How Hard Is That? July 11, 2000

“A hip-hop Blazing Saddles with Paul Barman as Cleavon Little and Prince Paul as Gene Wilder.” — Rolling Stone

MC Paul Barman tries to be sensitive about race, but the ivy league/suburban rap shtick makes that impossible. His first narrative, “Enter Pan-man,” a song about a flailing Evergreen graduate who gets horn and hoof implants to become a club star and disappointment to his dad caught the ear of Prince Paul in 1998. They got together and put out the sex-heavy and intensely lyrical “It’s Very Simulating” EP on WordSound Records in early 2000 which flies out of the stores. His gigging schedule is underway, supporting acts like Kool Keith and Del the Funkee Homosapien.

Jay-Z defined the four elements of rapping as N.O.D.S., a song any successful rap tune should produce. N. for Narrative is one of Barman’s strong points. “I’m Fricking Awesome” (from “It’s Very Stimulating”) is from the viewpoint of an intelligent young woman named Autumn on the prowl roaming Manhattan’s upper-middle class townhouses and art museums. O. is for Originality. Whether or not Paul is original can be gauged by watching first-time listeners freak out when they hear his songs. D. is for Delivery. Paul’s is okay. He gets away with murder when people say his strain to stay on beat is simply another manifestation of the nerd persona. Lastly, S. is style. Paul has none. To say, “well, an anti-style is still a style,” is a cop-out.

Paul’s new 12" “How Hard Is That?” will be out July 11, with BM Spawn — er, PM Dawn — providing the beats. Lyrics available on request. There will be a new 12" in September, along with a CDEP compiling them both, along with some new material. Also check out www.mcpaulbarman.com for innumerable treats.