Listen to Start 2 Finish by Paul Wall
Paul Wall
Start 2 Finish
Album · Hip-Hop · 2022
Having emerged as part of Houston's codeine-drenched Swishahouse collective in the late ’90s, Paul Wall doesn't exactly conjure thoughts of classic boom-bap. And yet he seamlessly adopted neo-Golden Age soundscapes on Give Thanks, his 2019 project with Massachusetts producer Statik Selektah. The two join forces again on Start 2 Finish, only this time, Wall raps alongside Termanology, a frequent Selektah collaborator who also appeared on Give Thanks. Throughout Start 2 Finish, the two MCs merge their respective regional tendencies, with Wall's impenetrable Southern drawl and sugar-coated fly-guy talk balancing Termanology's energetic East Coast rhyme-slinging on tracks like “Ask Permission”. Subdued yet stylish, the Pete Rock-produced "Recognize My Car” evokes carpark pimpin’ and a vaguely sinister cool, playing out like a more dangerous version of A Tribe Called Quest’s “Bonita Applebum”—the logical outcome of pairing H-Town swagger with dusty jazz and soul samples.

More albums from Paul Wall

instagramSharePathic_arrow_out