★★★★★
God bless Lyrics Born. In 2010, the Berkeley native is still up to his old hip-hop classicist tricks, still shooting nothing but good vibes, still dodging Parental Advisory labels as if Tipper Gore even matters anymore. He has no axe to grind, thank the Lord, so there's no side of sour grapes 'real hip hop' posing served with his anachronism...
- www.popmatters.com
2011-01-20
★★★★★
"You can't put a peacock in a cage / it get mad when it can't spread its wings." That's about as apt a self-description as any hip-hop vocalist has ever given. Equipped with an artistic wingspread that is impressive in both size and design, Lyrics Born needs creative freedom to find complete expression...
- rapreviews.com
2010-12-27
★★★★★
God bless Lyrics Born. In 2010, the Berkeley native is still up to his old hip-hop classicist tricks, still shooting nothing but good vibes, still dodging Parental Advisory labels as if Tipper Gore even matters anymore. He has no axe to grind, thank the Lord, so there's no side of sour grapes 'real hip hop' posing served with his anachronism...
- www.popmatters.com
2010-12-13
★★★★★
Everybody knows the rap about the remix album: it's often just a way for an artist to milk more money out of fans without putting out any real new material. In most cases, remix albums are only required purchases for the most obsessive of fans. In that sense, it's easy to think of the remix disc as the 21st century version of the old double live album. However, none of that applies to "Same !@#$ Different Day...
- www.soundspike.com
2010-12-07
★★★★★
With Lyrics Born, it has always been about the bounce. Take "Callin' Out", the first single from his 2003 solo debut, Later That Day..., which introduced the MC (real name Tom Shimura) to an audience that might not have been up on his work with Lateef the Truthspeaker as half of Latyrx. Despite his dexterous, lyrically agile performance, "Callin' Out" stuck in your head as a body-rocker, with its rubbery knock overshadowing just about everything else...
- pitchfork.com
2010-11-29
★★★★★
Lyrics Born has built his career on steadily providing colorful West Coast underground hip-hop along with a diverse musical taste that's quickly become his pride. After dealing with traces of funk, blues and dancehall on his previous releases, Lyrics Born looks to keep the eclecticism going with his third studio album, with tracks such as the cabaret-esque "Lies X 3," the electro-tinged "Pushed Aside, Pulled Apart" and the old-school clap of "Funky Hit Records...
- www.prefixmag.com
2010-11-01
★★★★★
Unlike most remix albums, not a fanbase-only ripoff. None of the eight remakes is inferior to the Later That Day . . . version; Evidence and KRS-One's "Pack It Up" and a funked-up "Hello" constitute clear improvements, "Do That There" piles on ridiculous rhyme, and the standout "I Changed My Mind" was a 12-inch. Nor is that all--the five new titles include a Bay Area praisesong, a motormouth "capping" dis, and just one too many showcases for LB's quasi-operatic helpmate Joyo Velarde...
- www.robertchristgau.com
2010-09-25
★★★★★
Among hip-hop heads ? the artists, critics, and fanboys who constitute the genre's cognoscenti ? the word "flow" is shorthand for the way a rapper recites his verses. To hear heads consistently emphasize rappers' flows in discussions, reviews and across online message boards, one might imagine that the word is exacting, a fairly precise measurement of talent and ability. Yet "flow" is obtuse...
- dustedmagazine.com
2010-09-23
★★★★★
Don't let Lyrics Born's chivalrous rhymes and upbeat, smiley and generally un-rapper-like disposition fool you?he's out to make a buck just like everyone else. This is a collection of remixes and bonus tracks meant to capitalize on the slow-growing success of the feel-good Bay Area rapper's 2002 solo debut, Later That Day...
- www.blender.com
2010-09-23
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