2018 has already been a huge year for improved Asian-American representation in the media, from this summer’s breakout rom-com hit Crazy Rich Asians, to Jimmy O. Yang’s guidebook on how to American, to Rich Brian and his 88rising cohorts’ crossover from YouTube celebrities to mainstream rap icons. But before there was “Dat $tick” there was Lyrics Born, a pre-Internet Japanese rap icon known for his status among the Bay Area’s underground elite of the ’90s alongside DJ Shadow, Dr. Octagon, and Del the Funky Homosapien.
Coming off a cameo in another summer hit, Sorry to Bother You, and preceding his role in Netflix’s forthcoming Always Be My Maybe, the rapper born Tsutomu Shimura continues this trailblazing year by announcing his tenth studio album, Quite a Life, to be released later this month. Having already shared “Is it Worth It?” in July, today we’re getting a second taste in the form of a new video for the Gift of Gab (Blackalicious) and Chali 2na (Jurassic 5)-featuring “When I Get My Check ($, $, $).” With his wife Joyo Velarde rounding off the trio with a catchy one-word refrain, the track—and more so its video—is the perfect cap to an unbelievably fun and refreshingly diverse summer.
“I love being ridiculous,” Shimura says of the vibrantly costumed video. “It’s not often in life we get to say outlandish, fantastical shit and just dream out loud. This track and video gives me the opportunity to do that with three people I love artistically, and as human beings.”
Quite a Life drops September 14 on Mobile Home Recordings. You can preorder it here.
