Paul Wall is always smiling. Why? Because after years of grinding and hustling, he's finally at a place where he can just sit back and make music for fun again. The married father of two says his style has matured, but he insists it's still the same "parking-lot music" his fans love. After a two-year hiatus, the People's Champ drops his fourth solo album, Fast Life, today. In between promoting his album, chilling out with his fam (plus MLB buddies Chris Young of the D-backs and James Loney of the Dodgers), and working on his Expensive Taste clothing brand, Paul sat with us to undergo this week's Complex 7. Read up on the last time he cried, the worst way he's been broken up with and how Obama almost cock-blocked him...
Interview by Andrew Rivera
#1: WHAT IS YOUR NUMBER ONE DEAL-BREAKER FOR A POTENTIAL GIRLFRIEND?
Paul Wall says: I think bad breath is...just hard to get past. Someone with just horrible breath, yeah. I'm not talking about just onion breath. I'm talking about you been brushing your teeth and using the mouthwash and it still smells like you've been tongue-kissing the toes of a gorilla—that's horrible. I know it's bad sometimes when we wake up in the morning and I might not have the most pleasant breath out there, but man, ladies have to have good breath.
#2: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ALL-TIME SNEAKER?
Paul Wall says: Jordan, any Jordan!
#3: WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
Paul Wall says: Last time I cried I was in L.A. for Big Boy's Neighborhood and Tattoo was on the show and they were showing me the video of John Cena slapping him 12 rounds. He was getting slapped all over the place. You could see the handprints and all that. I was crying because of all the laughing. On top of that Stacey, another person who works on the show, is pregnant and Tattoo has a phobia of pregnant women. So she's going up to him messing with him like, "Touch it, feel it!" While that was happening I was on the floor in a ball, crying and laughing; I was laughing so hard I had trouble breathing. I've heard of people being scared of heights or something, but for him it was pregnant ladies, and she was taking advantage of that. [Laughs.]
#4: WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU HAD A WEEK-LONG HOLIDAY?
Paul Wall says: Watching baseball somewhere with the family, having fun. I love to watch baseball in Fenway Park. They have an awesome energy there.
#5: WHAT HAS TO BE IN YOUR REFRIGERATOR AT ALL TIMES?
Paul Wall says:I don't know man...uh...oh, codeine! But that's not even in my fridge, I keep that in the pantry.
#6: WHAT WAS THE WORST WAY YOU'VE BROKEN UP WITH SOMEONE?
Paul Wall says: Twitter! [Laughs.] Nah, just kidding. I've never really broken up with somebody before. I've been broken up with. One time a girl just left me a note on my car...that's it man. Now if the tables were turned I don't know. I'm married now, but if I were to break up with someone it would be on Twitter.
#7: WHAT WAS THE MOST EMBARRASSING FASHION MOMENT FOR YOU?
Paul Wall says: I used to have this jersey, it was a Kenyon Martin jersey, with a little grease stain on it, I didn't think anyone else could see it. I looked down to my jersey and I was like, "OK, I'm good." Next thing I know I'm seeing all these pictures of myself with a big ol' grease stain. Now I'm a big boy, and its one thing to be a big boy, but to be a fat boy with a big nasty mustard stain on your shirt, that was just embarrassing.
BONUS QUESTION:
WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH WANTING AN OBAMA TATTOO ON YOUR NECK?
Paul Wall says: I had been talking about it for a while. A lot of my homeboys have tattoos of gangsters on their necks, like John Gotti or Al Capone. So I said I was gonna get Obama, but my girl told me if I did, she wasn't gonna give me none. Once she said that I was like, "Let me chill." I'm not ready to make a trade out like that. We'll see if he gets us out of this recession first.
BONUS: Paul Wall's "Bizzy Body" video, featuring Webbie & Mouse
