Lyrics Born (986 views)

[Seb]

Lyrics Born (September 2, 1972 - Present)
Vocal Range: A1 - E5
Years Active: 1992 - present
Associated Acts: Latyrx (1996 - present), Quannum MCs (1992 - present)

SPOILER: Click to show

{Studio Discography}
Lyrics Born
Later That Day... (2003): C2 - G♯4 (A4 in bonus track)
Lyrics Born Variety Show Season One (2005): E♭2 - A4
Lyrics Born Variety Show Season Two (2006): E♭2 - A4
Lyrics Born Variety Show Season Three (2008): C2 - A4
Everywhere At Once (2008): D2 - C♯5
Lyrics Born Variety Show Season Pho (2009): D2 - E♭5
As U Were (2010): B1 - C5 - C♯5
Lyrics Born Variety Show Season Five: On the Floor (2012): C2 - B4
Lyrics Born Variety Show Season Six (2014): B♭1 - B4
Real People (2015): B1 - C5
Lyrics Born Variety Show Season Seven (2016): D2 - B4
Quite a Life (2018): B1 - B♭4
Rapp Nite (2019): B♭1 - G♯4 - B4
Mobile Homes Season 1 (2022): B1 - F♯4
Vision Board (2022): A1 - A4
Latyrx
The Album (1997): E2 - A4 - C5
The Muzapper's Mixes (1998): E2 – A4
Latyrical Madness, Vol. 1 (2011): (nothing new really)
Disconnection EP (2012): B♭1 – B4
The Second Album (2013): D2 - B4
Quannum MCs
Spectrum (1999): F2 – A4 [only performed vocals on 2 tracks]
+ singles/guest appearances

Note: Some songs on the “Lyrics Born Variety Show” series have been pitched up or down from their previously released versions. As such, the pitches counted for them are the same as their original versions.

