Lyrics Born

With a booming, bluesy voice that can start, stop and pivot on a dime, Bay Area MC/producer Lyrics Born has established himself as one of the most compelling figures in underground hip-hop. But unlike the space-tattered pseudo-Marxists who regularly inhabit the genre's dungeons, Born understands that listeners pay more attention to your flow than to which political cause you support. His production work is a glistening, highly refined confluence of traditional boom bap, blues, funk, jazz and classical music. Although the collegiate set is drawn in by his detours through the back alleys of modern music, it's the pimp-strut of the bass line and the big juicy hooks (delivered by his classically trained fiancé, Joyce Velarda) that have Lyrics Born inching ever closer to mainstream consciousness.