Biography
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Born
30 October 1974 (age 49)
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Born In
Ridgewood, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States
Paul Barman grew up in the suburban splendor of Ridgewood, New Jersey. Even as a child he dreamed of being an architect of dialect. During a summer camp field trip, Paul purchased the Dead Kennedys' Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death and De La Soul's Three Feet High and Rising. These tapes flipped his five-sided cage upside down. The roof became the floor, and the new roof was open.
Years later, when he heard the combination of Wu-Tang's intense wordplay and Ol' Dirty Bastard's exuberant energy, Paul's sketchbooks began to go from drawings to lyrics.
In 1998, Househusband Records released Postgraduate Work, Paul's self-produced 7". It included the dusted, yet intelligent, "Enter Pan-Man" about a slimy recent college graduate who gets horn and hoof implants to become a marginal star, eventually retiring to Westchester as a bad dad with arthritis.
"Enter Pan-Man" caught the ears of left-field hip-hop producer Prince Paul, who offered Barman the chance to work with him on a project. The result of their collaboration, It's Very Stimulating (Wordsound, 2000), introduced Paul to the public sphere as a heavy lyricist, rhyming about school, politics, and comedic sexcapades. The 6-track EP contained gems such as "My Dandy Voice makes even the most anti-choice grannies' panties moist." "The Joy of Your World" ends with the protagonist unwrapping a gold coin condom only to find chocolate Chanukah gelt. Until it became too expensive, Paul threw the gold foil mixture of coins and condoms into the audience. Rolling Stone gave it four stars and named it one of their Best Albums of Year. Wordsound allowed him to parody the original album cover for its second pressing.
After Matador released the 12", How Hard is That, produced by PM Dawn, Paul cameoed on Deltron 3030 (75 Ark), Mr. Dead's Metabolics (Wordsound), Masta Ace's Disposable Arts (Jcor), and Cubismo Graphico's remix album (Escalator). Paul has toured with Del the Funkee Homosapien, Blackalicious, and Dalek.
Barman released his first full length album Paullelujah! in 2002 on the Coup d'État record label with production from MikeTheMusicGuy, Prince Paul, MF DOOM, Phofo, Dan Prothero, and Barman himself.
Memory Man and Paul released a mixtape of live, new and archival tracks called Buck Moon Kaboom: The Mixtape in 2008.
In 2009 Thought Balloon Mushroom Cloud was released on Househusband Records, and featured production from Memory Man, Casual-T, MF DOOM, Prince Paul, Phofo, Michel Gondry, Mofo Snot,
?uestlove, and James Poyser.
In 2018, he released (((Echo Chamber))), his first studio album since 2009's Thought Balloon Mushroom Cloud, via Mello Music Group. It included productions from MF Doom, ?uestlove, and Mark Ronson, as well as guest appearances from Open Mike Eagle and Masta Ace.
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