Interview Exclusive: Lyrics Born (Quannum MCs, Latyrx)
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In anticipation of Bayside Bowl’s NYE Bash featuring performances from Quannum MCs, I spoke with Lyrics Born who is a celebrated rapper and producer, as well as one half of the duo Latyrx with Lateef the Truthspeaker. I also recently spoke with Blackalicious’ Gift of Gab which you can read here.
What do you love about making music?
The colors. I love the creation of these living, breathing entities, in these beautiful colors. And they live forever. You can put any message you want in there. You could put no message in there. And I love the way it just connects with people — hopefully — eternally really.
You’ve been creating music for a long time. A lot has changed in the culture and the industry. If you had to narrow it down to one, what would you cite as the most critical difference in the way things work now in contrast to when you started?
Oh, the internet. By far. Digital technology, let’s just say that. It’s affected how music is made. It’s changed the way that it’s heard, it’s changed the way that it’s used, it’s changed the way it’s distributed. That’s the biggest thing — digital technology and the way it’s changed everything.
Do you think it’s a positive change or a negative change?
It’s just change, you know? It’s just change. I think there’s certain things about it I like more. There’s certain things I like less, but I mean, to be honest, my opinion doesn’t even matter. The fact is that change is inevitable. There’s nothing on the planet Earth that won’t change. We just have to adapt and learn new skills to get good at it.
Yeah, and you seem to have mastered the art of adaptation. It seems that your career is going through a sort of renaissance — your music is well respected, as it should be. Your most recent album was very well crafted and well-received. Now you’ve expanded into acting too, right?
Yeah! Yeah, you know, thank you for saying that, and I think that just goes along with it. Change is inevitable, and we have to embrace it. It can be fun! It can be fun, and it can be worthwhile, and it can be fulfilling if you embrace it. I don’t think it’s enough, really, to just have ability or just to have talent. You have to be courageous, and you have to have work ethic, and you have to be willing to keep learning. For me, I’ve just been fortunate enough to have been supported by people, and I continue to add to my career.
Definitely, would you say that attitude is a big part of it?
It’s everything. It’s everything. If you don’t have the right attitude, you just can’t move forward. It breaks my heart when I see people who have a certain amount of success, and they kind of cling to a certain idea, or a certain aesthetic, or a philosophy, and then the world changes. You know, as I said, it’s inevitable. They’re just kind of holding onto these old ideals. I hate seeing that because there’s just so much more that the world has to offer, and that we could be offering the world if we’re willing to continue to educate ourselves and continue to stay open.
Yeah, I think people often get caught up on this idea that you reach a place when you stop growing, that there’s an endpoint. I also believe that’s just not true.
Yeah, it’s kind of like — there’s all this new medical technology that will help you continue living and help you live a better life, and you’re just sitting here saying, “Nah, I’m just gonna stick with penicillin.” You know what I’m saying? That’s what I’d liken it to. The world is gonna change continually. There’s one thing that’s for certain, and it’s that anything, any person, any idea that is “established” — it will inevitably be challenged at some point. There’s just no way around it. It will inevitably be challenged. I could be the most important person in the world, that everybody follows, everybody listens to and respects, and that will only last for a time. At some point, someones gonna come along, and they’re gonna challenge my ideas. They’re gonna challenge my thoughts and my philosophy, and that’s inevitable. That’s gonna happen. Nothing is permanent in this world, and I think that when you can embrace that — and it’s hard — but when you can embrace that, and really ride that wave, and get out of your own way, stop clinging to what you believe ultimately, and just allow yourself to grow it’s really amazing. It’s really an awesome place to be.
Yeah, and being willing to be wrong, and being willing for things to be different than I expected them to be. That stuff is important.
If you think about it, there is no wrong. You’re just on your way to another destination. If you have the wrong answer, that just means that you’re one step closer to having the right answer. These are all rungs on the ladder, these are all stones on the path. It’s really one’s ego and one’s emotions that are maybe causing one to be beating oneself up for not having discovered the truth immediately, or the next answer, or the current truth. Not to get all weird and Buddhist or whatever, but I truly believe that.
Nah, I’m totally here for it. Love it. What advice would you give to people who are just starting out and are daunted by the challenges of starting a career in music?
You just have to put one foot in front of the other. Devote as much time as you can to your craft. Be open to continually learning and embrace the fact that it is a marathon. It REALLY is a marathon, it isn’t a sprint. It may appear that people are skyrocketing, but everybody’s journey is different, and you really have to embrace the journey as your own.
