S. Samuel
Houston's Paul Wall recently updated fans on the status of his popular grills line and why no man or woman should ever let another person wear them.
While loyal to his eye-catching trademark, Paul admitted the sight of gold-winning swimmer Ryan Lochte sharing his Wall-made customized grill took him by surprise.
It’s an obvious question for Houston rapper Paul Wall, and he gets it a lot: Inquiring minds want to know about that trademark grill, the bright, blinged-out jewels that decorate his teeth. “Every single day,” he says by phone. “Anybody who ever sees me — if I’m wearing a grill, they want to see it. If I don’t have it in, they want to know why I don’t have it in.” One of Wall’s more notable recent creations was for Ryan Lochte. The Olympic swimming champ wore an American flag-styled grill during the Summer Games — after stepping off the trophy stand. A Lochte interview during that time brought a cringe-worthy moment. Wall says people occasionally ask him to take his grill out, so that they can try it on. He declines for (rather obvious) hygienic reasons. But when Piers Morgan interviewed Lochte and mentioned the grill, the swimmer handed it over to the CNN talk show host. “Piers Morgan put his grill in his mouth,” Wall says. “I was like, ‘Ooh, no sir!'” (The Eagle)
Over the summer, Wall reacted to seeing Lochte sport his grill at the televised Summer Olympics.
“For him to have the American flag in his mouth like that shows great patriotism!” Wall added. Lochte had purchased a standard grill from Wall and TV Johnny before, but they catered this particular one for the Olympics. “The grill he’s wearing is all hand-prong set, all VS diamonds and custom red rubies,” Paul Wall said. “What he has in his mouth is all hand crafted. Every diamond is set by hand–one by one, prong set and all custom red rubies. Of course we gave him an Olympic discount.” (XXL Mag)
In May, G.O.O.D. Music’s Big Sean got laced with a diamond-flooded grill from the Houston rapper.
Big Sean added some sparkle to his smile thanks to Houston rapper and go-to grill maker Paul Wall. The Detroit MC showed off his sparkly new accessory featuring a row of white and gold diamonds. “Hey mom, no cavities,” tweeted Sean, who was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2012 BET Awards. (Rap-Up)
Last fall, the Southern rap veteran hit up SOHH and talked about the popularity of grills in the South.
“[In Texas,] we’ve been selling grillz for so long. They were around long before [becoming associated with hip-hop culture] and they will be around long after. It was so big in the hood and throughout the underground, but then it became a national trend and a fad. It even turned into something that went international. There’s a lot of people overseas that are still selling them. They blew up and people think they kind of went away. The trending and fad aspect of it has passed. It’s not a trend anymore. It’s not a fad anymore. From the people who have been wearing grillz and with the people that treat it like it’s a part of life, and part of the culture, it’s part of your culture and so you’re still going to wear them.” (SOHH Guest Star)
