weeks before. I remember everyone making a big deal of “You beat out Kanye West.” But to me, it was like, nah, his album came out before mine — the third week sales dip a little bit. No part of me was like, “Yeah, I beat out Kanye West,” but that’s kinda how people were trying to make it. I’m not in competition with him at all. We did the song “Drive Slow,” that was his song on his album, that he let me put on my album — so even if I beat him out for that week, it’s only because he helped me with the song, so it was never a competition.
It was a huge thing. There’s not too many Texas rap artists to be #1 [on Billboard’s Top 200 chart]. Scarface was the first, I think I was the second. Travis Scott had two. Scarface and Travis Scott, that is such an elite company for me to be in with those two. I’m so proud, but it was a team effort — it was the label I was on, all employees are the ones that made it. Yeah, I did my part; but without any of those parts, it wouldn’t have been #1.
IAN SAINT: It’s crazy to see how prolific you were, too. Your debut album, “Grillz,” “Drive Slow” with Kanye, “I’m ‘n Luv (wit a Stripper) 2: Tha Remix” all came out within like 8 months — it had to be crazy juggling all those superstar schedules with your own intense schedule for your debut album.
PAUL WALL: Oh, absolutely. Some of that is me just knowing the artists that came before me and got major record deals from my area. Some of them looked at it like “When I get the deal, I made it and I’m good. I don’t have to work anymore.” And others looked at it like, “Okay, I got the deal. Now it’s time for me to really turn it up a notch.” And I was the latter — “now we’re in the big leagues,” and I always felt like it’s an hourglass. We get my major deal, the sand is coming down; and when the sand is out, it’s done. You’ve got to find a way to flip it over — reinvent yourself or something — or it’s done.
So I was like, “Okay, we’re on a major level. Yes, I know some people are only here because they want a free grill or a discount on a grill — but now I’ve got a song with this artist that I can perform for the rest of my life.” I know how the music industry goes — when you’re hot, everybody wants to ride your wave. Some artists get offended by that; they’re like, “Man, you didn’t care about me last week. You only care about me now because I’m hot right now.” So I’m like, “Okay, these people only want to mess with me now because I’m hot. Well, all right — let’s do a song collab with everybody I can right now, because as soon as I’m not hot, they’re not going to answer my phone no more.” So every collab opportunity, I was like, “Hell yeah, let’s do it right now before you change your mind.” When I did the song with Brooke Hogan [2006’s “About Us”], that’s the first time in my career I was ever on VH1 — but it took a song with Brooke Hogan for me to get on VH1, and then VH1 started playing my older music that came out before that song.
IAN SAINT: For context, I believe you recorded “Grillz” in Atlanta as you were preparing to launch your debut album. So it sounds like that would’ve been a pretty stressful detour; and yet, it certainly was worth your while.
PAUL WALL: We recorded “Grillz” the week that my album came out. I don’t remember where I was flying from or out to; I was doing a lot of press and promo, going from city to city to city. The actual day I recorded “Grillz,” that night was the Radio One charity concert in Atlanta with T.I., Nelly, and all kinds of people. [It appears that was the Heal The Hood concert to benefit Hurricane Katrina victims, which took place at Phillips Arena on September 17, 2005. Paul’s album had just been released on September 13.]
Nelly told me, “Man, if you don’t find a way to come and make this happen, you’re going to regret this for the rest of your life. You’re going to hear the song on the radio and be like, ‘Damn, I could’ve been on that, but I wasn’t because I was too busy.’” And he was absolutely right. So we found a way to make it work — we flew in, landed, did our verse, and flew out. Thank God, because it was of course huge for my career. So I definitely appreciate that Nelly broke it down to me the way he did.
IAN SAINT: I recall you saying that Nelly was also like, “This is not one of those tracks where you can mail in an MP3. You got to come record it in-person.”
PAUL WALL: Absolutely. Yeah, that’s what I was texting. “I want to do it, but I’m busy. My album’s coming out. Just send me the beat; I’ll send you the MP3.” That’s when he called me. “No, no, no. This is not an ‘email the session’ situation. It’s not an email of the session situation.”
IAN SAINT: So, I’m not from Texas. I grew up in Cleveland, and… Ohio, just to clarify. Not Cleveland, Texas.
PAUL WALL: Real Cleveland. [laugh] People [around here] will be like, “Yeah, I’m from Cleveland.” I’m like, “Are you from Cleveland, Cleveland?” “Oh, no, no. Cleveland, Texas.” You’ve got to specify that. [laugh] No disrespect to Cleveland, Texas.
IAN SAINT: That’s right. [laugh] But yeah, I think “Still Tippin’” was the first time that I became aware of you; I was way up in Cleveland then, and I hadn’t really visited Texas before. That music video made a big impression on us about how cool Houston was, and we’re reciting those lyrics 1,300 miles northeast. And I wonder, looking back, how does that make you feel to be sort of a Houston ambassador — where that groundbreaking music video was informing people from vast swaths of the world away what Houston was like, and making Houston a real hub for what’s hip?
