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Dec 13, 2010I concede that playing by old school rules produces most of As U Were's hottest bangers....On the album's lesser half, the hooks are just as big but weak, and the rhyming is sluggish or scarce.
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Nov 29, 2010Ironically, if there is one thing holding these songs back, it's Lyrics Born himself. Shimura spits sparingly, often just to shake a little life into the imaginary crowd once the groove settles.
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Nov 17, 2010Japanese-American hip-hop lifer Lyrics Born may never top Later That Day..., his career-defining 2003 album, but he still puts in an honest year's work.
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Under The RadarNov 4, 2010His raspy, wonderful voice often lags behind, and the actual substance of the lines gets lost in the dust. [Fall 2010, p.74]
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Nov 2, 2010Though he sounds slightly out of place on the screeching "Lies X 3," standouts "We Live by the Beat" and "Kontrol Phreak" impressively blend synth-funk and neo-new-wave glamour.
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Nov 2, 2010Call it reliable or call it boring, As U Were slots into the Lyrics Born discography comfortably, as an album any hip-hop fan could enjoy, but hardly love.
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Nov 2, 2010As a funk or electro album, As U Were is fun to listen to. A little cheesy, maybe, but it gets the proverbial party started, which is always a clear sign that something's going well. It's when Lyrics Born tries to hang on too tightly to his old roots that things start to get messy.
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Nov 2, 2010It wouldn't hurt him to slow his roll here. Most of the record is spent on blithe, fruitless trips down other people's styles.