Lyrics Born: The Out Of Bounds Interview
By: Mikey Carr
Lyrics Born has long been one of the more progressive artists working in hip hop. Born in Tokyo as Tsutomu “Tom” Shimura, and rising to fame in the early 90s as one half of Latyrx (with partner Lateef The Truth Speaker), he has always skirted the edges of mainstream hip hop. Drawing inspiration from a wide variety of genres, including funk, soul, rock and dance music, he came up as part of the massively influential Bay Area scene, with contemporaries like DJ Shadow, and Gift Of Gab and Chief Xcel, of Blackalicious. One of the most well-recognised non-mainstream hip hop artists around today, his innovative take on music has left an indelible mark on the face of the genre. Famous in Australia for touring here so often you’d think he has citizenship, he’s just released his fourth solo studio album, As U Were. On the back of which he’s touring again.
The album sees him further exploring genre-boundaries and displays a wide variety of influences, with a vocal style that bounces from straight dance-pop to funk-riddled hip hop without warning. Lead single ‘Lies X 3’ is one of the most bizarre choices of direction evident on the album, sounding more like Sam Sparro’s ‘Black & Gold’ than Lyrics Born – ironic seeing as Sparro pops up later on the thoroughly more Lyrics Born-flavoured ‘Coulda Woulda Shoulda’. Featuring other guest spots from Gift Of Gab, Lateef The Truth Speaker, Joyo Velarde and more, the album is a bit of a mixed bag; some songs fail to achieve the brilliant synthesis of genres that work so well elsewhere on the album, and end up coming off just a bit too cheesy. “It’s definitely varied,” he tells me in a deep, pensive voice. “It’s got a huge mix of styles across the board, and that’s very intentional. It’s really hard to find one song that defines that album; I think the album defines the album. Often times with my album there is a tremendous amount of variety, just ‘cos I’m interested in so much – so you really have to listen to the album in its entirety to get a feel for it.”
Although his last album, Everywhere At Once, saw the MC reach new levels of success and fame, the choice to move on to a new style was not a hard one. Where other artists might worry about losing fans and momentum, for Shimura it was more important to maintain a progressive stance, and remain relevant in this ever-changing music landscape. He felt his previous style had grown somewhat stale. “I didn’t want to make the same album over and over again, and me personally – I felt I was due for a change,” he explains. “When I made the album, I didn’t care anymore about my past successes, or what people or the industry or the record label may expect from me. I just really wanted to make a record that I wanted to hear.” Part of the process involved going back to all the older records he loved – 80s synth soul, Cameo and The Gap Band, artists like Grace Jones, and even David Bowie. He was also paying attention to current stuff, like Franz Ferdinand, MGMT and Kanye West. “I really started to get into what I truly love, sort of synth-based, kind of retro but modern stuff.
“I’m very fortunate that I’ve had successful songs and successful albums and just generally a great career,” Shimura continues, “but at the same time, with that comes this pressure to meet everybody’s expectations, as well as my own. That becomes a challenge for career artists, who aren’t afraid to evolve.” Part of what’s informed his decision to keep pushing things forward is Shimura’s love of new music, and obsession with keeping up to date. Genre lines are so consistently blurred these days that the creation of a new meta-genre seems almost inevitable; Shimura is passionate about blending the old and the new, looking with pity at those too close-minded to embrace what the future holds. “We’ve reached a point in time where a lot of older stuff intersects with contemporary things that we’re listening to,” he says. “I’m always looking at ways I can step my game up and [infuse] the factors I love about modern music with my love of old music, and somehow negotiate that path. I don’t believe in genres, I don’t believe in genre lines. I’ve always said I want to exist in every genre, and I’m lucky, I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to do that.
“When I first started and I was doing Latyrx songs and early Lyrics Born stuff, way back 15 years ago, the hip hop community was like, ‘umm, this isn’t really hip hop…’ I think I’ve always sort of been on the fringes of hip hop. Everything I do is hip hop-inspired, but I’ve always tried to take it further than what people’s conventional definitions of hip hop were. It’s interesting though, because all those things I was criticised for early on eventually became assets.”
Considering how many bands are out there churning out the same product to keep their audience happy, it’s refreshing to see someone taking risks to make new music.
