Lyrics Born - Overnite Encore: Lyrics Born Live!

Genre hip hop Publisher Quannum Projects External Links Official Lyrics Born Website Official Quannum Projects Website

Making the decision to attend a live hip-hop show has, unfortunately, evolved into a hit-or-miss proposition over the last decade or so. Complaints of horrifically late starts, no shows, last-minute cancellations, terrible sound problems, and rappers dropping sets that barely last twenty minutes have allowed hip-hop to be tagged with an unfair reputation as being horrible in a live setting. It seems that a good percentage of mainstream rappers are more concerned with showing up to collect a paycheck than they are with putting on a good show for their fans, meaning things have come a long way since the days of the hard-working emcees giving their all to rock the crowd on a Brooklyn street corner. Which is really a shame, because when done right a hip-hop show can be just as thrilling and transcendent as a performance in any other genre.

Thankfully, in addition to breathing some fresh air into a genre with a propensity for resting on its platinum-selling laurels, the new crop of independent rappers flying under the radar are also doing their best to repair hip-hop's tarnished live reputation. A case in point is Overnite Encore: Lyrics Born Live, the recent live album by the rapper and founding member of the highly regarded Quannum Projects independent label, one-time home to underground rap legends Blackalicious and DJ Shadow. Overnite Encore documents his August 2005 tour of Australia and is comprised of songs from two different shows recorded in Melbourne and Sydney, as well as three new studio recorded bonus tracks.

Throughout the disc, and this tour, Lyrics Born is backed by a full-fledged funk band with all the trimmings - scratchy guitar, lots of bass, a little organ, some funky drumming, and even soul-singing backup vocals. It isn't exactly a groundbreaking idea but Lyrics Born pulls if off well, managing to sound right at home with the insistent grooves the band lays down. He tears through songs from all phases of his career, even delving back into his Latryx days for "Lady Don't Tek No" and "Aim for the Flickering Flame". His flow is tight throughout, even when his "Do That There Medley" finds him spitting words per minute at a rate that would make Twista jealous. He is in total control of the crowd from start to finish, acting as his own hype man between songs and working the crowd into a relative frenzy in which they hang on his every word. But what makes this such a fun at home listen is that he knows he is backed by a more than competent band and he's comfortable to step back and let them do their thing, whether on the dubbed out, psychedelic "Love Me So Bad" or the great breakdown during the "Stop Complaining" jam. Everything melds together in a distinctly old school way, even when the band is jacking a Kanye or Game beat for Lyrics Born to spit a couple bars over.

My only complaint would be the poor editing between tracks, it becomes very obvious by the awkward transitions that this is pieced together and at times it really interrupts the flow of things. But that's a minor quibble that is quickly forgotten once the band starts rolling out another groove for Lyrics Born to take off from. It's a great document of what must have been an exciting tour to experience and, maybe more importantly, an even better reminder of just how much fun a live hip-hop show can be.