Lyrics Born
(formerly known as Asia Born
, born Tom Shimura
in 1972), is an Asian/American rapper. He is one half of the group Latyrx with Lateef the Truthspeaker. [1]
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LYRICS BORN TICKETS
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History
Through his childhood, he lived in
Tokyo,
Japan,
Salt Lake City,
Utah [2], and
Berkeley, California [3].
He graduated from St. Mary's High School, located in Berkeley California in 1990.
[4]
He began his
hip hop career while at college at
University of California, Davis, where he was a DJ at the college station
KDVS. He is a founding member of the seminal, independent record label,
Quannum Projects. Born came up with fellow Bay Area and UC Davis companions
Gift of Gab, and
Chief Xcel of
Blackalicious, Lateef the Truthspeaker,
DJ Shadow, Joseph Patel, and
Jeff Chang (formerly known as DJ Zen).
He changed his stage name from Asia Born to Lyrics Born in 1995 citing the desire to have his career based on his merits as opposed to his race.
[5]
Career
In 1993, Lyrics Born released his first single "Send Them", under the moniker "Asia Born", on the independent record label
Solesides. Years later Solesides was disbanded and reformed as the current
Quannum Projects label.
Lyrics Born released his first solo LP on Quannum Projects,
Later That Day
, in October 2003, which spawned the hit single, "Callin' Out". The album features guests such as
Cut Chemist of
Jurassic 5,
Gift of Gab, Lateef the Truthspeaker and Born's wife
Joyo Velarde.
In April 2005, he released a remix album,
Same !@#$ Different Day
which was again released on his own Quannum Projects label. The album features remixes of five songs from
Later That Day
along with a number of new tracks which feature guests such as Bay Area legend
E-40, hip-hop icon
KRS-One,
Stereo MCs,
Casual of
Hieroglyphics, Evidence of
Dilated Peoples,
DJ Shadow and Joyo Velarde. Also in 2005, Born released
The Lyrics Born Variety Show: Season One
CD, which was essentially an old-school mix tape vibe with remixes and blends of his studio albums as well as guest appearances on other artist's songs in addition to exclusive tracks.
He has toured relentlessly for years in
North America,
South America,
Australia,
Europe and
Japan and averages 150 shows per year.
Early in 2005, Lyrics Born replaced his usual DJ,
D-Sharp with a live band. The original band consisted of versed Bay Area musicians
Kevin Choice (keys, vox),
B'nai Rebelfront (guitar, vox),
Darius Minaee (drums) and
Uriah Duffy (bass, vox). Over the years the line-up has also consisted of other various musicians including bassist Marcus Phillips, drummer Thomas McCreary and keyboardists
Mike Blankenship (
Lauryn Hill) and
Kat Ouano of fellow Bay Area group
Crown City Rockers.
In 2006, he released
The Lyrics Born Variety Show: Season Two
CD mixed by
DJ Enki, comprised once again of remixes, guest appearances, collaborations and exclusive material.
Lyrics Born's first live album
Overnite Encore: Lyrics Born LIVE
was released on
October 31,
2006. It was recorded in
Australia and features half of the album from Sydney and the other half from Melbourne. The album is a live set featuring his backing band, as well as three new bonus studio tracks including the hit song "Knock Knock".
The album received a 3.5 out of 4 star review in
Rolling Stone
magazine and featured artists such as
Mistah F.A.B.,
Del tha Funkee Homosapien,
Pigeon John and
Tim "Herb" Alexander of
Primus. The CD was the first live album to be released by Quannum Projects.
His third mixtape, "The Lyrics Born Variety Show Season Three", featuring guest appearances by
Chali 2na of
Jurassic 5,
The Gift of Gab,
Lateef the Truthspeaker, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien,
Joyo Velarde,
Jake One,
Pigeon John and more, was released in February 2008. The album was first released as a limited edition download available only on his website for $1.99. The mixtape featured exclusive tracks from his then upcoming new album, "Everywhere at Once", as well as previously unreleased studio tracks.
Lyrics Born released his 2nd full length studio album, "Everywhere at Once" on April 22, 2008 on Epitaph/Anti- Records. The album is the MC/Producer's first studio release to integrate members of his live band instead of primarily sample-based loops. The record also features
Chali 2na of
Jurassic 5,
Joyo Velarde,
C-Holiday,
DJ D-Sharp,
Myron Glasper and hip-hop producers
Jake One and
Trackademicks who co-produced some of the album's tracks. The executive producer was Lyrics Born himself.
The album spawned a video for the hit single, "I Like It, I Love It" which features the MC in various character costumes including
Merlin the Wizard, Army Soldiers,
Mr. T and more. The video was directed by Neon and was featured on
MTVU, Australia's
RAGE}} and Myspace. The song itself was featured in the 2009 remake of the movie,
Friday the 13th
, which was #1 at the box office its first week out.
Other singles off the album that followed were "Hott 2 Deff", "Differences", "Top Shelf" and "Whispers", the latter of which also spawned a music video showcasing images of the MC's late friend, Benjamin "Mack B-Dog" Davis (whom the song was written about) intercut with performance footage of Lyrics Born. The video was directed by HKL Films and included in Pitchfork.com's top videos of 2008.
