Review: Lyrics Born “Later That Day”

Lyrics Born
“Later That Day”
(Quannum Projects)

Lyrics Born is less a rapper than a melancholic funk-riding, rhyme-spewing rock and roll super-cowboy. The Bay Area all-star’s most recent jawn, “Later that Day” opens with the dark strings and menacing undertone of “Bad Dreams,” a cut that is more evocative of early Doors than most contemporary hip-hop snoozers. The jam features a gritty, soulful chorus of “This situation is getting out of control,” which is a sentiment that nutshells the reaction this record will juice out of most Quannum fans. Lyrics Born, anointed Tom Shimura by his mama, let’s loose with a plethora of rhyme styles and schemes. From the intricately layered, filtered, and almost spoken-word vocals of “Cold Call,” which features Blackalicious’ Gift of Gab, to the free flowing stream of consciousness stylings of “Stop Complaining,” to the Cut Chemist-graced throwback track “Do That There,” L.B. gets downright out of sight on the mic. Somewhat inane and monotonous hooks on a few of the tracks only slightly detract from the foinky, string-drenched production and enlightened lyricism found on this through and through fresh-ass record.

Scott Burroughs