BLIP SINGLE #2: Breaking Down in Real Time (feat. Open Mike Eagle)

BDIRT (feat. OME) is out now!!!

Breaking Down in Real Time, the second single from BLIP with The Expert, is available everywhere! To be honest, I still can’t believe Open Mike Eagle is on this song…more on that below (+ lyrics). But first, stream BDIRT now at the link below.

One Day We’ll All BDIRT

(A Tape Called) Component System with the Auto Reverse was by far my favorite album of 2022. Open Mike Eagle was already on my indie rap Mount Rushmore, but CSWTAR put him firmly in the top spot by late 2022. So when The Expert asked me who I would pick if I could have anyone feature on BLIP, I knew the answer was OME.

Luckily, The Expert is far less afflicted with impostor syndrome than I am. He convinced me that the rap world is much smaller than it seems and that, if the right song presents itself, we should try to get in touch. Well, a song came, a mutual connection made an intro, and now I’m on a song with one of my absolute favorite MCs. Who’da thunk it?

Breaking Down In Real Time is about aging, the temporary nature of a functioning body, and the somewhat strange beauty of it all. What I love most about OME’s guest verse is the way it pulls my philosophizing back down to Earth—half a response and half an elaboration by someone a little bit older and a lot of bit wiser.

This beat is the first of many you’ll hear on BLIP that really takes you on a journey. It’s also the first one I pressed play on and thought, holy shit, who IS this guy?

Enjoy the ride, and maybe consider stretching first.

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Breaking Down in Real Time Lyrics

[NAHreally]
In the middle of a bite of pizza I noticed my teeth
Aren’t exactly what they used to be.
Don’t get me wrong they get the job done fine,
But years of mid-slumber clenching and grinding
Have rendered them slightly less sharp.
I’m painfully reminded that I’m just body parts
That are bound to break down ’cause the ticket’s one way—
Equipment rented out for an indefinite stay.
My ankles creak, and my left pinky’s bent.
Wrinkles and scars and muscles that tense
From once-fluid movements now risky to try.
Grays on my scalp fill bags under my eyes.
The weight of existence, the price of admission,
The bitter result of a taste so delicious.
I’m breaking down in real time, it’s hard to ignore.
But the dying is the living, and it’s what I’m here for.

Said, I’m breaking down in real time, it’s hard to ignore.
But the dying is the living, and it’s what I’m here for.
Yo, the weight of existence is the price of admission—
The bitter result of a taste so delicious.
Said, I’m breaking down in real time, it’s hard to ignore.
But the dying is the living, and it’s what I’m here for.
Yo, the weight of existence is the price of admission—
The bitter result of a taste so delicious.

[Open Mike Eagle]
There are also highlights. My baby boy is almost my height.
I saw Where’s Waldo in Highlights magazine.
I’d like to thank the academy.
I should have made more people mad at me.
I trained in 1.5 times gravity
To drive past fries and a burger. The invention of the eye implies an observer.
I’ve got a favorite burner on the stove.
No more Fat Burger on the go.
Go clean the garage, son. I’ve got a semi-auto massage gun;
My lower lumbar is not fun.
I’m searching for the enemy. I’m searching for the purpose of a memory.
I’m searching for something to feel certain.
I don’t know if this room needs curtains
Or what tool removes these circuits.
What’s it all for? To record our experience.
Why so serious? Get old but please stay curious.

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BLIP drops everywhere on March 29th via Rucksack Records, and pre-orders are available now on Bandcamp.

Look out for our next single in March. In the meantime, be sure to stream (and maybe even tell a friend or five about) Breaking Down in Real Time and Smarter Than I Am.

Love,
NAHreally