Lyrics Born in Jackson, MS April 9

Hip hop innovator and impresario Lyrics Born will be in Jackson this upcoming Saturday to rock a show at Martin's. Lyrics Born got his start as one half of Latyrx, with Lateef the Truth Speaker. Latyrx, along with Blackalicious and DJ Shadow, made up the Solesides crew, which later became Quannum Projects. These guys were at the forefront of the independent hip hop scene in the 1990s, and for those of us old enough to remember, this music had a profound impact on our tastes as well as the larger hip hop scene in general.

With that in mind, I'm gonna post up some videos a do a little history lesson on Lyrics Born. He recently told me that his new album is like nothing he did before, and that makes sense, considering that has been a trait of his career from the jump. So, sit back and relax and follow the Lyrics Born journey.

In the early days, official videos were rare for the duo, but there is one for "Say That," which is a great song off their debut album Latyrx. Also, check out the title track from this album below, although its not an official video. You don't need the visuals to distract you anyway, cause the lyrics are almost too much.

Do you remember the first time you heard that shit? A lot of people I know spent many a long nights trying to piece together what this song was about. Unreal.

This next one is a song Latyrx did with Herbaliser. It is their "manifesto," and again the wordplay and complex lyrics are just ridiculous.

By the early 2000s, Lyrics Born started focusing more heavily on his solo career, and put out Later That Day in 2004. Here is a love video of the song "Calling Out," featuring his lovely wife Joyo Velarde on singing duties.

In 2005, he released Same Shit, Different Day, that featured a few new tracks and some remixes. Here is the official video for "I Changed My Mind," the Stereo MC's remix.

Even though, he released some other things between 2005 and now, but for time's sake, I'm gonna move forward to his most recent release As U Were and the official video for "Pushed Aside, Pulled Apart." To bring things full circle, this song reunites him with his Latyrx partner, Lateef.

Alright, hope you have enjoyed this little history lesson. It was fun to do and brought back a lot of memories. Come out to Martin's this Saturday to see Lyrics Born, along with New Orleans funk masters Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk, electronic artist Boombox, and may more. The show is a benefit for Trail of Honor, which supports American veterans. The show starts at 5PM and will take up two stages, one outside and one inside. Tickets are $20 in advance and can be purchased at ticketmaster.com. They will be $25 the day of the show.

http://www.martinslounge.net/

http://www.lyricsborn.com/