Lyrics Born- Critics called Lyrics Born's solo debut Later That Day... (2003) a magnum opus. Robert Christgau wrote in the Village Voice, There's a complex personality in Lyrics Born's voice alone - serious and good-humored, down yet beyond down, committed to continuity, meaning committed to change. Lyrics Born garnered a spotlight on MTV's You Hear It First and then his album took off like an Incredimobile, storming critical top 10s and selling over 120,000 copies worldwide. In 2004 Callin Out became a rare indie smash on big-time radio, cooling out at number 1 for five weeks on the influential San Francisco station, Live 105. Lyrics Born ransacked Europe, Asia, North and South America, both on his own and with the Roots, De La Soul, Franz Ferdinand, the Killers and Modest Mouse, including a triumphant and extremely successful all-Quannum tour. Meanwhile, his songs started popping up in Diet Coke, Motorola, Tower Records and Vans commercials, and Michael Mann's movie, Collateral. 2005 ushered in a funkdafied remix of Later That Day. Same !@number USD - Different Day, far exceeding anyone's comprehension of a remix record, prompted a revamped live show that fully incorporated his unique blend of funk, hip-hop and rock. LB took these explosive full-band performances across the country, while continuing to land high-profile licensing deals with the likes of hit HBO shows Entourage & Six Feet Under, the WB's Gilmore Girls, the cult-hit movie, Waiting, ESPN and numerous million-plus-selling EA Sports, 2K Sports, and Atari video games. Same !@number USD - Different Day garnered several top 10 nods, including the Village Voice and NPR's Fresh Air. Surpassing 200,000 records sold, Lyrics Born now plays to crowds of thousands instead of hundreds. He has risen from an underground hip-hop icon to a fixture on the national circuit, playing in excess of one hundred shows a year. LB clocks more touring among independent artists than just about anyone, hip-hop or otherwise. In 2006 he proved he's got the funkiest show around with appearances at Coachella, Lollapalooza, Vegoose, Bonnaroo, Langerado and Australia's Good Vibe Festival. He played to jam-packed venues across Europe including two consecutive sold-out nights at London's Jazz CafeI?. LB rounds out 2006 with Overnite Encore- Lyrics Born LIVE!, his first live album, a rarity among hip-hop artists. He celebrates the release by launching a North American co-headlining tour with Cut Chemist, immediately followed by a headlining Australian tour with stops in New Zealand. The success has long been in the making. In 1990, as a freshman at the University of California - Davis, Lyrics Born met four people with whom his life would be inexorably linked - Chief Xcel and the Gift of Gab of Blackalicious, a young Josh Davis (otherwise known as DJ Shadow) and an aspiring MC named Lateef the Truth Speaker. Forming the now seminal label Solesides, their inauguralrelease was a double-A 12 with DJ Shadow's Entropy and Send Them by Asia Born,Lyrics Born's former moniker. Solesides' DIY attitude had already trickled down to otherCalifornia artists by this point, and soon other labels like Hieroglyphics and Stones Throw followed suit, marking the true beginning of the underground scene. After leaving Davis in 95, the quintuplet agreed to continue releasing their own records independently, with Lyrics Born and Lateef's Latyrx- THE ALBUM at the forefront. Latyrx was an unprecedented hit and was shortly followed by Quannum's SPECTRUM, a label compilation largely assembled by Lyrics Born. Featuring jaw-dropping tracks like Storm Warning, the album went on to sell 100,000 copies worldwide. Much of its success can be attributed to the Lyrics Born track I Changed My Mind a smash hit that blew up charts around the globe and sold tens of thousands of copies on its own as a single.