Lyrics Born has several impressive resume bullet points: “First ever Asian astronaut,” “Rode a mastodon out Jurassic Park,” “Won a tug-of-war with a minotaur” and “Toured the far north on a Portuguese man o’ war.”
Even with all of these achievements he has remained true to his fans over the years and promises to always “kill it” during his live shows. We will be in the Crown Room of Crystal Bay Casino on May 18 to ensure LB keeps his word.
It all began at UC Davis in 1991 when Tom Shimura (Lyrics Born), Josh Davis (DJ Shadow), Xavier Mosley (Chief Xcel) and Joseph Patel (Jazzbo) formed Solesides. An epic meeting of minds known as Quannum Projects have produced some of the greatest hip-hop artists and groups: DJ Shadow, Chief Xcel, Gift of Gab, Blackalicious, Pigeon John, Joyo Velarde and the Lifesavas to just name a few. Too many to name here and give them justice so we have included links here to both label’s websites: Solesides and Quannum Projects
Tustomu Shimura began his career under the name Asia Born and had his first single “Send Them” along with DJ Shadow’s “Entropy” on Solesides first official release known as “SS001.” Shimura would later change his original stage name to Lyrics Born to ensure that his career was judged solely on his talent and not ethnicity.
Latyrx was formed in 1996, which consisted of Lyrics Born and Lateef the Truthspeaker (Lateef Daumont). The duo’s first release, known as the self-titled track “Latyrx,” was included on Lateef’s EP “The Wreckoning.” The song was not recorded with LB and Leteef together but recorded separately and then combined later by DJ Shadow. This fortuitous mash-up created such a buzz in the underground hip-hop world that the two artists combined previously recorded tracks with several new songs to create the 1997 release “The Album.” Although “The Album” did not gain mainstream notoriety until it was re-released in 2002, it remains an album that stays on people’s play lists.
The first solo venture from Lyrics Born was the 2003 release, “Later That Day.” This album was four years in the making and it was worth the wait. “Callin’ Out” was his first single to gain commercial notoriety. “Later That Day” also prominently featured Joyo Velarde (Shimura’s wife and collaborator) on backup vocals. The follow-up album, “Same !@#$ Different Day,” featured several remixed tracks from “Later That Day” plus five new songs featuring DJ D-Sharp, Dan the Automator and Cut Chemist.
Lyrics Born music is filled with humor. Here is one of his droll tweets from May 4: “Bought my homeless patna coffee, cant lie tho, I took 9 sips out that MF B4 I gave it 2 him. Then he started trippin bc I didnt get stirrers.” Get your daily dose of humor by following @LyricsBorn.
There are several hip-hop groups and artists out there today but Lyrics Born and the Quannum Projects crew buck the system and continue to make their music, their way. If you are not familiar with Lyrics Born, take a look at his YouTube page and website.
Lyrics Born
Where: Crystal Bay Casino Crown Room
When: 9 p.m Saturday, May 18
Event Information
