Later That Day eschews any staid notions of what hip-hop is all about. As he piles layer upon layer of funk, r&b, rock, reggae and soul into Later That Day , Lyrics Born wears his influences on his sleeve -- from Buju Banton to Rowdy Roddy Piper to Grace Jones to the ubiquitous Tribe Called Quest and Outkast.

LB founded the seminal Northern California hip-hop collective Solesides back in '92, along with DJ Shadow and Blackalicious. The very first 12" was a little double-A number called "Send Them b/w Entropy" by Asia Born (as he was known then) and DJ Shadow, respectively. As Solesides transmogrified into Quannum, the hits kept coming and coming -- from Shadow's Entroducing to Blackalicous' Nia . For LB , his first brush with notoriety came in '97, when a self-produced track entitled "Balcony Beach" managed to elbow its way onto commercial hip-hop radio in LA. The subsequent Latyrx album, a heady combo of LB 's patented growl and the sing-songy sounds of Solesides alum, Lateef the Truthspeaker made them a household name.

Lateef and Lyrics Born stage a reunion of sorts on Later That Day , spitting politically charged lyrics over what could only be described as demented African dancehall funk on "Last Trumpet." Also appearing on the album is none other than Cut Chemist (beat maker extraordinaire for SoCal's Jurassic 5), gracing us with an uptempo charger called "Do That There." Excluding the vituperative "Pack Up," which was produced by DJ D Sharp, the rest of the beats are of LB 's own creation, with selected help from Germany's Poets of Rhythm , and frequent collaborator/Bay Area hero Tommy Guerrero . Check "Cold Call" for a guest appearance by Blackalicious' Gift of Gab .

It wouldn't be right to not make mention of Miss Joyo Velarde , paramour to Mr. Born -- Cher to his Sonny, Nancy to his Lee, Mary to his Meth. The angelic vocals of Velarde, which were actually heard first on "Balcony Beach," grace several numbers on Later That Day , most notably the lurching Jamaican sounds of "Love Me So Bad."

Lyrics Born seemlessly blends styles and defies categorization, redefining what a good hip-hop album should be. He brings us boundless funk and head-nodding bliss on Later That Day , a day-in-the-life, anecdotal window into Lyrics Born 's everyman existence.