Be nice to Paul

>> >> MC Paul Barman hopes that Montreal is not a mean place

by SCOTT C

These days everybody wants to be an MC. I mean, it's not a crime or anything, and just about anybody could do it. You just have to be prepared to hold it down, good or bad. You've got to be able to work with what you have and burn your essence into the souls of others, and it's got to be original.

MC Paul Barman is not your average MC, and I don't think he could be if he tried. The 25-year-old Ridgewood, New Jersey native attended Brown University where he began rhyming in 1996, and somewhere along the way managed to snag the attention of supa-producer Prince Paul, who most recently produced Barman's first full-length called It's Very Stimulating. The crazy verbal antics of this guy cross somewhere along the lines of Woody Allen meets Nas, and it just get crazier from there. I spoke to master Paul amidst phone trouble from NYC.

Paul Barman: Are Montreal crowds happy or mean?

Mirror: It depends, man. Why? Do you have different shows for both mean and happy audiences?

PB: No, it's basically the same show, only the mean people show is much, much shorter.

M: Really. Have you dealt with a lot of ill audiences?

PB: Not really, but sometimes when people don't really know what to expect they can be cruel.

M: I don't know what to say, man. I don't think your album has really broke here, and most people you'd talk to wouldn't know who the hell you were--but that doesn't mean the crowd is going to boo you off the stage. People don't know enough about you to really dismiss you.

PB: Did I get a good venue?

M: Yeah. The place is brand new and holds about 1,000 people. It's gonna be packed. So Prince Paul produced your whole record?

PB: Yep. But there's some beats on there that would have sounded a lot better with somebody else rhyming on them. I could think of other MCs who would've have done them justice.

M: Like who? If you're going to replace yourself on a track with another MC, who's it going to be?

PB: Like, I think Nas could have ripped some of the beats that Paul gave me much better than I did.

M: Really.

PB: Have you heard my song "Salvation Barmy"?

M: Nope.

PB: Mind if I whip off a few verses over the phone?

M: Be my guest.

(What followed was a violent eruption of static and long-distance farting on the conference phone patch. Barman's rhymes were lost.)

M: Whoa!

PB: Is that your line or mine?

M: I don't know, man, but the phone seems to be reacting to your lyrics. You still haven't told me how you managed to get Prince Paul to produce your entire record. How the hell did you do that? Did you just call him up and say, "Hey! My name's Paul too! Can I have some beats?"

PB: Basically.

M: Cost you a pretty penny though, right?

PB: Luckily, I'm rich. :

With Prince Paul and Notorious W.I.G and Luv at Club Soda on Wednesday, July 5, midnight, $16.50