February 20, 2018

MC Paul Barman – “((( leapfrog )))”

Brand new MCPB, produced by Memory Man.

I wrote ((( leapfrog ))) in one subway trip last summer. Was imagining stacking rhymes on top of each other, overlapping the last word of a line in the Left channel with the first word of a line in the Right channel. Then varying the lengths of those lines, and the size of the stacks, in addition to the regular rhymes. But when I tracked it at Dove’s, the punch-in’s required killed the vibe. So I just ran through it like a demo and didn’t think too too much about it. Then Memory Man demanded the a cappella and banged out this mix.

Mello was like, “Let me have it.” I was like, “Word? I have so many other songs, more timely, more quotable, more capable of disputing nerd status. And have you heard the demos from my brother YOUNGMAN? I feel like it’s his time, not mine.” But Mello insisted. I guess they feel how I do about a daily dose of word following.

So I got the honor of working with Noah Norman to make the cover. I sent him sketches and told him these were the two key lyrics:

1: “There’s always something new under the sun / No one does it like you so it’s never been done”

2: “When you have A.D.D., superlyricism is something to concentrate on / everything else is too easy / you trace the flows’ progress like a little dot / it rewires / requires your brain / keeps a unique log”

So Noah created the cover image, a single line drawn in a spiral, using code and his pen robot. Evocative of a groove in a record that cuts through the label and stops at the 45 spindle adapter.

Every day we must leapfrog our own abilities, perspectives, and achievements, and need a team to do it. * Boyoiyoing *

Lyrics

Lyrical leapfrog put you in a deep fog / asleep cog in the wheel / steal like a cheap dog / reblog all you want / I’ll kick a new style / true guile to do miles of damage while you manage to step in a doodoo pile / I got so many rhymes, they need to overlap / clover sap at the root to pick my own luck / struck by the thought that my label’s shoulder tap / older rap is newer / if you know what I mean / I hold a map in my headphones / rock stereo / there we go where we know / fairy grow barely no / hairy oh cherry blow / spare me tho / there’s always something new under the sun / no one does it like you so it’s never been done / When I break new ground / take you down / quake through surroundings / crash land on a snare / cash band / pluck a bassline / twayang twang / face flying / mash hand / gas gland / plcccch / old styles trashcanned / yass man first line is second line like a brass band / last stand echo / how’d techno get so let low? two in one
/ new and fun for the lyrical leapfrog / precognition / wishing for recognition in two ways: clarity and mega-high-fives / when you have a.d.d., superlyricism is something to concentrate on / everything else is too easy / you trace the flows’ progress like a little dot / it rewires / requires your brain / keeps a unique log / seek opportunities to go hard as possible / obstacles include insecurity and bad habits and autocorrect / not so as checked / sometimes I’m mad (sad) I’m sad (bad) / I second that emotion / it’s called a secondary emotion / elementary notion / confusion fusion / cut through illusion delusion / intrusive thoughts / elusive slots / tandem / two things at once / I wish an Irish Sheepdog would arrive with cheap grog / people sleep like a log on me like a treefrog in a peat bog / “I plot a message in a mess of pottage”

We’re bugs. Beer suds. On a giant keg. Fear chugs. Iron egg. Near duds. It’s clear cuz that we’re ants. Mere plants. Deer ticks. Fear tricks. Weird mix. Lyrics. We’re barely soot sprites. Good night.