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Lyrics Born.
 Lyrics Born has always struck me as the quiet man of Quannum, the groundbreaking Bay area collective that includes Blackalicious and DJ Shadow as well as his sometime collaborator Lateef. After appearing on the label (then called Solesides)'s first release, he didn't get around to putting out his first solo album until after his 30th birthday (though he did release one as Latyrx with Lateef), but when it came it was received warmly everywhere. Something of a concept album, 'Later That Day' chronicled the events of a single day in the life of its protagonist as the production (and, to some extent, Lyrics' singsong delivery) moves through a number of genres.
Now, less than a year later, he's poised for his second, a remix album because, as he explains, "I produced all of 'Later That Day' myself and I just wanted to do a record where I could work with people, because my next full studio album I might not work with other producers."
Discussing his modest output, he tells me things have changed because "in a past life I was like that, but since 'Later That Day' I've been pretty busy. I mean, I'm working on a mix CD now, producing Joyo Velarde and I just signed a couple of groups to Quannum. You know, this album is about to drop and I've probably done 20 remixes and guest appearances over the past year."
Lyrics laments that many of those won't be released here because the artists don't have great overseas distribution, but when I blithely say that it's good to know that he's busy anyway, he responds that he's too busy. He's taking a break for one week over here before the Good Vibratinos Festival starts, and "it will be the first time I've taken a vacation in I can't remember how long... I mean, I'm lucky if I can get one day off a month, and when I say a day off, I mean when I'm not in the studio."
Part of the reason for the hectic schedule is that he will be following a growing trend and taking a live band with him, rather than a DJ; "I'm gonna have a keyboardist and a drummer, which is gonna be new for me, but we should have a really great time."
Talking about his goals as a musician, we get around to the subject of Jeff Chang (DJ Zen), who went to UC Davis with the founding Quannum crew, and an upcoming book of his about the cultural history of hip-hop. When I ask Lyrics if he'd like to see himself in such a book one day, he grows animated. "Absolutely! I need my body of work to grow a little bit, but I think that that's the goal. It's really important to me, that being acknowledged as such. Or at least, I'll know that I made my contribution: it's not always up to those who contribute to write it down."
While future releases will surely bolster his position, the place of the San Francisco Bay Area as a centre of innovation has already been cemented. Producing collectives like Quannum and Heiroglyphics and groundbreaking group like The Coup, as well as being a burgeoning epicentre of talented turntablists, there can be no doubt that as far as independent hip-hop is concerned, it's a good place to be. A major city that's far enough way from the influence of LA, "there's no music business here, but there's a lot of creative people with no outlet, and so that's why you get so many independent labels." While each label does most of its work in house and "we don't work together as much as I would like, everybody's still on good terms."
Though he's concentrating on his solo career at the moment, he's also trying to fit in time with Lateef for another Latyrx album, it's simply that they're both too busy, but hopefully after a short break and the Good Vibrations Festival, they might be able to find some time to collaborate. Until then, look out for the remix album to come out in April.
Alexis Buxton-Collins
 | Lyrics Born performs at Good Vibrations at the Shores Function Complex on Fri 18 Feb. |
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