Lyrics Born Same !@#$ Different Day CD

This remix CD/DVD contains five new songs and eight remix tracks that are similar to the originals only in name. Featured are stellar collaborations with artists including KRS-One, Evidence, Casual, and E-40 with production by Dan the Automator, DJ Shadow, Morcheeba, Chief Xcal, Jumbo the Garbageman, and Young Einstein.

Personnel: Lyrics Born (rap vocals); Evidence, Joyo Velarde, KRS-One, Lateef the Truth Speaker, Poets of Rhythm, C. Holiday, Casual (rap vocals); Cut Chemist, DJ Shadow (turntables).
Lyrics Born spent years, in front of the mike and behind the boards, preparing his solo debut, Later That Day.... High irony, then, that its remix album -- released just one year later -- is a much more exciting and engaging listen. Most importantly, more and better producers are heard here. For a rapper, Lyrics Born is a solid producer, and he infused his album with plenty of earthy jams, but after a cast of genuine underground hip-hop heavyweights got hold of these basic vocal tracks, they provided listeners with something special. Gifted with the first two productions, Jumbo of Lifesavaz has a special role, and his hooky versions of "Hello" and "Pack Up" (the latter with new verses from KRS-One and Dilated Peoples' Evidence) outperform the originals by a wide margin. Dan the Automator shows up for the mildly menacing "I'm Just Raw," an amusing game of the dozens that shows Lyrics Born using his head to outwit challengers (but unwisely recycling the Stuart Smalley slogan "Goshdarnit, people like me" for the chorus). Young Einstein contributes a Jackson 5 groove on "Do That There" that's just as fun as any of his Ugly Duckling productions, and remixes of "I Changed My Mind" from Stereo MC's and DJ Spinna make it easy for the vinyl-phobic to pick up a great pair of LB tracks. The disc's only disappointment is the new track "Over You," a desultory slow blues featuring a collaboration between Lyrics Born and DJ Shadow (plus LB's wife, Joyo Velarde, on vocals). [Some versions of the record also included a bonus DVD, featuring three videos, a documentary featurette, and live footage from a 2004 tour by LB and the Quannum family.] ~ John Bush
On his years-in-the-making debut, LATER THAT DAY, rapper Lyrics Born scored a critical conquest, showing off a dizzying wit delivered in a measured, gravelly, bluesy style (check out his incredible turn on R.L. Burnside's A BOTHERED MIND for further proof). SAME !@#$ DIFFERENT DAY gathers together MCs and producers who worked with Lyrics Born (a Japanese native and San Francisco resident) in the years before his breakout, and the result is the rarest of remix albums, one that flows with the organic spirit of an escalating party. As rapper Casual notes during the remix of "Callin' Out," "If you must do a remix, this is the way it's got to be done."
Jumbo (of the underexposed Lifesavas) gets the action started with raw beats and quirky melodies on the consecutive remixes of "Hello" and "Pack Up." (The latter track features the incomparable KRS-One dropping by to drop some philosophy.) Some of the re-inventions are in the straight hip-hop vein (Young Einstein's take on "Do That There"), while others go further afield (the chaotic reworking of the politically charged "The Last Trumpet," featuring sharp scratching from DJ Shadow). New tracks include the hilarious "I'm Just Raw" and the bare-bones blues tune "Over You."

Rolling Stone (p.72) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "[I]t's an open-minded return to the rap-funk wellspring that make the original album great."