SOURCE (pg. 27)
By: Mikey Carr
Lyrics Born has long been one of the more progressive artists working in hip hop. Born in Tokyo as Tsutomu “Tom” Shimura, and rising to fame in the early 90s as one half of Latyrx (with partner Lateef The Truth Speaker), he has always skirted the edges of mainstream hip hop. Drawing inspiration from a wide variety of genres, including funk, soul, rock and dance music, he came up as part of the massively influential Bay Area scene, with contemporaries like DJ Shadow, and Gift Of Gab and Chief Xcel, of Blackalicious. One of the most well-recognised non-mainstream hip hop artists around today, his innovative take on music has left an indelible mark on the face of the genre. Famous in Australia for touring here so often you’d think he has citizenship, he’s just released his fourth solo studio album, As U Were. On the back of which he’s touring again.
The album sees him further exploring genre-boundaries and displays a wide variety of influences, with a vocal style that bounces from straight dance-pop to funk-riddled hip hop without warning. Lead single ‘Lies X 3’ is one of the most bizarre choices of direction evident on the album, sounding more like Sam Sparro’s ‘Black & Gold’ than Lyrics Born – ironic seeing as Sparro pops up later on the thoroughly more Lyrics Born-flavoured ‘Coulda Woulda Shoulda’. Featuring other guest spots from Gift Of Gab, Lateef The Truth Speaker, Joyo Velarde and more, the album is a bit of a mixed bag; some songs fail to achieve the brilliant synthesis of genres that work so well elsewhere on the album, and end up coming off just a bit too cheesy. “It’s definitely varied,” he tells me in a deep, pensive voice. “It’s got a huge mix of styles across the board, and that’s very intentional. It’s really hard to find one song that defines that album; I think the album defines the album. Often times with my album there is a tremendous amount of variety, just ‘cos I’m interested in so much – so you really have to listen to the album in its entirety to get a feel for it.”
Although his last album, Everywhere At Once, saw the MC reach new levels of success and fame, the choice to move on to a new style was not a hard one. Where other artists might worry about losing fans and momentum, for Shimura it was more important to maintain a progressive stance, and remain relevant in this ever-changing music landscape. He felt his previous style had grown somewhat stale. “I didn’t want to make the same album over and over again, and me personally – I felt I was due for a change,” he explains. “When I made the album, I didn’t care anymore about my past successes, or what people or the industry or the record label may expect from me. I just really wanted to make a record that I wanted to hear.” Part of the process involved going back to all the older records he loved – 80s synth soul, Cameo and The Gap Band, artists like Grace Jones, and even David Bowie. He was also paying attention to current stuff, like Franz Ferdinand, MGMT and Kanye West. “I really started to get into what I truly love, sort of synth-based, kind of retro but modern stuff.
“I’m very fortunate that I’ve had successful songs and successful albums and just generally a great career,” Shimura continues, “but at the same time, with that comes this pressure to meet everybody’s expectations, as well as my own. That becomes a challenge for career artists, who aren’t afraid to evolve.” Part of what’s informed his decision to keep pushing things forward is Shimura’s love of new music, and obsession with keeping up to date. Genre lines are so consistently blurred these days that the creation of a new meta-genre seems almost inevitable; Shimura is passionate about blending the old and the new, looking with pity at those too close-minded to embrace what the future holds. “We’ve reached a point in time where a lot of older stuff intersects with contemporary things that we’re listening to,” he says. “I’m always looking at ways I can step my game up and [infuse] the factors I love about modern music with my love of old music, and somehow negotiate that path. I don’t believe in genres, I don’t believe in genre lines. I’ve always said I want to exist in every genre, and I’m lucky, I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to do that.
“When I first started and I was doing Latyrx songs and early Lyrics Born stuff, way back 15 years ago, the hip hop community was like, ‘umm, this isn’t really hip hop…’ I think I’ve always sort of been on the fringes of hip hop. Everything I do is hip hop-inspired, but I’ve always tried to take it further than what people’s conventional definitions of hip hop were. It’s interesting though, because all those things I was criticised for early on eventually became assets.”
Considering how many bands are out there churning out the same product to keep their audience happy, it’s refreshing to see someone taking risks to make new music.
SOURCE (pg. 27)