Lyrics Born

Tsutomu "Tom" Shimura (born September 2, 1972), better known by his stage name Lyrics Born (formerly Asia Born), is a Japanese-American rapper, singer, and producer. He is one half of the duo Latyrx with Lateef the Truthspeaker. Early life Shimura was born in Tokyo and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah and Berkeley, California. He attended Henry B. Plant High School in Tampa, Florida. Career Shimura changed his stage name from Asia Born to Lyrics Born in 1995, citing the desire to ensure that he won fans based on his merits as a rapper rather than his ethnicity. His first studio album, Later That Day, was released on Quannum Projects in 2003. In an article published by Rolling Stone in 2022, Later That Day was listed as one of the "200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time."