(Free Download) Lyrics Born As U Were Cover Art Revealed – “Lies X 3” Single Free Download

It was March of 2009 when Lyrics Born announced the follow up to the fantastic genre-bending Everywhere At Once. The album titled As U Were has had a sliding release window since then due to LB’s insistent and unrelenting demands for perfection. LB has cushioned the blow a bit by providing a steady run of leaked tracks and free downloads which has given us a pretty good picture of what the album will be like.

In March, 2009 we were given the retro braggadocio track “Funky Hit Records” with it’s accompanying video. The next track to surface was the reunion of Latyrx (Lateef + Lyrics Born) in the bobbing new-waveish “Pushed Aside, Pulled Apart” with its video produced by Raphael LaMotta of ApSci. In November we were delivered the crazy can’t-catch-a-breath windstorm of “Oh Baby” that you have to revisit repeatedly Where’s-Waldo-style to find all the funny turns of phrase that LB is known for.

Today the LB camp announced that As You Were will be released on October 26, 2010 and offered up the cover art to prove it! The cover was designed by Brent Rollins who also did Later that Day and Everywhere at Once. As if that wasn’t enough, we are also given another track in the pumping finger-jab-in-the-chest spurned lover vent of “Lies X3.” “If something just ain’t right, it’s just plain wrong… You’ve been lying to me.”

As U Were also marks the move to Decon who has an established multimedia track record working deals in licensing and other creative new avenues for music. Aside from the high-visibility Diet Coke commercial a few years ago and songs showing up on the occasional TV show, I always felt that LB’s music was bubbling-under a bit. I hope that the Decon partnership will finally kick the lid off that boiling pot.

One of the things I love about Lyrics Born is that he isn’t afraid to step out of the straight rap role, and in “Lies X3” he keeps a rhythmic pace in the lyrics, but he sings it all the way through. He’s expressed before that he doesn’t want to be pigeonholed into a predictable role and in the four tracks leaked from As U Were thus far, it is clear that Lyrics Born is again leaving a predictably worn MC path and stomping into the crunchy underbrush of his own direction.

Click Here to download the new track “Lies X3”

Click Here to download “Funky Hit Records.”

Click Here to download “Pushed Aside, Pulled Apart”

Click Here to download “Oh Baby”

Click Here to visit Lyrics Born’s website

Click Here to visit Lyrics Born’s Facebook Fanpage

Click Here to follow Lyrics Born on Twitter.

Free Download: “Definition of a Star” by DJ D-Sharp with Kev Choice and Tony Vic

Admittedly, I tend to favor L.A. and Bay Area Hip Hop which might not be surprising when you consider that my music website history starts with Solesides/Quannum labels. The crews out there tend to be pretty closely-knit, so you get a lot of really cool side projects and collaborations.

This week DJ D-Sharp has made his new single “Definition of a Star” available for FREE. The woodblock and strings-stabbing head-bobber features D-Sharp in a classic boasting MC role in addition to production. Kev Choice and Tony Vic have his back with their vocals. “I AM… The definition of a star,” D-Sharp announces.

I first became aware of D-Sharp when he came to Iowa City as Lyrics Born’s DJ last year. The fact of the matter is that D-Sharp has been around the Quannum camp since he was introduced by his friend Lateef Dumont– aka Lateef the Truth Speaker. Since then he has toured and worked with most of the acts on the label including Blackalicious and The Lifesavas in addition to LB and Lateef. His bio also includes a fairly extensive resume of working with A-List hip hop acts like Black Eyed Peas, Jurassic 5, and Lauren Hill.

The single comes down as one zip file with two versions of the single– the clean and dirty versions as well as the acapellas (in case you want to take on remixing!).

Click Here to download “Definition of a Star”

Click Here to visit DJ D-Sharp’s Website.

Click Here to visit DJ D-Sharp’s MySpace Page

Upcoming Show: Curumin at CSPS in Cedar Rapids 1/26/09

This might be as close as a Quannum artist will get to Cedar Rapids…

While touring Brazil, Chief Xcel of the formidable Blackalicious fell in love with the locally released Achados e Perdidos and quickly signed Luciano Nakata Albuquerque who performs under the moniker Curumin (KOO-roo-mean). Achados e Perididos with its pan-continental mix of salsa and funk was re-released on Quannum in September 2005 to critical praise– quite an achievement for an artist who sings primarily in Portuguese!

In October, 2008 Curumin released the much-anticipated follow up JapanPopShow— the title of which is a nod to his split Spanish and Japanese heritage. JapanPopShow picks up where Achados left of with its strong samba-soul vibe and warps it with the heat of afro-beat, dub and experimental funk with refreshing spritzes of tropicalia. At times it reminds me of Air or Gilberto Gil in it’s easy casual feel. The Quannum collective jumps in to lend a hand on some of the tracks– Herve Salters from Honeycut, the Gift of Gab and Chief Xcel from Blackalicious and Lateef. Frankly a brilliant and original album. I especially dig Curumin’s testament to his love of 45RPM records “Compactu.”

So, Cedar Rapids will be warmed with Brazil’s ambassador of samba soul in the dead of winter on Monday, January 26th at Cedar Rapids own CSPS! The show starts at 8PM and tickets are $13 in advance and $16 the day of the show.

According to his press releases, Curumin typically tours with a couple of musicians and each took the stage armed with an MPC sampler providing live beat manipulations combined with live instrumentation. Curumin also switches between live drums and cavaquinho which is like a ukelele.

Don’t sleep on this, folks– it promises to be a head-bobbin’ evening.

Click Here to visit the Facebook Event for Curumin at CSPS.

Click Here for more information on the show

Click Here for Curumin’s MySpace Page which has streams of some of his tracks.

Click Below to download “Compacto” (personal favorite)

JapanPopShowCurumin
“Compacto” (mp3)
from “JapanPopShow”
(Quannum Projects)

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