Lyrics Born
Top-selling, fan-favorite independent hip-hop artist releases his fourth solo album
"Everywhere At Once" on April 22, 2008
One of the most critically acclaimed and best-selling independent hip-hop artists of this era, Lyrics Born has sold more than a million copies of his records. He is one of the most licensed rap artists in the world. He recently made his big-screen acting debut. He still makes decisions at his label, Quannum Projects. And while recording, he still averages over 150 sold-out shows a year.
"Everything is kinda happening all at once all the time. You're kinda being bombarded," says hip-hop's premier multi-tasker. "The challenge for me is this: How can I keep myself inspired and entertained? How can I go in different directions yet still be entertaining to more people than before?"
Everywhere At Once, his fourth solo album, is not just Lyrics Born's fourth solo album's title, it's an answer to all of his questions.
In an age of narrowcasting and niche marketing, the new record reflects LB's determination to follow his own muse wherever it will lead him. "I stuck to my guns," he says on the trunk-busting opener, "Don't Change". "I'm about the funk." Everywhere At Once reveals the full breadth and depth of that Bay-Area dripped funk: minimalist grooves, reimagined electro, devoluted punk, futurist dancehall, postmodern blues, tomorrow's slappers.
He's not interested in the limits set by the market or even his past triumphs. "I get bored really easily. I just can't write the same song over and over again," he says. "Maybe it's the tradition that I came up in, the crew I came up with, maybe it's where I'm from, maybe it's just who I am. And frankly, I think the music needs that. People need that."
Everywhere At Once leads off with a brace of crowd-pleasers. "Hott 2 Deff", "Differences", and "Cakewalk" feature guest work from Jurassic 5's Chali 2na, Baby James, B'nai, Myron Glasper, Jake One, Amp Live, Trackademicks, and LB's brilliant partner, Joyo Velarde. Kat Ouano from Crown City Rockers, C. Holiday, and The Count are also featured.
To move away from the drudgery of sample-based production and the risk of legal clearances, LB changed his method for this record. "I was doing the same type of thing, sitting here hitting these pads, trying to pitch this sample," he says. "I like working with people and I'm more effective in the studio with musicians, directing traffic, organizing and putting the tracks together. As a result, the sound is much different. It's bigger, it's more hi-fi."
Although soul-baring songs have marked Lyrics Born's career—think his 1996 hit, "Balcony Beach" or 2000's smash, "I Changed My Mind"—Everywhere At Once is also his most personal record to date. Songs like "Whispers" and "Skin I'm In", he admits, are his attempts to come to grips with the passing of his best friend Benjamin Davis and his identity issues growing up Asian American, respectively. "I don't think that people know a whole lot about my personal experience," he says. "And as a people, Asian Americans are kind of like background music in this country. These are parts of my experiences so I just wanted to talk about it." The album reveals much about one of the most beloved artists in the game.
From his debut at San Francisco's The Stone in 1992 to his festival performances at Coachella, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Vegoose, Langerado, and Australia's Good Vibrations Festival, Lyrics Born has been a draw. His 1997 debut with Lateef the Truth Speaker, Latyrx, sold 100,000 for his ground-breaking indie label, SoleSides. When the label was reborn as Quannum Projects, the album he helmed, Quannum Spectrum, yielded him an international hit with "I Changed My Mind".
His breakthrough solo debut, Later That Day, was a day-in-the-struggle concept album, and one of the most critically acclaimed hip-hop records of 2003, alongside Jay-Z's The Black Album and Outkast's Love Below/Speakerboxxx. "Callin' Out" scored a monster crossover, lodging at #1 at the influential rock station LIVE 105 for 5 weeks. Same !@#$ Different Day collected new tracks and alternate versions of tracks and became Quannum Projects' fastest seller. Overnite Encore captured the excitement and intensity of LB's live show, and produced another chart-topper, "I'm Just Raw".
Lyrics Born is one of the most licensed hip-hop artists, with placements on Diet Coke, Motorola, and Vans commercials, TV shows such as "Entourage", "Six Feet Under", "What About Brian", "Gossip Girl", and "Gilmore Girls", films like Michael Mann's "Collateral" and Justin Lin's "Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift", and videogames by EA Sports, 2K Sports and Atari. He has had sponsorships with Puma, Adidas, Diesel, and Evisu.
In 2007, he collaborated with Galactic and RJD2, and joined fellow Quannum heads Gift of Gab and Lateef and Headnodic of the Crown City Rockers in a side project called the Mighty Underdogs. LB also made a scene-stealing appearance in Justin Lin's Sundance movie Finishing The Game. He recently finished production on Joyo Velarde's anticipated debut, Love And Understanding. They will be heading out on tour, one of their favorite places to be. His next project, Lyrics Born says, is putting together a James Brown-styled revue, featuring other musicians, comedians, entertainers, and more.
"I came up in a tradition where you made records, then you toured," he says. "I like seeing people having a good time. That's how I feel like I'm moving forward, that things are in motion. I'm a performer—it's part of who I am."
