Lyrics Born came up in the ‘90s as part of a scene it’s hard to name - backpacker, hip-hop (as opposed to “rap”), second-generation Tribe Called Quest/De La Soul, music for nerds, something like that. Think deep, laid-back funk, tight rhymes, smart wordplay, and lots and lots of white college kids at the shows, back when that was rare enough to even mention (The Roots are easily the most famous act to come out of that scene). Lyrics Born was part of Quannum, a label/collective back then, and worked with a lot of fellow west coast-laid back, wordy guys like Jurassic 5, Blackalicious (super memorably on “Deep in the Jungle”), and DJ Shadow.
Of course, he hasn’t actually gone anywhere, and has been putting out albums, singles, and mixtapes like clockwork for the past 15 years. This track, “Coulda Woulda Shoulda,” is from his most recent album, As U Were. It’s got a super funky, strings and bass beat, and a pretty funny half cartoon video. Lyrics Born is kind of channeling a funkier Cee-lo in this clip, singing (!!) and rapping about a girl who left him because the change in his pocket just wasn’t enough, or something. He also spends half the video with a big cartoon face superimposed over his. Which I actually really like!
“Coulda Woulda Shoulda,” a world premiere video and Prefix exclusive, is above.
As U Were was released by Decon Records on October 26, 2010, and can be purchased at iTunes.
