Tom Shimura apologizes for losing the thread as he weaves through heavy traffic. The 46-year-old rapper and producer is speaking over his car’s Bluetooth speaker system. It’s Pride weekend, and he’s just trying to knock out this interview on the way to his next engagement.

“It’s been a busy couple of years,” the man better known as Lyrics Born says.

Indeed. Last year, the East Bay emcee reissued two albums from his back catalog—2003’s Later That Day and a 20-year anniversary deluxe edition of The Muzapper Mixes, which he recorded as one half of Latyrx, a collaboration with Lateef the Truthspeaker.

In 2018, LB also released his fifth LP as a solo artist, Quite A Life. That same year saw the theatrical release of Boots Riley’s fantastical and comedic social commentary film, Sorry To Bother You. The movie, which garnered critical acclaim, was based and filmed in Oakland. Shimura had a small part.

Then there’s all the voice acting—one of many entertainment industry side hustles he has picked up over the years. “I work incredibly hard,” Lyrics Born says. In a region that’s as hard on creatives as the Bay Area, he has to. And he’s not the only one.

Lyrics Born dropped his latest effort, Rapp Nite, just last week. It is a collaboration with San Jose’s very own Paolo Bello, a.k.a. Cutso, who also knows a thing or two about putting in work.

Known for his prowess on the decks and behind the boards, Cutso is an integral member of local DJ and production crew The Bangerz. He’s been spinning at house parties and clubs for 20 years; he serves as one of three co-hosts on Wild 94.9’s weekly Rebel Pop Radio program; and over the past decade he has accumulated an arsenal of beats that he has only recently begun to unleash in the form of solo projects, such as 2017’s three-track Girls EP When They See Me.

Rapp Nite stands as a testament to the depth of both artists. For Lyrics Born, the set demonstrates his ability and his desire to step out of his comfort zone. I’m always looking for ways to get outside of myself.”

For Cutso, the collection is a calling card. Even though he is pushing 40, Bello says he still feels like a tenderfoot. “This is sort of my debut as a producer, as an artist.”

Funky, eclectic and fun, Rapp Nite plays like the best kind of bender—a blur of neon synths, ecstatic drums and squiggly bass that resolves in a pile of empty premium vodka bottles, an overflowing ashtray and zero regrets… well, at least none serious enough to send one looking for the nearest group meeting.

Some of the best lines on this album are all about delivery rather than lyrical dexterity.

“I killed that scotch then refilled that scotch,” LB rhymes on “Hit Number One”—“like I’m wearing a kilt in this ’iotch.”

And the simplicity of the chorus only underscores its self-assured swagger:

“I don’t do shit that I’ve already done,” Shimura explains in his blunted croak. “Except hit number one.”

The beat struts about with the confidence of rockstar as bits of overdriven electric guitar are clipped into jagged tatters and reassembled in a fuzzy mosaic. As the track fades out, it becomes easier to hear that the steady four-count hand claps are actually percussive, muted guitar strokes. The harmonic overtones of the metal strings ring out faintly and the whooshing, heavily affected intro of “Are You Experienced” comes to mind as Cutso seamlessly merges the East Side Boyz and Jimi Hendrix.

Shimura makes a point of praising Bello’s touch, noting that Cutso carefully selected the beats on Rapp Nite to jibe with the LB vibe.

“That’s the sign of a real producer,” Shimura says. “That’s the sign of a guy who really understands music.”

Rapp Nite
Lyrics Born + Cutso
Available Now
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It’s fair to say that Lyrics Born (a.k.a. Tsutomu “Tom” Shimura) felt the cultural void when he left Berkeley for UC Davis in the early 1990s.

A hip-hop head stranded in a rural college town, he made the most of his time by going on late night walks through campus with nothing but his portable radio/CD player to accompany him. Tracks by Main Source, Brand Nubian and A Tribe Called Quest were his soundtrack. Then one night, he stumbled upon a like-minded soul.

“I hear this guy on (the UC Davis station KDVS) in the middle of the night once a week playing real hip-hop,” Shimura recalls. “He was too advanced for the area.”

The program’s host was Jeff Chang. Then going by DJ Zen, Chang has gone on to work for the likes of Vibe, Spin and Mother Jones, and has written three acclaimed books on the history and culture of hip-hop. Shimura was eventually invited to the station after he kept winning Chang’s radio contests.

What began as a few hip-hop fanboys nerding out over breaks in a sleepy college town, eventually became the celebrated record label and collective, Solesides—which put out albums by Blackalicious and DJ Shadow. It’s now known as Quannum Projects.

“I went to college in Davis, Shimura says. “But that’s really where I got my education—in that radio station, going through those stacks.”

In the years since, Shimura has emerged as a solo artist in his own right, with releases ranging from funk to boogie and boom-bap. It’s that diversity that’s allowed him to sustain a career over 20 years in the making.