Everywhere at Once
was the most downloaded hip-hop album of the week on
iTunes in its second week out.
In March of 2009 Lyrics Born released "Funky Hit Records", the first single off of his forthcoming new album, 'As U Were'. The track was released on the internet as a free download to fans and was quickly picked up by Australia's Triple J Radio who began to play the song on air. Similar instances happened in the US when KEXP in Seattle began playing the track as well.
The Lyrics Born/
Trackademicks-produced song's launch included a music video which was featured on YouTube, gaining nearly 250,000 views to date.
Riding the momentum of the song's buzz, the track was worked to college radio where it ended up at #1 on both RapAttack and RapNetwork charts.
Lyrics Born is currently set to release a fourth mixtape in his hit franchise, 'The Lyrics Born Variety Show', featuring collaborations, remixes, exclusives and special guests. The mixtape is being released via Born's own Mobile Home Recordings in conjunction with
VTech. The mixtape's release date is July 7th, 2009 and features artists such as
Kasabian,
Soulico,
Dosmoccos,
Joyo Velarde,
J-Boogie and more.
Coinciding with the mixtape release is a new single and music video for the
Latyrx reunion track, "Pushed Aside, Pulled Apart". The track features Lateef the Truthspeaker while the video is being directed by Ra LaMotta from
ApSci.
[6]
Voiceover
In the fall of 2008 Lyrics Born became the voice over announcer for
Cartoon Network's new Friday night franchise, 'You Are Here'. The MC currently voices bumpers for
Star Wars: The Clone Wars,
Batman,
Secret Saturdays,
Ben 10 Alien Force and more.
In 2009 the vocalist was featured as part of an exclusive radio ad campaign for the
California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, CA.
Style
Lyrics Born's rhymes showcase a large vocabulary, deployed via regular use of complex rhyming technique, such as
phonemes and
internal rhyme. His style, which is influenced by groups like
Sugar Hill Gang and is often conversational and observant. Songs such as "Before and After" explore the subtleties of day-to-day human relations while "The Last Trumpet" (with Lateef) features a very politically charged and globally conscious mindset.
Collaborations
Lyrics Born has
collaborated with many artists including Kasabian, Galactic, DJ Shadow, The Bamboos, Soulico, Dosmoccos, Blackalicious,
Jurassic 5,
DJ Z-Trip (on the 2005 song "The Get Down"),
Diverse (on the song "Explosive"),
Tommy Guerrero,
R. L. Burnside (on the song "Someday Baby"),
Morcheeba,
Zion I,
Mistah F.A.B. and
Pigeon John.
He was instrumental in the signing of Pigeon John to Quannum in 2005 and executive produced and A&R'd the first album from the Los Angeles-based rapper on Quannum Projects,
Pigeon John and the Summertime Pool Party
, which was released in 2006. He has produced the debut album from Joyo Velarde and is currently working on his forthcoming record, 'As U Were', due in the first quarter of 2010.
[7]
Discography
LPs
- Later That Day
(2003, Quannum Projects)
- Lyrics Born Variety Show Season One
(2005, Mobile Home Recordings)
- Same !@#$ Different Day
(2005, Quannum Projects)
- Lyrics Born Variety Show Season Two
(2006, Mobile Home Recordings)
- Overnite Encore: Lyrics Born Live
(2006, Quannum Projects)
- Lyrics Born Variety Show Season Three
(2008, Mobile Home Recordings)
- Everywhere at Once
(2008, Epitaph Records)
- Lyrics Born Variety Show Season Four
(2009 Mobile Home Recordings)
- As U Were
(2010)
Singles
- "Burnt Pride", Solesides
- "Balcony Beach", Solesides
- "Hello" b/w "One Session", Quannum Projects
- "Callin' Out", Quannum Projects
- "Callin' Out Remix" b/w "Do That There Remix", Quannum Projects
- "I'm Just Raw" b/w "Pack Up Remix", Quannum Projects
- "I Like It, I Love It", 2008, Anti- Records
- "Differences", 2008, Anti- Records
- "Hott 2 Deff", 2008, Anti- Records
- "Whispers", 2008, Anti- Records
- "Funky Hit Records", 2009, Mobile Home Recordings
- "Pushed Aside, Pulled Apart", 2009, Mobile Home Recordings
Production credits
- "Latyrx: The Album", Quannum Projects
- "Quannum Spectrum", Quannum Projects
- "Poets of Rhythm 'Discern/Define'", Quannum Projects
- "Later That Day", Quannum Projects
- "Same !@#$ Different Day", Quannum Projects
- "R.L. Burnside 'A Bothered Mind'", Fat Possum
- "Overnite Encore: Lyrics Born LIVE!", Quannum Projects
- "Pigeon John 'and the Summertime Pool Party'", Quannum Projects
- "Everywhere At Once", Anti- Records
- "Joyo Velarde 'Love and Understanding'", Quannum Projects
References
- Lyrics Born - Biography
- New Music: Lyrics Born, Billy Bragg and More
- Lyrics Born
- New CD releases from Robyn, Mostly Bears and Lyrics Born
- NPR interview with Lyrics Born
- LyricsBorn.com
- Face2Face with Lyrics Born