My Dear Friends of Figma in A lot of the tattoos I have I was going through something at the time like mentally or you know somebody might have died or I was just you know going through some type of you know depression or near depression and the tattoos were always a way that I could get through that I’m Paul Wall I’m a rapper from Houston Texas I’m known for selling.
Grills with my partner Johnny D I’m known for my community work in Houston and I’m known for my love of Houston sports especially the Houston Astros growing up in Houston Texas I lived on the northwest side it was very Multicultural very mixed it was a immigrant neighborhood where there were people from all over it was Vietnamese.
Families Indian families Nigerian families people from all over the globe it just taught you you know just to respect other people’s cultures it was something I always had a you know admiration for being it all of my friends were of different cultures we all shared cultures together and celebrated them together so one of my.
Friends was cele celebrating a holiday for whatever they celebrated whatever reason we were celebrating it as well Hip Hop was something that was always a part of our life as long as I can remember all the way going back to I would say maybe like fourth or fifth grade that’s when I really remember you know hip hop being a part of what we did.
That’s when we would quote the songs that we would hear on the radio or we would you know point out the videos but doing it at the lunch tables or on the school bus is something that I just had a knack for we just did it for fun we’d go you know play basketball against another school or go to a track meet and we’d be in a cipher with the other.
People from the other schools and it wouldn’t be a rap battle be more Cipher esque but we’d be doing our thing representing and I always had an knack for it the tattoos was something where I kind of tiptoed into the tattoos I went to the world famous degos tattoos Houston Texas they’re known for tattooing a lot of Tupac tattoos Marilyn.
Manson Dennis R man you know when I was growing up those were the the icons that had tattoos when you think about who has tattoos this an icon those were the people that that you know that we would thinking of so going in there to Deo my boy junior he did all my first tattoos it was a you know was a a moment for me you know like a coming of age of man I’m.
At the same place where Tupac got tattooed you know it Miss something it was a lot of pride in that and getting those tattoos I remember the first tattoo I got was Paul and wall on the back of my arms and I got them up top on my sleeve so I can still hide them you got to realize when I grew up in Texas it’s a lot different than it is now.
Growing up in Texas if you had tattoos you were either a devil worshipper a meth addict a biker some type of Outlaw that was ostracized from society in one way or another tattoos never represented something positive in the main stream of Texas you know what I’m saying like you wear tattoos you go to church everybody’s going to be looking at you.
Sideways like you just killed a bunch of babies you know what I’m saying and that’s just how it is you got tattoos and you go meet your girlfriend’s parents that might be the last time you talk to the girl you know I can tell you stories of people I know who you know had their parents tattooed on their arm who passed away and they came home to.
See their living parent who’s remarried and the remarried spouse is like no you’re not coming in this house with tattoos you’re not allowed you know where they really take it to the to the tin degree of uh you know Prejudice if you have tattoos so but I remember even as a kid I remember being 15 years old I used to get my homeboy to to like draw.
On me with a marker right here and then I’d cover it up like halfway so you could just see like a little bit of it just to freak my mom out to see what she say and every time she’d fall for it every time and it’d be just like you know a tattoo of a stick figure or something it wouldn’t even be a tattoo be a a Sharpie permanent marker drawing.
Something it’s obviously not a tattoo but she would just seeing be freaking oh my God you got tattoos no Paul no she’d be breaking down crying and I just would be laughing laughing laughing like I got you again now of course she’s not faced at all about my tattoos she likes my tattoos she’s like let me see that tattoo let me see that tattoo why don’t.
You she’s giving me suggestions for what I should get as a tattoo although recently they’ve been Taylor Swift quotes you know what I’m saying so I don’t know but shout out to my mom she uh you know she’s definitely always been a part of my my tattoo Journey eventually as I you know got more and more tattoo it still was just.
