Fast Life is the fourth solo studio album by American rapper Paul Wall. It was released on May 12, 2009, via Swishahouse and Asylum Records.
| Fast Life | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 12, 2009 | |||
| Recorded | 2008–09 | |||
| Studio | Studio 30 Thirteen (Houston, TX) | |||
| Genre | Southern hip hop | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer |
| |||
| Paul Wall chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Fast Life | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| HipHopDX | 3/5[2] |
| RapReviews | 7/10[3] |
| XXL | 3/5[4] |
Production was handled by Beanz & Kornbread, Travis Barker, X-Fyle, Antwan "Amadeus" Thompson, Gennessee Lewis, Happy Perez, I.N.F.O. & Nova, Mouse and Young Chill, with G-Dash and Michael "5000" Watts serving as executive producers. It features guest appearances from Z-Ro, Baby Bash, Gorilla Zoe, Kobe, Krizz Kaliko, Lil' Keke, Marty James, Mouse, Tech N9ne, The Federation, Too Short, Trae tha Truth, Webbie, Young Chill, Yung Joc and Yung Redd, as well as Paul Wall's short-lived hip hop supergroup Expensive Taste.
Background
editRapper Paul Wall spoke about the album Fast Life, about taking something stronger than his previous albums, with both his lyrics and its production; as well as cover several more topics:
I really stepped it up a lot lyrically because I wanted this record to show real strength and emotion because y'all know Rap is so deep at times and I took that opportunity to just write lyrics that told my story and showed people that I mean something deep which y'all never really realised but now realise, also on the production side we really stepped it up a lot. We worked with a lot of new producers, a lot of new artists that I didn't work with in the past, so they'll get to see a lot of different vibes that they might have not seen with me with past albums. Subject matter we went a little more in-depth, talked about a lot of different things that I never really spoke on—I might have mentioned it here and there but never really made whole songs about. I had a lot of fun working on the album.[5]
"You're going to hear in-depth topics," he says, adding that he's been recording nonstop for the album for the last two years, a feat that has given him more than 50 songs to choose from. "You'll hear some stuff that you might not be used to hearing."[6]
Singles
editThe album's lead single "Bizzy Body" featuring Webbie and Mouse, who is the producer by the latter on this track. It was released on December 2, 2008. The music video premiered on March 27, 2009 via MySpace.[7]
The album's second single "Lemon Drop" featuring Baby Bash, was released on the same day as the music video on July 13, 2009.
The album's third single "Got to Get It" premiered on July 23, 2009, along with the accompanying music video.
The album's fourth single "I Need Mo" featuring Kobe, was released on the same day as the music video on September 24, 2009. With Paul Wall himself, he said that it was shot and filmed through his iPhone.[8]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I Need Mo" (featuring Kobe) |
| Travis Barker | 3:58 |
| 2. | "Got to Get It" |
| Beanz-N-Kornbread | 4:36 |
| 3. | "Bizzy Body" (featuring Webbie and Mouse) |
| Mouse | 4:16 |
| 4. | "Lemon Drop" (featuring Baby Bash) |
| Gennessee | 2:53 |
| 5. | "Fly" (featuring Yung Joc and Gorilla Zoe) |
| Amadeus | 3:55 |
| 6. | "I Grind" (featuring Marty James) |
| Happy Perez | 4:10 |
| 7. | "Daddy Wasn't Home" |
| Beanz-N-Kornbread | 4:54 |
| 8. | "Pop One of These" (featuring Too $hort, Skinhead Rob and The Federation) |
| Travis Barker | 3:32 |
| 9. | "One Hundred" (featuring Z-Ro and Yung Redd) |
| Xfyle | 3:16 |
| 10. | "Pressin' Them Buttons" (featuring Trae and Lil' Keke) |
|
| 3:47 |
| 11. | "I'm Clean" (featuring Z-Ro) |
| Beanz-N-Kornbread | 4:59 |
| 12. | "Sumn' Like a Pimp" (featuring Tech N9NE and Krizz Kaliko) |
| Xfyle | 5:28 |
