Paul Wall Gleams Over SXSW’s Star Power, “Now You Have Kanye West & Jay-Z Performing There”

Written By S. Samuel

With the annual South By Southwest fesitivities in full effect, SOHH reached out to Texas-bred emcee, Paul Wall, for his take on his homestate getting its annual mainstream shine.

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For Paul Wall, the man who placed grills back on the map, South By South West is a long time tradition. He reflects on the early days of SXSW and relishes on how much the annual gathering has flourished in recent years.

“It’s amazing to see how far it’s come,” Paul Wall told SOHH. “I remember performing my first show out there with me and Chamillionaire. As a matter of fact, even my wife was there, she’s in a singing group but she performed a show at South By Southwest. To see how far it’s come, now you have Kanye West and Jay-Z performing there, so to see how far it’s come is amazing. Especially in terms of hip-hop, and music in general, it’s the biggest live music event. Worldwide its huge but for hip-hop to be a part of it with as big as its become, it’s amazing. And it’s great because it takes place right in our backyard, in Austin, Texas.” (SOHH)

This week, renowned rap veteran Tech N9ne shared a different stance toward SXSW, varying greatly from Paul’s more positive recollections.

“Sorry man. I probably don’t say the things that are politically correct, but f*ck South by Southwest,” Tech told SOHH. “I feel that way. I don’t give a f*ck! You know why? Because my fans speak and it’s about money. I’m just saying, they could say they won’t ever have me perform again, I wouldn’t give a f*ck. N*gga, we’d create our ‘own’ festival and fill the f*ckin’ stands. Tech N9ne can say what the f*ck he wanna say, blackball me. We are our own machine. I’mma shutup, man. And I hope they get some feedback from this.” (SOHH)

Last night (March 12), rap mogul Jay-Z ignited the festivities with his first-ever South By Southwest performance.

The show at the Austin City Limits Live venue marked the end of South By Southwest’s interactive conference and an unofficial start to South By Southwest’s music conference, which gets under way on Tuesday. The 80-minute show, to promote American Express’ new partnership with Twitter and streamed live online, was packed with Hova’s hits, including “99 Problems,” ”Dirt Off Your Shoulder,” ”Empire State of Mind” and “Glory,” his ode to Blue Ivy Carter, the 2-month-old daughter he has with Beyonce. (Wall Street Journal)

Later this week, G-Unit’s DJ Whoo Kid will get behind the turntables for rap star 50 Cent‘s SXSW set.

“Yeah, I’m going to be there with 50 performing the whole Get Rich or Die Tryin’. So I’m the deejay, I got hired again,” Whoo Kid told SOHH when asked if he would be at the annual South By Southwest event this week. “I gotta deejay the whole, whole album. The whole Get Rick or Die Tryin’ album. [How crazy is this?] It’s f*cking nuts, man. It’s gonna be amazing. I’m just amped over those records that I’ve always wanted him to perform, now he’s gonna perform them. He’s gonna do the whole thing so it’s going to be a good look. I can’t wait.” (SOHH)

Check out a recent Paul Wall interview below:

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Written by S. Samuel

Steven Samuel is the co-founder of SOHH.com.

50 Cent

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