| Lyrics Born is a rapper, just one with a penchant for jazzy-funk-rock and intelligent rhymes. |
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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The Show
Lyrics Born is, like A Tribe Called Quest (R.I.P.) and De La Soul (R.I.P.), one of those rap performers/groups whose sound is more jazzy-funk-rock than “rap.” Obviously, all the white kids dig Lyrics Born.
Whitey probably also digs bona fide “rap” acts, such as 50 Cent and Jay-Z, performers who may program their drum machines to stray into dance territory and maybe funk but no further, certainly not into jazz, definitely not into rock. But white fans can’t show that love for fear of looking like idiots in front of black America. Could you imagine Woody Allen, cruisin’ in his Alfa-Romeo, jamming to The Massacre, then pulling up alongside some real gangstas? They’d laugh him out of his argyle socks.
More information: White fans are perfectly capable, however, of expressing their love for a performer like Lyrics Born who chooses to make rap accessible by incorporating familiar, innocuous, non-rap styles. The Californian rapper makes himself even more appealing to more diverse audiences by electing not to rap about shooting people and/or abusing women but about stuff like boasting, toasting, partying, and — mostly and most lucidly — the machinations of the human condition. Lyrics Born’s mainstream breakthrough disc, 2003’s Later That Day ..., is full of ruminations, accusations, and protestations, everything given a sort of street-level authenticity by the rapper’s gruff voice, in a cadence that can shift from authoritative to casual (as if he’s talking to you over the phone) and all points in between. The beats, courtesy of various mid-level producers (except for Cut Chemist), are rockin’. Some rhythms are big, squishy, and funked-out. Others are modulated and built for chillin’. Lyrics Born’s new disc — Same !@#$ Different Day, a re-mix of Later That Day ... plus some additional tracks — hits the streets April 26. Attendees of this week’s show, at Hailey’s, can also pick up a copy of Lyrics Born Variety Show, Season One, a tour-exclusive c.d. of rarities, collaborations, cameos, and some snippets from Same !@#$. — Anthony Mariani
Sat at Hailey’s, 122 Mulberry St, Denton. 940-323-1160.
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