Significant High Notes:
E5 (“Coulda Woulda Shoulda”)
E♭5 (“Send Them”, "Turn It Up")
D5 (“Deep In The Jungle”)
C♯5 ("Is It The Skin I'm In", “We Live By The Beat”)
C5 ("Good Riddance", "I Wanna B W/U", "Latyrx", "Turn It Up")
B4 (“Arrival”, “Deep In The Jungle”, "Good Riddance", “Gorgeous Spirits”, “How Lucky Am I”, “I’m The Best (Funky Fresh in the Flesh)”, "Is It The Skin I'm In", "Real People", "Major Tom", “Mama’s Got A Brand New Swag”, “Pushed Aside/Pulled Apart”, “The Beast”, "Wtf?")
B♭4 ("$ir Racha", "Baby I Made It", "I've Lost Myself", "LB's Monorail", "Let Me In, Let Me Out", “Lies X3”, "Mr. Dilligaf", "Rock-Rock Away", "That's It!", “Trippin’”, "Turn It Up")
A4 ("2nd Act (Phoenix Rising)", "All Hail The Queen", “Arrest The President”, "Baby I Made It", "Burning Hot in Cali on a Saturday Night", "Burnt Pride", "Chocolate Cake", "Don't Quit Your Daydream", "Clap Your Hands (If U Know You're Beautiful)", “Funky Hit Records”, "Good Riddance", “Gorgeous Spirits”, “How Lucky Am I”, "I Can't Decide (Everywhere At Once)", "I Changed My Mind", "I'm the Best Rapper in the World", “I’ve Lost Myself”, "Is It Worth It?", “Hello”, “Kontrol Phreak”, “Mama’s Got A Brand New Swag”, "Nothin' To Lose", “Oh Baby!”, “Out Of My Mind”, “Pushed Aside/Pulled Apart”, "Real People", “Send Them”, “Take Aim”, "That's It!", "This is a Man's World?", “Watershed Moment”, “We Live by the Beat”, "We Still #1??", "When I Get My Check", "Wtf?")
G♯4 (“(What Happened 2 Our) Love Affair”, "$ir Racha", “Arrest The President”, “Bad Dreams”, "Bang Bang Bang", “Callin’ Out (Live)”, “Cannon In The Heavens”, “Coulda Woulda Shoulda”, “Deliberate Jibberish”, "Do U Buy It?", “Deep In The Jungle”, "Don't Quit Your Daydream", “Fire It Up”, "Funky Enuff", "Greatness on Repeat (Go Me!)", “How Lucky Am I”, "I Got It (What You Need)", “I Wanna B W/U”, "Is It The Skin I'm In", "Just 2 Swift", "Rock-Rock Away", "Rules Were Meant To Be Broken", "Shake It Off", “The Beast”, “The Last Trumpet”, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”, "Turn It Up", “We Live By The Beat”)
G4 ("2nd Act (Phoenix Rising)", “Alien”, “Arrival”, “Asia’s Verse”, “Bianca & Sandra", "Burning Hot in Cali on a Saturday Night", “Call To Arms”, "Can't Lose My Joy", "Clap Your Hands (If U Know You're Beautiful)", “Coulda Woulda Shoulda”, “Electric Chair”, “Fire It Up”, “Funky Hit Records”, “Gettin It Together”, “Goregous Spirits”, “Guard The Fort”, “Have Mercy (Remix)”, “Hello”, "Hit Number One", "Holy Matrimony", "I Can't Decide (Everywhere At Once)", "I Changed My Mind", "I Like It, I Love It", "I'm A Phreak", “I’m The Best (Funky Fresh in the Flesh)”, "I'm the Best Rapper in the World", “I’ve Lost Myself”, "In Confidence", “Kontrol Phreak”, “Lady Don’t Tek No”, "LB's Monorail", "Let Me In, Let Me Out", “Lies X3”, "Major Tom", “Mama’s Got A Brand New Swag”, "Mr. Dilligaf", "Off (with) Their Heads [Be Prompt]", “Oh Baby!”, “Put ‘Em Up”, “Pushed Aside/Pulled Apart”, “Take Aim”, "The Divide Is Widening", “The Get Down”, “The Power Is Rumor (Leonard Is Lost)”, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”, “The World Is Calling (Remix)”, "This Is a man's World?", "Top Shelf (Anything U Want)", "We Still #1??", "When I Get My Check")
F♯4 (“(What Happened 2 Our) Love Affair”, “Alpha & Omega", Arrest President”, “Arrival”, “Bad Dreams”, "Bad News", “Beautiful Bowlegged Lady”, "Burnt Pride", “Cannon In The Heavens”, “Deliberate Jibberish”, "Do U Buy It?", “Funky Hit Records”, "Go Ape Shit", “Hands Up”, “How Lucky Am I”, "I Can't Decide (Everywhere At Once)", "Is It The Skin I'm In", "Latyrx", "Misfits”, “My Own Little World”, “Off (with) Their Heads [Be Prompt]", “One Session”, “Pack Up”, "Real People", “Send Them”, “Storm Warning”, ”Take Aim”, "The Muzzappers Mix (Aim For The Stars)", "Tom Shimura Freestyle", “Top Qualified”, “Trippin’”, "Vibe Vendetta Freestyle")
F4 ("$ir Racha", "Alien”, “Always Fine Tuning”, “Baby I Made It", "Big Money Talk", “Call To Arms”, “Callin’ Out”, "Can't Lose My Joy", "Chocolate Cake", “Electric Chair”, "Everything Is Fine", “Exclamation Point”, “Fire It Up”, "Go Ape Shit", "Greatness on Repeat (Go Me!)", “Guard The Fort”, “Hello”, "I Got It (What You Need)", “I Wanna B W/U”, “Ill Vacation”, "In Confidence", "It Go", "Just 2 Swift", “Lady Don’t Tek No”, “Life”, “Lost in the Feelin’”, "More", "My Favorite Ghost (Phantom Pains)", “Put ‘Em Up”, "Rock-Rock Away", "Rules Were Meant To Be Broken", "Ocho Puntos”, “Off (with) Their Heads [Be Prompt]", “Oh Baby!”, “One Session”, “Out Of My Mind”, "Same But Different", "Shake It Off", "That's It!", “The Divide Is Widening", “The Extravaganza”, “The Get Down”, “The Last Trumpet”, “The Power Is Rumor (Leonard Is Lost)”, “The Utmost Versatyle”, "The World Is Calling", "Top Shelf (Anything U Want)", "We Still #1??")

