MC Paul Barman remains one of the most enigmatic figures in hip hop over the last twenty years. He pops up in 2000 to deliver his debut EP, It’s All Very Stimulating, produced entirely by Prince Paul. He followed that up with his debut album in 2002, garnering some critical praise, but then disappeared for seven years before finally coming back with his sophomore album. He once again garnered a lot of praise, and worked with such individuals as ?uestlove, MF DOOM, Del the Funky Homosapien, and Michel Gondry. Then it was back to hibernation, only to re-emerge with his third album nine years later, (((echo chamber))).

It’s not just the way he disappears and re-emerges with new music, MC Paul Barman is just one of the strangest and most unique artists in hip hop over the course of his career. His style, from his flow to his sense of humor, are so unusual that he throws as many people for a loop as he impresses. Combining that with the length of time he takes in between projects, and that leaves this combination of die hard fans and a mix of confused and intrigued listeners with each album that he drops. This is all to say that there are die hard fans that were all ready to declare this album genius, and there will be another group that won’t know what to do with him. For those of you who might be in between and at least intrigued by what you’re hearing, let’s break down Barman’s latest album. (((echo chamber))) has these hints in the liner notes that there might be pop-friendly, with production coming from ?uestlove, Mark Ronson, and Prince Paul, but it’s really the situation that these artists are using this situation as an excuse to get weird with it, and join in the fun with the beats that MF DOOM, Memory Man, and Kenny Segal are throwing down, with free jazz, psychedelic rock, classical, hard rock, and novelty samples are all being put in the blender and used to season the hip hop base that ties the album together. It’s an incredibly dense and ADD album that can frustrate you at first, since it’s not simply just going to hit the groove and deliver some straightforward verse-chorus-verse, easy to digest pop music. On top of that, MC Paul Barman isn’t one to sit back in the pocket of a groove and deliver some smooth rhymes, either. He has developed a peculiar style over the years where he moves between just talking to kind of a spoken word performance to rapping, and then back again, but you’re never quite sure where you are with things until he gets going, and by that point he might have moved on to the next portion of the song with a different delivery. It’s especially interesting, because he can really spit, as demonstrated at several different points across the album, but he’s coming up with these rhythmic patterns with his flow that play against the beats in really unexpected ways. To top things off, he’s just as interesting as a lyricist, where he can move from a nervous, nerdy guy with an absurd sense of humor at one minute, to opening up some deep and important topical conversations the next. This means you can listen to a song like “Oh Snap,” and you might think you get it, he’s just kind of silly, but then if you listen to a song like “YOUNGMAN speaks on (((race))),” which opens with the line, “Race is a fake idea with real consequences,” you quickly realize there’s another side to him, and it’s time to sit down and get into the nitty gritty as Barman breaks down the weird, harmful history of “whiteness” in the U.S. It can sound a little all over the place at times, but it ultimately all makes sense when you spend some quality time with it and let everything sink in.

(((echo chamber))) won’t be for everyone, but for those willing to take a chance on something different, you’ll be greatly rewarded. Who knows when we’ll hear from MC Paul Barman again, so let’s appreciate the ways he’s able to challenge us and our expectations as he’s gives us a lot to digest on this album.