PAUL WALL: I’m definitely aware, but I try not to get too caught up on it. Some of it is because I’m different things to different people. So to some people, I’m the cultural ambassador, the representative, the steward of the Texas music scene. To other people, I’m just an artist with a song and they don’t see it like that. And I don’t try to make myself the ambassador or the steward; I just play whatever I am to you, that’s what I am to you. But I definitely know that I hold a responsibility to represent this entire culture. Everything I’m saying and doing, this is the first time some people are going to have even heard the words “DJ Screw” before, or have ever heard of any song slowed down before — so I’ve got to explain it in a way where it’s truth, and I’m not taking credit for something. “No, this is an opportunity to shine light on the people who created this, that came before me, that made it possible so that I could even have a career. The people that inspired me, the people that are my hip hop heroes.”
Some people, the first time they hear “Grillz,” they think I invented grills; or I’m the first one ever to slow down music, or I’m the first one ever to have wheels that poke out, or whatever aspect of the Texas culture or any of this culture that people see. I get the opportunity to clarify or rectify their ignorance. “No. Let me tell you, this came before me — I didn’t light the torch, I’m just carrying it.”
IAN SAINT: Beyoncé called on you to represent Houston, along with some others, in her “No Angel” music video.
PAUL WALL: Oh, that was an awesome experience. Of course, she’s the greatest of everything; so to be a part of anything she’s doing is amazing. Even if I would’ve got cut out and all you see is the back of my head, I still would’ve been like, “Mama, that’s me.” And there’s so much that goes into the visuals. We got the call like, “Hey, she want to put y’all in the video. She wants to capture the Houston culture.”
But you can’t get too high on that, because I don’t know if she was like, “Hey, I need Paul Wall in the video.” I think she was more like, “Hey, who’s available? What Houston rappers we got?” She’s got a pretty good relationship with all of us. If she calls any one of us, we’re stopping what we’re doing to come. But you’re talking about a hundred rappers, and I’m just one of the hundred, you know?
And even though I made it to the video, you just never know until the actual video comes out, who’s going to be in there and what scenes they are going to use. But regardless, I’m a fan of the culture, the music, and these artists. So even if I wasn’t a part of it at all, I would be just as excited — of course I’d be more excited to see myself, but I would’ve been extremely excited to see Slim Thug or Lil Keke or Willie D or the other people she had in the video as well. I would’ve been excited just to see slabs in a Beyonce video — it’s like, “Hell yeah, we made it” because slabs are underground car culture [originating in Houston] and you wouldn’t expect to see this in a Beyoncé video. Beyoncé is elite, elite; so we might expect to see some Ferrari or Lamborghini cars in her video, but she said, “No, I want to capture the essence the Houston car culture.” I was more excited for my car to be in the video than me personally. To see her still want to represent where she’s from to the world is huge. And we’re all on standby to help in any way — my car is available to go on tour with her.
IAN SAINT: I smiled when you played a snippet of Chamillionaire’s “Ridin’” at the State Fair, because I just interviewed “Weird Al” Yankovic a few weeks ago. Al told me his “White & Nerdy” parody “is ostensibly my biggest hit.” What did you think of Al’s parody, especially since Chamillionaire is a fellow Houston rapper that you’ve known forever?
PAUL WALL: I think that might be the only time in my life I was jealous of Chamillionaire. Even though we were both nominated for a Grammy [in 2007] and Chamillionaire won it, I wasn’t jealous at all. Yeah, I would’ve liked to win a Grammy, but to see my brother that I grew up with — the first time I ever rapped, was in a cafeteria next to him — so to see either one of us take it home was a victory for us, and a victory for Texas music. I was convinced that neither one of us would win the Grammy because we would split the votes [as Houston rappers], so I would rather he win than neither one of us win.
But with the Weird Al parody, I was a little jealous. And I got to make Weird Al some grills! I was like, “Oh man, I wish you would [parody] one of my songs.” At the same time, I was happy because he killed it. Weird Al is so creative in how he flips the songs — like Michael Jackson’s “Bad,” with “Fat” — and he nails it every time. I don’t know what his writing process is, but it feels like he’s doing research and he’s putting the right words and [phrasing] things the right way.
IAN SAINT: And Al is killing it on this tour. He sold out Madison Square Garden and The Forum, among other arenas.
PAUL WALL: Ah, that’s dope.
IAN SAINT: Well, thanks so much for speaking with me. This was such an insightful conversation. And I just have to wonder, now that you’re seasoned in the State Fair of Texas up here in Dallas, can you show me around the Houston Rodeo? Because I’ve never been.
PAUL WALL: Yeah, absolutely. I’ve only been twice — I went to see Beyonce, and I went to perform with Bun B one year. [Paul went on to guest in three Houston Rodeo performances this year: Lizzo, Forrest Frank, and Koe Wetzel.]
IAN SAINT: We look forward to seeing what’s on the horizon; and maybe the next time I see you, we’ll be at the Grand Ole Opry.
PAUL WALL: Yeah, let’s get it!
The Paul Wall Fall Ball takes place 7:45 PM Saturday, at the State Fair of Texas’ Chevrolet Main Stage new location inside Fair Park Coliseum, following the Red River Rivalry football game. All State Fair of Texas concerts are free to attend with fair admission. For Paul Wall tour dates and tickets, visit https://www.paulwall.com.
