Latyrx

Latyrx (/læˈtɪrɪks/ la-TI-riks) is an American alternative hip-hop duo consisting of Lateef and Lyrics Born.^[1][2][3] The duo originated from the Solesides collective at the University of California, Davis.

Latyrx
Background information
Origin	Davis, California, United States
Genres	Alternative hip hop
Years active	1996–present
Labels	Solesides
Members	Lateef the Truthspeaker Lyrics Born

History

Lateef the Truthspeaker and Lyrics Born were both involved in the Solesides collective, whose members shared a common experimental approach to hip-hop and were involved in student radio at the University of California, Davis. They both initially recorded as solo artists, with Lyrics Born originally using the moniker "Asia Born." In early 1993, Lyrics Born released the first single on the Solesides label, titled "Send Them."^[4]

DJ Shadow, another Solesides member, contributed production to four tracks on Latyrx’s debut album.^[5] The first release under the "Latyrx" name came in 1996 as the B-side to Lateef’s solo single "The Wreckoning." The track, also titled "Latyrx," featured a experimental vocal layering technique wherein both MCs performed different verses played simultaneously.

In 1996, additional solo releases followed, including Lateef’s "The Quickening (The Wreckoning Pt. II)," produced by DJ Shadow, and Lyrics Born's "Balcony Beach," backed with "Burnt Pride". Much of this solo work, along with new material, was compiled into their debut album The Album, released in 1997.

The follow-up EP, Muzapper's Mixes, was released in 1997 and included the notable single "Lady Don’t Tek No." A remix compilation, Muzapper’s Remixes, followed in 1998. The Album was briefly reissued in 1999 before going out of print.

During this period, Solesides Records restructured into a new label, Quannum Projects, with the collective adopting "Quannum" as its official name. Latyrx subsequently appeared on "8 Point Agenda," a 1999 single by The Herbaliser, and contributed material to the Quannum Spectrum compilation that same year.^[6]

Discography

Albums

• The Album (1997)
• The Second Album (2013)^[7]

EPs

• The Muzapper's Mixes EP (1997)
• Disconnection (2012)

Remix albums

• The Muzapper's Mixes (1997)

Compilations

• Latyrical Madness Volume 1 (2012)

Live albums

• Latyrx: Live at Google (2012)

Singles

• "Lady Don't Tek No" (1997)