Lyrics Born
| Lyrics Born | |
|---|---|
.jpg)
Lyrics Born in Australia, 2008
|
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Tsutomu Shimura |
| Also known as | LB, Asia Born, Macka Dang Dang |
| Born |
September 2, 1972 Tokyo, Japan |
| Origin | Berkeley, California, United States |
| Genres | Alternative hip hop |
| Occupation(s) | Rapper, producer |
| Years active | 1992-present |
| Labels | Quannum Projects, Epitaph, Decon |
| Associated acts | Latyrx, Lateef the Truthspeaker, Blackalicious, Joyo Velarde |
| Website | www |
Tsutomu "Tom" Shimura (born September 2, 1972), better known by his stage name Lyrics Born (formerly Asia Born), is a Japanese-American rapper and producer. He is one half of the duo Latyrx with Lateef the Truthspeaker.
Through his childhood, Shimura lived in Tokyo, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Berkeley, California. He attended Henry B. Plant High School.
He changed his stage name from Asia Born to Lyrics Born in 1995 citing the desire to have his career based on his merits as opposed to his ethnicity. His first studio album, Later That Day, was released on Quannum Projects in 2003.
Lyrics Born's collaborations with Lateef the Truthspeaker on Latyrx records often see them trading lyrics back and forth in quick succession - Lyrics Born and Lateef's methodology for writing this type of lyric is described by Lateef in the book How to Rap: "With Latyrx stuff, when we have parts that we’re writing that we’re both going to be trading off, we write them together for the most part. I’ll sit there and write a rhyme, like I’ll write a line or two and then we’ll break up who’s gonna say what, and he’ll write a line or two and we’ll break up who’s gonna say what. It’s a very organic process."
...
Wikipedia