mc paul barnham - classic or dud?

I assume you mean MC Paul Barman... I once saw an interview with him where he said "My flow sucks, my voice is really irritating, but I'm the best rhymer on the planet," or words to that effect. I think he cinched that with the line from his EP that goes "my pissed-off Jimbrowski/Turned three colors/like Krzysztof Kieslowski."

And then it got taken away from him by Kleenex Girl Wonder, but that's another story.

Everything on mcpaulbarman.com now seems to point to a different rapper called Arecee, curiously.

a novelty at best, would have been a lot more palatable in 1992 but even still. and that's a terrible rhyme.

I used to know Paul Barman before he met Prince Paul. When my hair was longer I'd get confused for him which would of course make me puff out my chest and act snooty. I remember him as a very strange and intense young man who talked DEAD SERIOUS about the rhyhmes he wanted to do that followed the Fibonacci sequence or whatever. Emo- math rap?

I always confuse him with dEUS main man Tom Barman, whom I idolize like a silly teenage girl.

Last time I met Paul he was on the Williamsburg L train platform. We had a big conversation about dictionaries. He said he was going through the Webster. Memorising words, or something. He takes them very, very seriously. He's still just about the most intense and hyperactive person I've ever met.

He's now in a pretty serious relationship and will probably write less about sex, more about politics. We were supposed to do a song together in which I rapped 'Tell me, Paul, tell me MC / How to be a funky Ashkenazi?' He didn't like that angle. 'If you promise not to rap, Momus, I'll promise not to sing,' he said.

Hah! I went to check if we'd done a Paul Barman C/D and guess what, we had - and I'd started it!

I've been listening to bits of Paulellujah and it's pretty good. I think the novelty factor obscures the fact he's a marvellous MC.

I respectfully disagree -- though "It's Very Stimulating" doesn't offend me at all.

Still enjoy IVS and he even manages to fit in with the Natural Calamity remix Prince Paul did (Honey, get in the hatchback/I said "I like to nibble tit/Come on, just a little bit"/She fiddled with my avaitor shades and said/"When I want that you'll know/I'll go SHNARF, SHNARF/In other words, NEVER!").

I think that Barman is kinda underrated. He's a pretty good MC, even if he's a little annoying and shticky. But then, I think that most great MCs are a bit shticky, it's no problem. I appreciate Barman's honesty and selfdeprecation, and commitment to writing about being exactly what he is: a priveleged liberal white guy who has spent too much time in school.

I still get a kick out of "my dandy voice makes the most anti-choice grannies' panties moist." That is amazing any way you cut it.

Dammit. I was waiting for him to get all superfamous and shit so I could unload his first 7" on ebay for a ridiculous amount of money to some suburban retard who's never actually been to NYC, let alone gets Paul's commentary on Ave C.

On second thought, I might just hang onto that record even though it doesn't exactly jump out of my collection to get played often. I was never under the impression that he wasn't completely serious about his work nor did I ever get the impression that he wasn't completely aware of his shortcomings re: flow and voice (as Douglas mentioned above). That makes him much more interesting to listen to then he would be if he came off as thinking he was vocally as interesting as, say, Chuck D.

"Cock Mobster" is a great novelty rap tune, on a par with the best of the Biz or ODB at his clown-iest. Some of his material is weak, but when he's on he's very funny and surprising. So uhm, clud?

"Old Paul" from Paullelujah is pretty excellent - he's looking back on his career as an old man in the future, lamenting his horrible failures, but proud of his bravery.

Great bit:

I thought about this crap as I was shlepping home:
Is it because I went for the laugh?
Because I'm not from the ave?
Because I target the fans that you wish you didn't had?
Did I make a mockery of a culture like the Choco-Taco?
Was I to rap as France was to Morrocco?
Was I colon rap colon France colon Morrocco?

"Old Paul" from Paullelujah is pretty excellent - he's looking back on his career as an old man in the future, lamenting his horrible failures, but proud of his bravery.

Great bit:

I thought about this crap as I was shlepping home:
Is it because I went for the laugh?
Because I'm not from the ave?
Because I target the fans that you wish you didn't had?
Did I make a mockery of a culture like the Choco-Taco?
Was I to rap as France was to Morrocco?
Was I colon rap colon colon France colon Morrocco?