A totally real picture of Grip Grand (R) and Seprock (L) in the lab

Captain vs. Frogman Remix

By Grip Grand and Seprock/Prod. by Grip Grand (with Seprock)

Now for sure THIS shit has never been released. “Captain vs. Frogman” is the first rap song I ever produced, and (not counting the pause tape experiments of my youth) it is also the second song on which I appeared as Grip Grand. It was created under the wise tutelage of my man Seprock, who taught me how to use the Force (and also loaned me his sampler and four-track tape machine to hook this beat up). Mixed and recorded (if I recall) in Portland, OR, at the Space Age Bachelor Pad (aka my apartment on Powell, across the street from Plaid Pantry).

The original version of this song had some Captain Kirk Star Trek samples on the intro, as well a sort of children’s record interlude featuring the funky-voiced Frogman. From these random tidbits came the title, but eventually I flipped the beat into what you hear now, aka the “Remix”…it would seem that the KRS-One sample is a sly dig at my own earlier efforts.

At the time (‘97-’98), me and Sep were all high on the early Fondle ‘Em Records singles by MF Doom and Company Flow, and those influences are apparent in the drum programming, the wacky wordplay, and the unabashedly homemade quality of it all. But you gotta start somewhere. And this, dear readers, is where I started. Enjoy.

Cooler than Canada,

Grip Grand

Fun fact: My last few lines were freestyled…Sep and I were going back and forth, and instead of letting him finish the song, I just kept rapping past my last four and closed it out off the top (sorry, Sep). You can hear him chuckle in response at the end. Wooooord life.