When I first started as a teenager, I would have thought I’d have been done 10 years ago. Just because I’d never seen any hip hop artist that had made more than 5 albums. I just never saw it, and I certainly didn’t see any Asian-American artists make more than 5 albums. But now when I see not only what I’ve done, but what Blackalicious and Lateef have done. When you take a look around and see what we’ve done — and we’re by no means finished — and you see that there are even more opportunities out there, even at this stage of life and of our careers, you really feel optimistic about the future of everything. You see what’s possible with being able — again — with being able to stay open, and with hard work and fortitude and just the willingness to humble yourself to the journey.
Yeah, absolutely. I think about the fact that the internet has opened up so many possibilities — that part of why you didn’t see people continuing as long in the past was the dependency on record companies, which is just no longer relevant.
Yeah, I mean, the whole concept when I was growing up of being signed to a record label was like the end-all-be-all. Being dropped was just devastating for artists. It not only spelled the end of their careers but perhaps the end of life as we knew it. Now those things are just moot. It’s no longer the only way to get to your destination. It’s one way, but it’s not everything. I, for one, have been liberated by the new music business and the new music economy. I don’t have to play the politics, I don’t have to wait in line, I don’t have to do a song and dance to get signed, I don’t have the anxiety of ‘will I be dropped tomorrow?’ You know, that doesn’t exist for me anymore. I have my release schedule set for the next 3 years, and God willing, there’s nothing that’s in the way of me achieving that. Whereas when I was on a record label, I was living day-to-day, and that’s no way for a person to live.
I don’t mean to say it’s easy now, it’s still very difficult, and you still have to be extremely committed — you really do have to be “10 toes down” as we say. But you do have your fate in your own hands. There’s a lot less that’s out of your control.
What are you excited about in 2020?
Well, on a personal level, I’m really excited about all the projects we have going on. I have an acoustic album that’s coming out on April 3rd. That’ll be my 13th album. I know Blackalicious and Lateef — and Gift of Gab, too — all have new albums coming out in 2020. I’m just always looking for ways that I can contribute. In general, I’m always looking for ways that I can add on, not just continuing my legacy, but I’m always looking for ways that I can contribute to human history in some small way.
We’re pretty proud of our music scene here in Portland. It’s not huge but we’ve been experiencing a real musical boom over the last few years. Your music takes you everywhere so I’ll bet you’ve got a really keen perspective on this — what do you think makes a musical community really thrive?
Community. Community is what makes it really thrive, it’s exactly that. You have to live in a community that is supportive of one another. Yet at the same time, challenges each other. And it’s got to be affordable.
Oh yeah, that’s been a growing challenge here. Over the last few years, we’ve been seeing a lot of folks with money move from New York, Boston, California, drawn in by our arts and culture as well as our restaurants. We have a growing reputation as a foodie town. It’s a cycle that’s threatening to extinguish itself, which is tough to watch. Rent just keeps going up, and it’s stressful.
Mhm, that’s exactly what happened here. You just have to stand by each other and support each other. That’s how communities thrive and stay alive. It has to be affordable. You just can’t have a thriving artistic community — it’s just impossible if where you live is unaffordable.
Yeah. You hear that city hall? Straight from Lyrics Born himself. Alright, that’s all I had for prepared questions. Have you got any closing thoughts?
Myself, Lateef, and Blackalicious — we made our first record together in the early 90s. The thing that I’m most proud of is that throughout all the ups and downs, all the changes, all the challenges, all the victories — because sometimes those can be as difficult as the losses — we have managed to maintain a friendship that allows us to continue to get together every so often. The friendship is strong, but for us to get together and do something like this is really special. I’m just thankful for those guys, that I have them in my life and that we still have a great relationship and enjoy being around each other. That’s what I’m most happy for, and even though this is the only time this is happening all year, I’m really excited about it, and I’m really happy to be here for it.
That’s amazing, and I’m really happy and excited too. I feel lucky that you guys are coming up to Portland Maine to spend New Year’s Eve with us.
That’s awesome, thank you!
A few tickets are still available for Quannum MCs New Year’s bash at Bayside Bowl featuring Lyrics Born, Gift of Gab & Chief Xcel of Blackalicious, Lateef the Truthspeaker, and Jumbo of Lifesavas, with Akrobatik, and Mosart 212. Get your tickets soon!
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