Significant Low Notes:
B♭2 ("$ir Racha", “2 Hott 2 Cold”, “Asia’s Verse”, "Bianca & Sandra", "Block Bots", “Do That There”, “Gettin It Together”, “Have Mercy”, "I Can't Wait, So Don't U Stop", "I'm the Best Rapper in the World", “It’s Time”, "LB's Monorail", “Lies X3”, “Misfits”, "Plastic Beach", "Real People", "Rewards and Consequences", "Same But Different", "Say That", “Seco”, “Sometimes Why?”, "The Last Trumpet", “The Next Level”, “The Power Is Rumor (Leonard Is Lost)”, "This Is What We Fought For?", "This Song's Delicious")
A2 ("Anti", "Bang Bang Bang", "Big Money Talk", “Bubble Gum Wrap”, "Cakewalk", "Chest Wide Open", "Choosy Choosy", “Close Your Eyes”, “Cloud #9”, "Do or Die", "Do U Buy It?", “Don’t Change”, “Emerge”, "Freestyle @ the Kneez", “Hello”, "Hott People", “I’m Just Raw”, “Ill Vacation”, “Jet Lag (Remix)”, “Jump”, “Kontrol Phreak”, “Life”, "Long Shot", “Lost in the Feelin’”, "Off (with) Their Heads [Be Prompt]", “One Session”, “Pushed Aside/Pulled Apart”, “Regions”, “Rise and Shine”, “Rushin Attack”, Something Better”, “Stay Professional”, “Storm Warning”, “That Good Thing”, “The Two Corners”, “Turn Me Out”, “Top Qualified”, "Wtf?", "Whispers", "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah", “Yes Yes”)
G♯2 (“2 Hott 2 Cold”, "Badder Than Bad", "Balcony Beach", “Do That There”, “Exclamation Point”, "Explosive", "Freestyle @ the Kneez", “Give It To You”, “I Wanna B W/U”, "I'm A Phreak", “I’ve Lost Myself”, "Is It The Skin I'm In", “It’s Time”, “Kiss Me I’m Famous”, “Lady Don’t Tek No”, “Lost in the Feelin’”, “Nebula’s Eye”, “Pack Up (Remix)”, “Reload”, “Revolution”, "Rules Were Meant To Be Broken", “Seco”, “Sometimes Why?”, “The Beast”, “The Last Trumpet”, “The Power Is Rumor (Leonard Is Lost)”, “Watch Out (All Night Intro)”, “Watershed Moment”)
G2 ("2nd Act (Phoenix Rising)", "Baby I Made It", "Bianca & Sandra", "Block Bots", "Cakewalk", "Chest Wide Open", “Clap Your Hands (If U Know You're Beautiful)", “Coulda Woulda Shoulda”, “Death’s Invitation”, "Diamond Door", “Differences”, "Do It Up, Do It Big", "Do That There on Saturday", "Do U Buy It?", “Don’t Change”, "Enough About Me", “Every Man For Himself”, "Freestyle Back @ Ya", “Gettin It Together”, “Have Mercy”, "Hit Number One", "Holy Matrimony", “Hott 2 Deff”, "Hott People", “I’m Just Raw”, "In Case of Fire", “Jet Lag (Remix)”, "Let Me In, Let Me Out", “Love Me so Bad”, “Mama’s Got A Brand New Swag", “Ocho Puntos”, “Pillz”, “Quannum MCs”, “Regions”, “Something Better”, "Top Shelf (Anything U Want)", “We Live by the Beat”, "When I Get My Check")
F♯2 (“Bubble Gum Wrap”, “Cold Call”, "Desperada", "I Can't Decide (Everywhere At Once)", "I Can't Wait, So Don't U Stop", "Latyrx", "Real People", “Release”, “Revolution”, “Rushin Attack”, “Sometimes Why?”, “Stop Complaining”, "The Muzzappers Mix (Aim For The Stars)", "This Is What We Fought For?", “Turn Me Out”)
