Lyrics Born - Calling out all area crews!

Just before the madness of Noise Pop hit this year, Metrowize was lucky enough to get to have a phone conversation with one of the bay area's most prominent artists, Lyrics Born. LB is an artist to the bone and it shows in everything he does. He's a producer and a performer and is as much a hip hop artist as he is a live band lead vocalist. He was born in Japan and moved to the Bay Area when he was 5. Hearing Hip hop for the first time in the first grade, he knew right away that it was his calling in life. He knew he wanted to be an artist. Read the interview below.

MW: Who were your first musical heroes?
LB: I first remember hearing, when i was little, groups like Sugar Hill Gang, Double Dutch Bus, Franky Smith and things like that... It was very different from what I had heard and Hip hop was definitely different from anything I had ever known. As I got older and got into junior high it was artists like Eric B and Rakim, Boogie Down Productions, Ice Cube... guys like that.

MW: Do you think that your multi cultural background has played a part in the fact that you have a sort of multi-genre sound?
LB: I don't know... I know that it's definitely a part of who I am so I think it has shaped my world view without a doubt and subject matter wize it plays a part in why I write about certain things but it's not like I tell the guitarist to play E flat because I'm Japanese. It's obviously shaped who I am as a person and my music is an expression of who I am so in that regard I guess so...

MW: You've said before that you never want to be considered anything but a true artist. What's your definition of a true artist and how do you think you live up to that ideal?
LB: I make art, and i think it's just that simple. I mean the money is good, but I'm not in it to be a mogul and the reason I started making music was because I love making music. It's just a part of me and who I am. I feel the need to express myself in this medium.

MW: Do you consider yourself more of a producer or performer?
LB: I do it all... I mean I do it all because I love it all, but it's all necessary in what I do. I don't think it's possible for me to perform unless I am able to produce good music and I don't think it's possible to produce good music if I don't think I will have some place to perform it. It's all related... It's all facets to the same gem, it's all a part of the same thing to me.

MW: You've gained much of your fame as a hip hop artist, yet you have performed for thousands at some of the biggest "rock" festivals in the country including Bonnaroo and Coachella. How does a hip hop artist find his traction with this crowd?
LB: I think it is the live aspect that I bring. I put a lot of emphasis on my live shows and I do anywhere from 100-175 shows a year so I've put a lot of time and effort into the road and into my show and I think people can see that and that they appreciate that. I think that when somebody puts that much time into anything that they love, it's bound to be a quality product and I think that all that just gels well with people's notion of what a good live show is.

MW: You seem to be an artist that puts a lot of time and effort into having a large online presence. How do you think what you do as an artist and how you promote yourself and your projects has changed over the last few years with the proliferation of things like the internet and myspace and the different ways that you can actually reach people now?
LB: With the internet, with Myspace and Youtube, I think what you have is a direct connection. (Fans) can check in with me or I can check in with them via Myspace or my website anytime and at anytime they can come check out LBtv where we set up videos where I answer questions sent in by listeners directly. The thing that people want these days is they want access all the time and they want it because they know they can get it through the internet. The old style of Q and A is just so obsolete where someone writes you a fan letter and you maybe respond sometime via snail mail or you find out about a party because someone put a flyer in your hand. People are much less reliant now a days on that kind of dialog and I personally love it. It certainly makes the world move a lot faster.

MW: One of the major issues in entertainment right now is copyrights and copyright infringement. As an artist, where do you stand on the issue and do you think the music and entertainment industry should be fighting this or embracing it?
LB: I think the music industry needs to choose it's battles at this point. The mold has already been cast. I'm not for illegal downloading or anything but people are going to do file sharing and downloading and people are going to be putting things up on Youtube. That's already happened and there really isn't any way that you can regulate that. There's hundreds of millions of people in the world. How are going to keep tabs on all of them? It's just absolutely impossible so you have to focus your energy in other places. This is the way the world is going and it's impossible to block that flow. That information is going to be made available to people no matter how loud I kick and scream. Everyone has equal access to to everything at this point and I think that is one of the beauties and one of the ideas that we've all had to have gotten used to about the internet.

MW: You're obviously someone who works a lot. In your free time, what do you do to chill out?
LB: I drive my car. I've got a 68 Cadillac drop top Coupe Deville and I love to drive. I'll drive for hours ya know and just go nowhere sometimes. It helps clear the head. I think that's a guy thing... We like to clear our heads.

For more Lyrics Born check out LBtv on Youtube and other video sites, his Myspace page at myspace.com/lyricsborn and his label site quannum.com.
Be on the lookout for the new album coming soon from Joyo Velarde on Quannum Records.



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