| 13. | "Look at Me Now" (featuring Yung Chill) |
| Yung Chill | 4:47 |
| No. | Title | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14. | "1, 2, 3, 4" (featuring Pitbull) | Play-N-Skillz | 2:58 |
Personnel
edit- Paul Michael "Paul Wall" Slayton — vocals
- Brian "Kobe" Honeycutt — vocals (track 1)
- Webster "Webbie" Gradney — vocals (track 3)
- Jeremy "Mouse" Allen — vocals & producer (track 3)
- Ron "Baby Bash" Bryant — vocals (track 4)
- Jasiel "Yung Joc" Robinson — vocals (track 5)
- Alonzo "Gorilla Zoe" Mathis — vocals (track 5)
- Marty James Garton Jr. — vocals (track 6)
- Todd "Too $hort" Shaw — vocals (track 8)
- Robert "Skinhead Rob" Aston — vocals (track 8)
- Anthony "Goldie Gold" Caldwell — vocals (track 8)
- Thomas "Stressmatic" Jackson — vocals (track 8)
- Joseph "Z-Ro" McVey — vocals (tracks: 9, 11)
- Christopher "Yung Redd" Gallien — vocals (track 9)
- Frasier "Trae tha Truth" Thompson — vocals (track 10)
- Marcus "Lil' Keke" Edwards — vocals (track 10)
- Aaron D. "Tech N9NE" Yates — vocals (track 12)
- Samuel "Krizz Kaliko" Watson — vocals (track 12)
- Isaac "Young Chill" Yowman — vocals & producer (track 13), mixing (tracks: 1-11, 13)
- Genevieve Goings — additional background vocals (track 4)
- Nick Baker — additional guitar & additional bass (track 13)
- Travis Barker — producer (tracks: 1, 8)
- Donald Johnson, Jr. — producer (tracks: 2, 7, 11)
- Kenneth Roy — producer (tracks: 2, 7, 11)
- Gennessee Lewis — producer (track 4)
- Antwan "Amadeus" Thompson — producer (track 5)
- Nathan "Happy" Perez — producer (track 6)
- Howard "X-Fyle" Metoyer — producer (tracks: 9, 12)
- John "I.N.F.O." Christopher — producer (track 10)
- Scott "N.O.V.A." Novelli — producer (track 10)
- Travis Farris — recording (tracks: 1-11, 13), A&R
- Mickaël Zibi — recording (track 4)
- Robert Rebeck — recording & mixing (track 12)
- Mark Kidney — mastering
- H. "G-Dash" Guidry — executive producer
- Michael "5000" Watts — executive producer
- Mike Frost — art direction, design, photography
- Brandon Holley — photography
- Adrian Williams — A&R
Charts
edit| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200[9] | 15 |
| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[10] | 6 |
| US Top Rap Albums (Billboard)[11] | 4 |
References
edit- ^ Jeffries, David. "Fast Life - Paul Wall | Album | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
- ^ Thornton, Alex (May 14, 2009). "Paul Wall - Fast Life". HipHopDX. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
- ^ Juon, Steve 'Flash' (May 21, 2009). "Paul Wall :: Fast Life – RapReviews". www.rapreviews.com. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
- ^ Bonanno, Jonathan (March 2, 2009). "Paul Wall:Fast Life - XXL". XXL. Archived from the original on April 13, 2009. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
- ^ Hassan, Aliya. "Paul Wall Interview – Living the Fast Life" (Online interview). [Rap Pages Magazine]. Retrieved March 27, 2009.[dead link]
- ^ "Paul Wall – Changing Lanes". RollingOut.com. Archived from the original (Online interview) on March 18, 2009. Retrieved March 27, 2009.
- ^ Warner Bros Records. "Warner Bros Records". Asylumrecords.com. Archived from the original on 2011-09-29. Retrieved 2012-02-16.
- ^ "Rapper Shoots Music Video with iPhone. Wait, What? | The Rap Up". Therapup.uproxx.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2012-02-16.
- ^ "The Billboard 200". Billboard. Vol. 121, no. 21. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. May 30, 2009. p. 34. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
- ^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums". Billboard. Vol. 121, no. 21. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. May 30, 2009. p. 42. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
- ^ "Top Rap Albums". Billboard. May 30, 2009. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
External links
edit- Paul Wall – Fast Life at Discogs (list of releases)