Paul Wall sits down with Vevo for the latest episode of Footnotes to share behind-the-scenes stories about the making of the chart-topping hit “Grillz.” The song became became a massive hit, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming a cultural phenomenon that helped popularize grills in mainstream hip-hop and pop culture.
In the episode, Paul Wall recalls how T.I. reached out to him about grills that he thought Paul made for Nelly, only to find out he hadn’t actually made them. The unexpected moment turned into an opportunity for Paul and business partner Johnny Dang to create a custom set for Nelly, one of the most intricate, expensive, and high-quality grills they had ever made, setting a new standard in the industry and solidifying their reputation.
This jewelry collaboration led to the creation of “Grillz,” which helped push the trend of wearing grills further into hip-hop and pop culture. Paul Wall shares that Nelly asked if he wanted to jump on the track, already having a clear vision for the song. He insisted that Paul come to Atlanta to record the verse and the music video. When Paul suggested recording his verse remotely, Nelly told him, “If you don’t come to Atlanta, you’re going to regret it for the rest of your life.”
Paul also remembers shooting the music video in Atlanta the day before his wedding, laughing about how Nelly and other Atlanta artists wanted to celebrate by throwing him a bachelor party. He jokes that if that had happened, he might not have made it back to Texas in time for his wedding. Luckily, he made it back in time for the nuptials, and has been happily married for over twenty years.
Looking back, Paul expresses a deep gratitude for the opportunity calling “Grillz” was a pivotal moment in launching his career beyond rap as America’s #1 grill salesman, alongside Johnny Dang. He describes the song as a commercial for their business, which saw a massive growth after the music video dropped.
TRANSCRIBED BELOW:
00:17 – One day, T.I. called me out of the blue and he was like, “Ay, I saw you made some grills for Nelly. That’s what’s up.” Of course, that’s a big come-up for anybody to make some grills for Nelly. You know, so he was congratulating me, and I was like, “What are you talking about? I never even met Nelly. What do you mean?” And he was like, “Nah, I just saw him on tour backstage and he was like, ‘Look, Paul Wall made me these grills.’” Come to find out, we did not make him those grills. So, we took this upon ourselves to say, “Let me make you some grills. Let me show you the difference in a Paul Wall Johnny Dang grill versus everybody else. – Paul Wall
01:06 – We gave him the best grills we ever made, ever. At the time, these were the most intricate, the highest cost, and most expensive. Everything was extremely handset. I’m talking about handcrafted from scratch; everything was top-notch as it could get. And we really went all out for Nelly for his grills. We had to show him the difference between us and the rest. – Paul Wall
01:46 – After that, Nelly was like, “Say man, I want to make a song about grills. What’s up, you want to get on it?” Of course I want to get on a song with Nelly. What you mean, you don’t want to get on a song with Nelly? You know what I’m saying. And we’re talking about some grills. Of course. Now, I had made other songs about grills before, but I mean, it don’t matter what I did, you know, when you do something with Nelly, everything else, you know, is forgotten about. Everything else don’t matter, you know what I’m saying. And of course, that’s exactly what happened. – Paul Wall
02:15 – Nelly is one of those artists where he got a vision. He had a vision from top to bottom, start to finish for the song. And you have to be there with him to capture that vision, encapsulated in the verse, in the song, with the energy and everything. And I straight up told him, man, you going to send me that mp3, I’ll knock it out in my studio and send it back. He called me and said, “Nah bro, this ain’t no mp3. This song is going to be bigger than Air Force 1s.”
02:47 – Man, you just gassing me, c’mon man. He’s like, “No man, if you don’t come down here to Atlanta and record this verse, you going to regret it for the rest of your life. You going to kick yourself for the rest of your life.” I said, “Damn, I got to find a way to get to Atlanta.” – Paul Wall
03:11 – The video is even more special ’cause, let me tell you, we shot the video in Atlanta the day before I got married. I got married the day after we shot the video. So we went to Atlanta, we shooting the video, it’s like a full day, we doing everything, and it’s a big, huge video, of course. And as the video was running a little long—like, let’s do this and let’s do that, we about to go here, we about to go there—and I’m like, “Hey, I got to get to the airport ’cause I’m flying and getting married in the morning.” – Paul Wall
03:46 – They wanted to throw me a bachelor party. You know how them Tip Drill bachelor parties go—I might not have made it on the plane back, ya know. So big shoutout to that flight I made. I did not make the bachelor party, but I did make my wedding. And me and my wife are still happily married, so big shoutout to my wife. – Paul Wall
04:04 – Ay, this song right here, it means so much. It’s so near and dear to my heart. Of course, me being America’s number one grill salesman along with my boy Johnny Dang, this song was like a billboard, it was like a commercial for us to sell grills. We sold so many grills after this video came out. Big shoutout to my boy Nelly, he’s getting grills for life. What kind of grills you want? You know I got you. – Paul Wall