F2 ("2nd Act (Phoenix Rising)", "Badder Than Bad", "Can't Lose My Joy", “Close Your Eyes”, "Do It Up, Do It Big", “Every Man For Himself”, “Give It To You”, "Go Ape Shit", “Have Mercy”, “Hello”, "Hit Number One", "Holy Matrimony", “Hott 2 Deff”, "Hott People", “I Wanna B W/U”, "I'm the Best Rapper in the World", “Ill Vacation”, “Knock Out”, "LB's Monorail", "Let Me In, Let Me Out", “Love Me so Bad”, “Mistakes”, "My City", “Nebula’s Eye”, “One Session”, “Out Of My Mind”, “Quannum MCs”, “Regions”, "Rules Were Meant To Be Broken", "Same But Different", "Say That", “Seco”, "She Can Get It", "Stax On The Table (LB What It Look Like?)", "The Bay", “The Get Down”, "The Last Trumpet", “The Next Level”, "Turn It Up", "When I Get My Check", "Whispers", “Yes Yes”)
E2 ("Alligator Boots", "Anti", "Around The Bend", "Bang Bang Bang", “Before and After”, "Cakewalk", “Choosy Choosy", "Cloud #9”, “Cold Call”, “Coulda Woulda Shoulda”, “Death’s Invitation”, “Differences”, “Don’t Change”, "Freestyle Back @ Ya", "Hit Number One", “Hott Bizzness (Remix)”, "Hott 2 Deff", "I'm A Phreak", “I’m Just Raw”, “Jet Lag (Remix)”, “Kontrol Phreak”, "Latyrx", "Long Shot", "My 9 to 5", "My City", “One Session”, “Pack Up (Remix)”, "Plastic Beach", “Pushed Aside/Pulled Apart”, “Rise and Shine”, "Shadow", "Shake It Off", “Stay Professional”, “Stop Complaining”, “Storm Warning”, “Strong Possibility”, “Sundown”, “That Good Thing”, “Top Qualified”, "Trouble, Trouble, Trouble", “Turn Me Out”, “Watershed Moment”, "Whispers", "Wtf?", "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah")
E♭2 ("(She's My) Uh Oh", “2 Hott 2 Cold”, "Alpha & Omega", "Block Bots", “Call To Arms”, "Can't Lose My Joy", "Chocolate Cake", “Emerge”, “Every Man for Himself”, "Explosive", “Give It To You”, "Go Ape Shit", “Hott Bizness”, "I Can't Wait, So Don't U Stop", “I Wanna B W/U”, "LB's Monorail", "My Favorite Ghost (Phantom Pains)", “Quannum MCs”, "Rules Were Meant To Be Broken", “Sometimes Why?”, "Stax On The Table (LB What It Look Like?)", “The Beast”, “Trippin’”, "Trouble Trouble Trouble", “The Next Level”, "This Is What We Fought For?", "This Song's Delicious", "Who's the Best (Dear Young LB)")
D2 ("Alligator Boots", "Around The Bend", "Badder Than Bad", “Before and After”, "Choosy Choosy", “Death’s Invitation”, "Diamond Door", "Do It Up, Do It Big", "Do or Die", “Have Mercy”, "Hit Number One", “Hott Bizzness (Remix)”, “Ill Vacation”, “Out Of My Mind”, “Mistakes”, "My City", “Nebula’s Eye”, “Pushed Aside/Pulled Apart”, "She Can Get It", “Stop Complaining”, “Sundown”, "The Bay", "This Is My White Voice”, “Whispers", "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah")
C♯2 ("Bang Bang Bang", "Desperada", "Everyday Love", "Trouble Trouble Trouble")
C2 ("Alligator Boots", "Around The Bend", “Before and After”, "Hit Number One", "Hott Bizness”, “I Wanna B W/U”, "My Favorite Ghost (Phantom Pains)", "She Can Get It", “Mistakes”, "The Bay", "This Is What We Fought For?", "Who's the Best (Dear Young LB)")
B1 ("Anti", "Everyday Love", “Pillz”, "This Song's Delicious", "Trouble, Trouble, Trouble")
B♭1 (“Call To Arms”, "She Can Get It", “This Is My White Voice”, “Trippin’”, "Who's the Best (Dear Young LB)")
A1 ("My Favorite Ghost (Phantom Pains)")

