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Born to Rhyme: Q&A with "Lyric Born"

By LYNDA LIN, Pacific Citizen

“[It’s] hip-hop and beyond,” said Lyrics Born (nee Tom Shimura) into the phone, his raspy voice stretching out the vowels of the last word like it was written in the sky with mystical lights.

He’s describing his own musical style — a feat that journalists and critics have already taken on and emerged with glowing adjectives like “melodic,” “lush” and most ostentatiously, “world’s finest.”

But if the name Lyrics Born (or his former name, Asia Born) doesn’t ring a bell, it’s because the 32-year-old is still on the list of emerging artists even though he’s been firmly embedded in the music industry for over a decade.

It was on the grassy knolls of the University of California at Davis that Born met a group of hip-hop music enthusiasts and founded Quannum Records while gaining a degree in communications, just in case. Since then Quannum has bore artists like Blackalicious and Joyo Velarde, who doubles as Born’s main squeeze.

You may not hear his songs in heavy rotation on the radio (yet), but you’ve seen actor Adrien Brody shimmy to his music in the Diet Coke commercial. He’s also produced and collaborated with KRS-One, Evidence of Dilated Peoples and Jurassic 5. If those names don’t immediately stir excitement, then move on or listen to clips of his strangely pleasing raspy rhyming at www.lyricsborn.com.

We dare you to not bob your head and push your palms in the air to “raise the roof.” But if you do, well, that’s okay too.

Pacific Citizen: Your sound is so classic and fresh. I think it’s because the tracks are so positive and upbeat and what we hear on the radio is so not. How important is it to you keep the positive energy flowing?

Lyrics Born: I don’t know if I would call it positive. I just try to be as honest as possible. Depending on what side of the fence you’re on, sometimes people don’t like what I have to say.†But we all live in the gray area, you know what I mean? I don’t believe music or life is all that cut and dry. I just try to be as honest as I can about how I feel about a certain subject and issue. If people gel with it, great.

PC:“Last Trumpet” is pretty angry.

LB: I’ve gotten negative reactions. There are some people who think that there’s nothing controversial about what the United States is doing in Iraq. They don’t agree with it, which is fine.

PC:Hip-Hop is now mainstream, but you still choose to be independent.

LB:Being independent was not a choice. It was a necessity, done for sheer survival. At the time I started, nobody wanted to put my records out. I grew up in the Bay Area, so there’s no entertainment industry out here. But I never cared whether Quannum was under a larger label or if I were signed to a large label. Just as long as I continue to make the records that I want to make, then I’m a happy guy.

PC:You have an amazing singing voice as well. Do you take any professional lessons?

LB:No. [I started] rapping first. I still don’t feel one hundred percent [about singing]. But … I think it’s important to continue challenging myself because I get bored easily.

PC:OK, let’s go way back and talk about your beginning. How old were you when you left Japan?

LB:Two. I go back to visit relatives and stuff, but I pretty much grew up in America.

PC:Tell me more about your family when you were growing up in Berkeley.

LB:First of all, I left Japan because my parents got divorced, but like I said, I grew up in the Bay Area, which is a blessing because it’s so diverse. I’ll tell you now, if I did not have the upbringing that I had, I wouldn’t be here. A couple of times my mother asked me if I should start thinking about a Plan B, because I haven’t “made it” yet. As time went on and I gained a little bit of recognition, she became really supportive. She comes to all my shows in the Bay Area. It’s like if your kid is on a football team, you go to all the games — she goes to all my shows.

PC: And when did Asia Born become Lyrics Born?

LB:I didn’t want to seem like I was representing everybody. That would be doing everybody a disservice and myself a disservice. It’s such a large, beautiful, diverse culture and it’s unfair for people to assume that I hold all the answers.

PC:Does it bother you that your ethnicity and your music are always linked?

LB:It does at times. At the same time, I am so focused on what I’m going to do tomorrow. I can’t control how people are going to perceive me. I mean, do you say ‘white’ plumber or the ‘black’ cab driver? America has a huge fixation on race and as well it should, but I think it should be more about educating as opposed to differentiating ourselves. At the same time, I know my situation is all too atypical. I love the fact that I can watch 72 hours of satellite TV without seeing one Asian person … especially Asian men without martial arts and accents. So for people to see what I’m doing as a group is great. On the other hand if it distracts people from what I do artistically … it’s a catch-22.

PC:What has the highlight been this year?

LB:All of it. I can’t point to one thing. I’m such a fortunate person. How many people have the luxury of waking up and looking forward to what they want to do? I can honestly say there is not one moment I don’t spend dedicated to what I’m doing with my life. Everything is dedicated to music. If I’m not making it, I’m looking for new artists to sign.

PC:You met and fell in love with one of the artists on your label. How has that changed your life?

LB:It made me a very happy person. We totally connect. It’s a difficult life because you’re away from home all the time. It makes all the difference when you’re with someone who knows and understands what’s involved.