Next up is Real People, out this week. A funky, organic release that openly pays respects to the influence New Orleans and its musicians have had on Shimura’s life. The album features collaborations with a who’s who of contemporary Crescent City talent, including the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Trombone Shorty and Dumpstapunk’s Ivan Neville. Galactic make an appearance on both sides of the boards; band members Robert Mercurio and Ben Ellmen produced the album.

Taking an immersive approach to the recording process, Shimura rented a cottage in New Orleans and removed all distractions.

“From 10am to 3pm, I would go [to a coffee shop] and drink a gallon of café au lait, then take a lunch break and eat pho about a block away. At about 3, I would go to the studio,” he recalls. “From there we’d just record. No phones. No car. I don’t even know if I brought my laptop.”

As teasers like “$ir Racha” and the album’s title track reveal, there’s an undeniable energy to his latest collection. The musicianship of his supporting cast is superb, but it’s always clear Shimura is the one setting the musical tone.

Asked about the inspiration behind the record, Shimura points again to the role KDVS played in shaping his musical tastes. It was in those archives that he tracked down songs by NOLA groups like the Meters, who were liberally sampled by his favorite rap artists at the time.

Though the album arrives in stores on May 5, Shimura admits he’s already well into his next project, a collaborative release entitled Rapp Nite with his tour and San Jose native, DJ Cutso—a member of local DJ crew the Bangerz.

Cutso says the two officially met in 2009 at Voodoo during Left Coast Live weekend, though their creative collaboration began in earnest when the Bangerz produced closer “Gorgeous Spirits” on Latyrx’s 2013 album The Second Album.

Shaping up as a more future-forward record than People, Shimura says Rapp Nite has been “so different and outside of what a Lyrics Born album might be, but it’s specific to what we do, which is great.”

“The influences are very apparent, but it’s also a modern take on what we came up on and what we learned,” adds Cutso. “It’s a mish mash of everything.”

Shimura will celebrate Real People with a handful of Bay Area shows, including a headline show May 15 at the Independent, before heading out for festival dates in Michigan and Washington this summer.

While life on the road can be unforgiving, he notes that’s the price he pays for following his dream.

“It’s grueling. You get a lot of time away from home and family,” he says.  “It’s not an easy life at all, but I love it. I really think I’m doing what I was put on this Earth to do.”

This scenario might sound familiar: One moment you’re going home with a few friends and the next thing you know a wild dance party ensues. Suddenly your yard becomes a bicycle parking lot, somehow every inch of counter space is invaded by various bottles of booze, and the fridge shelves sag under the weight of countless beer containers. Sometimes there is nothing better than an impromptu dance party.

The Achilles heel of all great dance parties is poor music choice, or a revolving group of revelers trying to get their song on before another one is finished. Few things are more annoying than being in the zone, making a total fool of yourself and enjoying it, when suddenly the track gets cut off abruptly and some other song starts. Usually, the following song is a totally different style and BPM. Rumor has it that such an offense is punishable by death on the island of Ibiza.

In an effort to help avoid such trouble and maintain the integrity of any dance party, DJs Cutso and Mamabear (occasionally known at MamaCuts) recently released a 70-minute mix “Getting to Know You-Vol. One” as a free download.  Originally released as a CD a year ago, “Getting to Know You-Vol. One” quickly sold out. The mix spans a variety of genres. Imagine, a flawless string of tunes that includes Snoop Dogg and Morrissey. Of course, there is a healthy sprinkle of turntablism as well.

Grab it HERE.

The 50th issue of the acclaimed, Brooklyn-based Wax Poetics magazine is dedicated to Prince, and to honor the occasion, Stones Throw’s DaM-FunK created a Prince mix. But tonight at the Pagoda Lounge in San Jose, DJ Cutso of the Bangerz will do him one better by spinning a Prince tribute.

The show is co-produced by Wax Poetics and also features sets from the CME, Sig-O and Wax Poetics contributor David Ma.

Each of the DJs will take a different approach—for instance, the CME will spin songs from the extended Prince family (Vanity 6, The Time, Sheila E., etc.) And Cutso says that he’ll be digging deep for his headlining set, not just focusing on the hits that everybody knows.

“It’s the stuff that I really love,” he says. “There are some rarities that hold up.”

This from a man whose favorite Prince song is “Sister,” the Purple One’s jaw-dropping salute to incest.

“It’s one of his dirtiest songs ever,” admits Cutso. The song was on Prince’s third album, 1980’s Dirty Mind, which despite the fact that it arrived slightly before he hit superstardom is indisputably one of his best. But that’s the thing about Prince—nearly all of his “eras” have their fans, and even a throwaway album like Lovesexy could produce a gem like “Alphabet St.” (Cutso says it will also be in his set.)

For Cutso, the tribute takes him back to the days when his musical “big 3” was Michael Jackson, Prince and Madonna. Plus, he says, “I had the biggest crush on Sheila E.”

The Prince Tribute at Pagoda is Saturday, Feb. 25 at 9:30pm; $5.

Click here to view the embedded video.