The top part of my sleeves but I’ll never forget when I got my lower sleeves for Mr cartoon that was uh you know Mr cartoon is like Picasso so if you say hey know you want a Picasso painting hell yeah I want a Picasso painting what do you mean you know or van go or you know I’m saying so I’m like that’s that’s who Mr cartoon is I remember when.
Slim Thug came back with a Mr cartoon tattoo I was so happy for him and so jealous at the same time like oh man I want a cartoon tattoo so bad but it wasn’t like an envious jealous it was just like oh I want that too how can I get that I got to save all my money and get that you know what I’m saying shout out to my boy Slim Thug he he always.
Been a leader for us he always been you know a leader of Our Generation so he was the first one with a Bley first one buying house was first one doing all these things that are inspirational to us you know what I’m saying so when he came back with that Mr cartoon tattoo I was like boy my boy SL up be me to the punch one more time man and I never.
Forget going out there to California and you know dropping Money On My Tattoos over time you know I spent well over $50,000 with Mr cartoon well over that just on my tattoos but you know I feel like I got a bargain if you could buy a Picasso painting for $50 now who wouldn’t do that this stuff worth millions of dollars.
So being in hip-hop and being kind of known for having tattoos I do find uh some artists that you know will want to add me to their collection like oh I tattoo PA wall you know I tattoo this person this person this person and Pa wall you know they kind of want to add me to their collection you know which is dope that’s.
I feel honored you know what I’m saying to that someone would want to tattoo me oh I always wanted to tattoo you sometimes when I’m tattoos people say that I always wanted to tattoo you and that means a lot to me I’ve had people who get similar tattoos or the same tattoo I have wherever on my arm they got the same tattoo on their arm or the.
Same tattoo on my chest they got it on their chest that man and it’s a connection I have with that with that person that you know whether it’s a fan or another rap artist I feel that connection you know what I’m saying because we both have this tattoo in the same spot well we we connected now whether whether we want to be or not.
We’re connected now you know uh I love it I got a few a few errors on me you know maybe spelling errors or you know number errors or you know just here and there just a little slight errors those are some of the ones that you know they mean something to me because I find you know the beauty in the aors you know what I’m saying a beauty mark is a mark.
On you that’s not supposed to normally be there but it’s called a beauty mark you know it’s something that you know the the flaws that we we find in each other those are the that’s what makes us unique so my my tattoos that have like errors on them some times I go back and forth or oh you want to cover this up you want to fix this and N I’m going to.
Keep it you know what I’m saying even tattoos that I might have gotten that I regret I don’t regret them because it was a part of who I am a lot of the tattoos I have I was going through something at the time like mentally or you know somebody might have died or I was just you know going through some type of you know depression or near.
Depression and the tattoos were always a way that I could get through that for some type of reason I would when I’m getting a tattoo and you’re going Through the Motions of everything and getting a tattoo it was or be a way that I would release whatever energy that I was pinning up and after the tattoo I would feel come out feeling stronger and.
You know lighter in terms of the weight I was carrying or whatever baggage mentally that I was holding on to you know I just I love being it I can be me and people will be open to that
Texas was not the most accepting place to have tattoos while Paul Wall was growing up. For a large majority of his life he solely got work that could be hidden under the sleeves of a shirt. As time went on, however, his status as a prominent figure in southern hip hop allowed him to fully express himself how he wanted. He discusses growing up in Texas, working in the hip hop scene and more in this episode of Heavily Inked.
WEBSITE: http://www.inkedmag.com/
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/inkedmag
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/inkedmag
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/inkedmag/
Directed & Edited by Sammy Martel
Producers — Sami Hajar, Sammy Martel
Associate Producers — Julia Cancilla, Mina Eren Ozgu, Sami Hajar
Figma Official Channel,get,come,out,Paul Wall, Paul, Wall, Heavily Inked, Heavily, Inked, Inked Magazine, Hip Hop, Rap, Southern hip hop, southern rap, slim thug, tupac, houston, texas, houston texas, mr. cartoon, mister cartoon, grillz, grills,