Over the weekend, the ice man Paul Wall celebrated the release of a brand new mixtape, titled Sole Music, released in support of both his upcoming solo LP Heart of a Champion and Famous Stars & Straps' FMS shoe line.

The Houston rapper posted up at Famous' Los Angeles retail store The Fast Life on Saturday (June 12), where he chatted with fans and played tracks from his upcoming album and new mixtape.

(Check out photos from the release party at The Fast Life LA here )

There, we spoke to Paul about the DJ Skee-hosted tape, which he explained is a little preview of what's to come.

"It's something we wanted to do to get people pumped up for the album. My new album's getting ready to come out, Heart of a Champion. We wanted to get people pumped up for that," Paul tells BallerStatus.com. "I hadn't done an original mixtape that was really me in a long time. Every now and then, I might do some drops for DJs, but it wasn't really my mixtape. So, something we really put together."

Sole Music consists of 11 tracks of music from exclusive freestyles to recent collaborations all the way to tracks off of Heart of a Champion.

(Download Sole Music right here, via MixtapePass.com )

While Paul keeps you fed with Sole Music, the upcoming Heart of a Champion is right around the corner -- July 13th to be exact, 7/13, the same area code of Wall's hometown of Houston.

For the upcoming LP the rapper told us he went with a theme, as he usually does. To be a champion, you have to grind and that's what the music on the album is all about.

"This album, the theme was don't give up, we grinding, we in grind mode, we mashin', we in mash mode, we not giving up, we just grindin' with it," Paul explained. "So, all the music was motivation music, was grind music. With the mixtape, got a bunch of songs I did with other people, did some freestyles over some tracks, picked some songs from the album, and kinda mashed them all together."

Half of the upcoming Champion album was produced by Paul's good friend and famed drummer Travis Barker, while guest appearances include the likes of Jay Electronica, Raekwon, Jim Jones, and Kid Sister, as well as Paul's southern friends: Z-Ro, Chamillionaire, BUn, Devin the Dude, Slim Thug, and Yo Gotti.

We also asked Paul about always keeping his hometown on his project ... and while it's self explanatory to always support your region, Paul Wall explained that his Southern peers are some of his favorite artists.

"This is some of my favorite artists. Anytime I get a chance to work with Bun B, you know what I'm saying? I'mma take it. I'd get him on every single song on the album if I could," said Paul.

Heart of a Champion is in stores July 13th.