Houston rapper Paul Wall: Health is the new wealth

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Rap music comes under fire often for its negative messages to kids, but one local rapper is trying to change all that.

Paul Wall is now singing a new tune that "health is the new wealth."

Behind the diamond-laced, blinged out smile is one of Houston's most famous rappers. But over the years in the spotlight, Paul Wall developed another reputation.

"The partying, the drinking and all that stuff along with eating fried foods every single meal," he said. "I was morbidly obese. I would be out of breath and be getting dizzy."

Before he knew it, Paul Wall tipped the scale at 320 pounds. It was the heaviest he had ever been.

"Celebrity Fit Club. When they asked me to be a participant, be a contestant, that was it! That was the last straw for me," he said.

So he made a big change. Dieting, exercising and then undergoing the Gastric Sleeve weight loss surgery. He dropped 100 pounds.

"It saved my life. I feel great! I feel like I am 19 years old. I feel better than I felt at 19," he said. "How much I weigh now, I've never weighed this much in my life, except when I was 12 years old."

His wife, Crystal, began to change too.

"Him losing that weight mentally gave him his swagger, you know? He got to being, he felt sexy, you know? He hates for me to say that he actually felt sexy, but he felt sexier," she said.

But Paul Wall said changing his own life wasn't enough. He wants to spread the word to his fans.

"Too many times in the music, we promote the party or the drinking or whatever, the unhealthy lifestyle in the music," Paul Wall said. "But outside of that, it's time for us to start being role models."

So, along with his new look came a new mission and a new message for fans: healthy can be cool.

"No matter how much money you have, if you don't have your body and your health, then you don't have anything," he said. "Health is the new wealth."

To see more of Paul Wall's story, including videos and health tips, visit www.feelrich.com.

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local, samica knight

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