Required Reading: “Don’t Try to Pigeonhole Asian-American MC Lyrics Born”

Tsutomu Shimura is as dynamic of a musician as they come, so it’s only fitting that he wouldn’t want to be pigeon holed. You may better know him as Bay-Area artist Lyrics Born, who has never been afraid to push the boundaries of Hip-Hop and bring in elements of other genres and cultures and set it to his eclectic rap style. His recent interview with Noisey by Vice goes a little more in depth on his heart behind his music and his overall creative process.

There are so many good quotes from LB, but here is one of my favorites:

How do you decide how much to assert your status as an Asian-American in your music?
As necessary. My experience will always be my experience, it will always shape my art. I do have songs like “Skin I’m In” on Everywhere At Once. I do address it specifically, but at the end of the day, I don’t know if I’m watering my plants or if I’m watering plants as an Asian-American. Certain things I just do as a human being. Ultimately that’s what we’re going for: first acknowledgement, then acceptance. Let’s get ourselves seen as part of the landscape, then let’s just all be us.

Def, def, def check out the rest of the article over at Noisey!