Lyric Jones Teams With Phonte Of Little Brother For New Album ‘Closer Than They Appear’
Boston, Massachusetts native Lyric Jones is a gifted rapper, drummer, singer/songwriter, producer, and occasional DJ. With about a decade-long career already under her belt, Lyric has collaborated and toured with her mentor Rah Digga, and shared stages with Pete Rock, Big Daddy Kane, Dilated Peoples, Robert Glasper, Avery Sunshine, among others. Blending jazz, soul and hip-hop with her arresting vocal ability as a singer, and razor sharp bars and cadence as an emcee, Lyric’s immense talent has earned her enthusiastic co-signs from the likes of DJ Premier, Chuck D, Black Thought, Pharoahe Monch, J-Live, and more. Her influences range from Jill Scott, Ledisi, and Georgia Anne Muldrow to Nas and Black Thought.
In her high school years, Lyric was joint enrolled at the Berklee College of Music in Boston where she was known as everyone’s “lil sis”, and honed natural ability as a performer, drummer and an emcee. In 2012, Lyric brought her talent to Los Angeles and released her debut album “Jones St“, which features collaborations with the late Phife Dawg (of A Tribe Called Quest) and Esperanza Spalding. Lyric now teaches ‘Rap Techniques’ at Hollywood’s Musicians Institute. She finds joy in paying it forward to the next generation.
Lyric’s dedication and pure love for hip-hop led her to produce and curate many showcases and events nationwide. “Closer Than They Appear” which is executive produced by Phonte can be streamed /purchased here.
The title ‘Closer Than They Appear’ serves as a motif inspired by half the fine print warning on the side view mirrors of vehicles: ‘objects in mirror are closer than they appear’… We use those side view mirrors to guide us while driving. They’re vital and important tools, directly in front of us. I see myself as an object in the mirror that may be closer to my career breakthrough and self-actualization than I think (or even others may think). It’s almost as if I’m telling myself to keep going in the album title. It all tied together when I connected with Phonte for this album. He’s one of my favorite artists ever and has been a huge influence throughout my career. Working with him seemed so far-fetched at one point. Meeting Phonte and discovering that he was already a fan of my work and had been interested in working with me boosted my confidence and renewed my fervor for my music career. Making this album, Phonte helped me break free from the ‘female rapper’ box I’ve been trying to break out of for years. My goal was to steer clear of such titles by flexing my range as a songwriter, rapper, vocalist, conceptualist, and diving into genres outside of Hip-Hop.” – Lyric Jones