Paul Wall explains why he’s never used the N-word — and why he kept profanity out of his music

The rapper said his family’s expectations and his faith influenced a career-long commitment to clean lyrics and avoiding racial slurs.

For more than two decades, Houston rapper Paul Wall has built a career in hip-hop without relying on profanity or using the N-word — a choice he says has everything to do with the values he learned growing up.

During a recent appearance on Cam Newton’s “Funky Friday,” the rapper opened up about how his upbringing in the church and the influence of his mother, a longtime elementary school teacher, shaped both his everyday speech and his music.

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“My mom was a school teacher,” Paul Wall explained. “She taught kindergarten and first grade for like 20, 30 years forever. So she would always challenge me, like, ‘Oh, you’re going to say those words? You’re not creative enough to say something different?'”

Those conversations, combined with a childhood spent in church, inspired him to avoid profanity altogether.

“So I didn’t cuss in my daily life, didn’t cuss when I was rapping,” he said. “I’d listen to cuss words, and I wasn’t judgmental about people that cuss. I just personally chose not to cuss.”

The rapper laughed while recalling how his wife would tease him for making up substitute words instead of swearing.

“Instead of saying f—, I’d say ‘cluck’ or make my own cuss words,” he said. That same influence led to how he navigated Black cultural spaces and the hip-hop industry as a white rapper without using the N-word.

“I grew up in a house where my mama would’ve whooped my a— if she ever heard me say the N-word,” he said, adding that the rule applied regardless of who was in the house.

Today, Paul Wall says that perspective hasn’t changed. In fact, he offered straightforward advice for anyone working in or around Black culture.

“My biggest advice to any white person… or any non-Black people, just don’t say the N-word,” he said. “It’s never been hard for me. I never wanted to. I never felt the urge to.”

For Paul Wall, the decision has never been about policing anyone else’s language. Instead, it’s been a personal commitment rooted in faith, family and the belief that choosing different words can reflect a deeper sense of discipline.