Blue marks falsetto notes.
Italics mark non-melodic notes.
Underlines mark notes found in background vocals or harmonies.
Boldface marks particulary impressive notes.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Description}
One of alternative hip-hop's most distinct and enduring artists, not only writing and performing vocals but also producing most of his music, Japanese-born American rapper Lyrics Born has been providing his brand of freewheeling and melodic rapping since the early 90's, though his discography (and recognition) saw further growth in the 2000's. Whether he's bragging about his skills, detailing relationships and personal struggles or spreading conscience about issues such as consumerism, corruption, discrimination, opioid addiction or war, he's does so with some of the most unique styles in rap music, especially for his time; he's one of the first rappers ever to combine rapping and singing successfully, balancing a more conversational, calm rap flow with soulful belting and high ranging melodies. To say he's underrated for his distinct and influential approach to hip-hop is an understatement.

LB's voice is best described as raw, expressive with a bit of a nasal and twangy character, and quite wide ranging. As mentioned, it's typically divided between two parts; his lower placed conversational rapping and his higher place soulful singing. His natural placement is that of a semi-low baritone (a voice type he has proudly identified as in some of his lyrics), comfortably delivering entire verses around E♭2 - G2 with a weighty tessitura. Beyond his comfort zone, some verses feature even lower pitched dips down to the top of the 1st octave. However, that was not quite the case in his pre-2000's material, as his delivery was more high pitched and less heavy sounding. With that said, his now typical singing voice developed as his placement lowered, while still being able to perform very strongly in the upper 4th octave. A lot of his singing does tend to have to cadence of his rapping, without any long sustained notes or belts. There are some exceptions, such as "This Is A Man's World?" and "Is It The Skin I'm In", with more sustained belting that displays remarkable control. Any notes above B4 are scarce for him, with the 4th octave being a zone he's more than fine with staying in control of.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Questionable Notes}
A5 (“Don’t Change” [1])
G5 ("Baby I Made It" [1])
F5 ("Good Riddance" [1], "$ir Racha" [1])
D5 (“This Is My White Voice” [2][3])

E2 ("In Case of Fire" [1])
C2 (“Lies X3” [2], “Something Better” [4])
A1 ("Trouble, Trouble, Trouble" [1])
.......................................................
[1] marks yelps and short trills in high range or anacrusis and short dips in low range.
[2] marks notes of questionable identity that cannot be confirmed to be the singer in question.
[3] marks non-melodic notes that don't have a significant enough pitch to warrant inclusion.
[4] marks notes that possess uncertain pitch or have been pitch-shifted.
[5] marks notes that do not fit the previous criteria but are not of a substantial enough quality to warrant counting towards the singer's range.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Bolded Notes}
B4 "I'm the Best (Funky Fresh in the Flesh)", "Is It The Skin I'm In"
B♭4 "Turn It Up"
A4 "Good Riddance", "This is a Man's World?"
G♯4 "Shake It Off"
G4 "Let Me In, Let Me Out", "Put 'Em Up"
F4 "I Got It (What You Need)"

B♭2 "Misfits"
G2 "Do U Buy It", "Have Mercy"
F♯2 "Desperada"
F2 "I Wanna B W/U", "Rules Were Meant To Be Broken", "The Last Trumpet"
E2 "Around The Bend", "Hit Number One", "One Session"
E♭2 "Every Man for Himself", "Explosive", "Give It To You"
D2 "Nebula's Eye"
C♯2 "Trouble, Trouble, Trouble"
C2 "My Favorite Ghost (Phantom Pains)"
B♭1 "Who’s the Best? (Dear Young LB)"