Lyrics Born
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| Lyrics Born | |
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 Lyrics Born.
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Tom Shimura |
| Also known as | Asia Born |
| Born | 1972 in Tokyo, Japan |
| Origin | El Cerrito, Contra Costa County, California, United States |
| Genre(s) | Hip hop Pop Rock Funk |
| Occupation(s) | Radio DJ, MC, Producer, Recording Artist |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals |
| Years active | 1995 – present |
| Label(s) | Quannum Projects, Epitaph Records |
| Associated acts | Quannum Projects Latyrx |
| Website | http://www.lyricsborn.com |
Lyrics Born (formerly known as Asia Born, born Tom Shimura in 1972), is a half-Japanese American, half-Italian American rapper. He is one half of the group Latyrx with Lateef the Truthspeaker.[1]
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[edit] History
Through his childhood, he lived in Tokyo, Japan, Salt Lake City, Utah[2], and Berkeley, California[3], although he moved to Tampa, Florida for four years to attend Henry B. Plant High School.[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 Lateef, Gift of Gab, and Chief Xcel of Blackalicious, DJ Shadow, and Jeff Chang (formerly known as DJ Zen).
Lyrics Born released his first solo LP, Later That Day, in October 2003, which spawned the hit single, "Callin' Out." The album featured guests such as DJ Shadow, Gift of Gab, and his wife Joyo Velarde. In April 2005, he released his second album, Same !@#$ Different Day which was 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, KRS-One, Stereo MCs, Casual of Hieroglyphics, Evidence of Dilated Peoples, and Joyo Velarde. Also in 2005, Born released The Lyrics Born Variety Show: Season One CD, which was essentially an old-school mix tape with remixes and blends of his studio albums and appearances on other songs in addition to new songs.
In 2006 he released The Lyrics Born Variety Show: Season Two CD mixed by DJ Enki.
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).
The 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 studio tracks including the hit song "Knock Knock". The album received a 3.5 out of 5 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.
LB recently released his third mixtape, "The Lyrics Born Variety Show Season Three", which features many notable hip-hop icons such as Chali 2na of Jurassic 5, The Gift of Gab, Lateef The Truthspeaker, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien and Pigeon John. The album was released as a limited edition download available only on his website for only $1.99. This mixtape also features exclusive tracks from his upcoming new album as well as previously unreleased studio tracks.
Lyrics Born released his 3rd studio album, "Everywhere at Once" on April 22nd, 2008 on Epitaph/Anti- Records. The album is the first studio release to feature members of his live band and also features Chali 2na, Joyo Velarde and hip-hop producers Jake One and Trackademicks.
[edit] Appearances in film and television
His song "Callin' Out" was featured in a 2004 Diet Coke television advertisement in the United States featuring actor Adrien Brody, a Motorola commercial, in the video game MLB 2006, and in the movie Waiting.... The song was also #1 on San Francisco's LIVE105 local radio station for 5 weeks. It is the first ever rap song to stay at the #1 spot on that station. This was also the first #1 single for his label, Quannum Projects.
Born appeared in the Justin Lin film, Finishing The Game, playing the owner of a Chinese restaurant, JM.
Born has been featured on MTV, E!, MySpace, and appeared on Australia's TRL on MTV, G4's Attack of the Show, DangerousTV, and FearlessmusicTV. He also performed at Lollapalooza, Good Vibes, Bonnaroo Music Festival, Langerado, and Coachella, and has done shows for Puma, adidas, Diesel, Evisu, and EA Games.
His music has also appeared in the films Collateral and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift as well as the television shows, Entourage, Gilmore Girls, Six Feet Under, Gossip Girl and Life with Brian, along with the video games NBA2K6 and Tony Hawk's Proving Ground.
Lyrics Born's first National American Television appearance was on September 6th, 2007 when he appeared on Jimmy Kimmel LIVE with the New Orleans funk, jam band, Galactic and singer Joyo Velarde.
His song "Pack Up (Remix) Ft. KRS-One & Evidence" features in Tony Hawk's Proving Ground
[edit] 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 Ice Cube 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.
Lyrics Born has collaborated with many artists including DJ Shadow, 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., The Altered Egos, 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 Pigeon John on Quannum Projects, Pigeon John and the Summertime Pool Party, which was released in 2006. He is also producing the debut album from Joyo Velarde and releasing his fourth album on Epitaph Records in conjunction with his own Quannum Projects.
[edit] Discography
[edit] 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)
[edit] 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, Epitaph Records
[edit] Production credits
- "Quannum Spectrum", Quannum Projects
- "Poets of Rhythm 'Discern/Define'", Quannum Projects
- "R.L. Burnside 'A Bothered Mind'", Fat Possum
- "Pigeon John 'and the Summertime Pool Party'", Quannum Projects
- "Joyo Velarde 'Love and Understanding'", Quannum Projects
[edit] References
- ^ DaRonco, Mike (2008). Lyrics Born - Biography. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2008-05-09.
- ^ "New Music: Lyrics Born, Billy Bragg and More", National Public Radio, 2008-04-22. Retrieved on 2008-05-09.
- ^ Patel, Joseph (2003-11-18). Lyrics Born. You Hear It First. MTV News. Retrieved on 2005-02-05.
- ^ New CD releases from Robyn, Mostly Bears and Lyrics Born. Creative Loafing Tampa (2008-05-07). Retrieved on 2008-05-09.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Lyrics Born at MySpace
- Lyrics Born at the Internet Movie Database
- Quannum Projects
- Lyrics Born Official Street Team at MySpace
- Interview with Lyrics Born at MTV.com
- Nichi Bei Times Interview
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