MCMrNapkins's video: Stage Name

Written & performed by Zach Sherwin Beat by Soce the Elemental Wizard (www.socetew.com) Directed by Ian Brownell Animation by Sasha Goldberg (www.sashagoldberg.com) Recorded & mixed by Upryz (www.upryz.com) "STAGE NAME" If a rocket tried to launch on its own, it couldn't do it It's propelled into orbit by boosters attached to it These are called "stages," and when their fuel's exhausted, The rocket keeps going, but the stage falls off it. Now I need your attention like a tourist attraction Cause I'm making an announcement like, "Folks, it's the captain," As of now it's official: like a stage disattachin', I am finished with the stage name "MC Mr. Napkins." CHORUS Look, I needed that name to rock the stage At an earlier stage of my career But now it's like a used-up stage on a rocket ship, And it's time to let it fall away and disappear My stage name, my stage name I'm saying goodbye to my stage name I will keep writing rhymes hot enough to set the page aflame But I'm saying goodbye to my stage name When I began performing in my old Cambridge, Massachusetts haunts, I had all these gimmicks, bells and whistles, and accoutrements A huge curly ponytail, voluminous locks A special coat, a bandanna, And the old schoolest, boomin'-est box With which I'd play my instrumentals and tracks I would rap wearing batting gloves with N's on the back These props helped me stand out, And they got me in character Would rapping have been scarier without all that there? For sure. But as time passed, and the stage fright receded I dropped the props -- they were no longer quite needed And that's how the name feels now. I'm not mad that I had it I've just outgrown it, and I'm ready to shed it and move past it Cause at best it feels neutral, But at worst I feel it makes people dismiss me As another wacky comedy rap goofball And on the one hand, who cares? But on the other, let's be honest It's provoked some negative responses Like when a club booker said she "hated it" Or when my friend asked me to open a show But then the promoter said "no" When my friend told him about my alias Or how I felt a painful, shameful twinge When my uncle, who I love, Said that when he heard the name it made him cringe. That sucked. It stung and troubled me But I didn't buckle or knuckle under I stuck to my guns stubbornly They couldn't make me quit or fire me I'm retiring the name and this decision's mine entirely So look up in the sky and see me flyin' even higher. Desist from rappin'? That's not a thing I wish to happen, it's the passion Don't think the rocket ship's a-crashin' I'm just forging forward as Zach Sherwin, not MC Mr. Napkins CHORUS My stage name, my stage name I'm saying goodbye to my stage name (x3) I will never stop the hip-hop That will always stay the same But I'm saying goodbye to my stage name. I had to switchitup, of that fact I became certain And I can feel my rocket's crackly flame burnin' I used to be the Mr. Napkins-renamed person Now I'm just Zachary James Sherwin.