Q&A: Lyrics Born Returns to Noise Pop Festival 2026 with a Headlining Show at Gray Area
With Noise Pop Festival 2026 set to sweep across San Francisco, few performers capture the festival’s independent, boundary‑pushing ethos as vividly as Lyrics Born. Tsutomu “Tom” Shimura – the Tokyo‑born, Salt Lake City–raised, and Berkeley‑shaped artist – has spent decades carving out a singular space as a rapper, singer, producer, and actor. His last Noise Pop appearance was 20 years ago in 2006, so his return feels like a homecoming too long in the making.
This year, the veteran MC and Bay Area icon headlines Mission District venue Gray Area on February 27, bringing the unmistakable blend of funk, humor, and genre‑bending creativity that has defined his career. He just released a new song “I Love Myself” featuring Bay Area rapper P-Lo.
Ahead of the show, we caught up with Lyrics Born to talk about his inspirations, the shifting landscape of independent music, and the San Francisco spot he currently likes to visit most.
During your teenage years, what sounds inspired you?
I was all about hip-hop. 100%. At that time, everything coming out of the Bay Area was like Too $hort. Early Too $hort. It was 415. NWA. Ice Cube. Sir-Mix-a Lot. 2 Live Crew. And then on the New York side. The East. It was almost all Native Tongues and Juice Crew. De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest. Big Daddy Kane. KRS one. Biz Markie. Jungle Brothers. I was hip-hop to my core.
You’ve been making music for 30+ years. What motivates you to keep going?
I love music. I love figuring out puzzles. That’s what it is. Every year presents a new challenge. It’s the way my mind works. I get tremendous satisfaction out of envisioning these highly unrealistic wild goals and then figuring out how to not only achieve them but surpass them. And I love to perform. I think that’s it. I’m an artist to my core.
You last played Noise Pop in 2006. How is the Bay Area indie scene today compared to back then?
That’s pretty amazing that both of us are still going. The Bay Area indie scene is now the world scene. Back then, the Bay Area indie scene was still strong but it felt a little niche. Just to see the independent hip hop industry. Empire. P-Lo. LaRussell. Seeing it now, being independent back then was kind of only a Bay Area thing. We had no choice. Now independence is the norm and we’re leading it. We’ve seen a resurgence in the past 5 years in the Bay. I wanted to pay homage to that. We’re part of this whole big new global wave, but also pay homage to the origin of that. This throwback hyphy Lil’ Jon style
If you had to describe your music to someone who had never heard you before, what would you say?
Oh, (it’s) the funkiest shit you’ve ever heard.
Are you doing anything to help promote young artists who are just starting their careers?
I mentor a lot of people. I have always done that behind the scenes. Right now, I probably get 5-10 text messages a day, 2-3 conversations a week with other artists that are trying to get. I gotta be honest. They mentor me too. I feel like I do what I do well and I feel like I’m an expert on longevity, and expert on being Asian American. I follow all the tools and the methods that require the artist to be super tapped in. We need each other to provide each other with information to grow. I’m learning from these guys.
Where are some of your favorite places to hangout in San Francisco?
I love Japantown right now. I think Japantown is seeing a comeback since the pandemic. When I was growing up, Japantown was kind of corny and dumpy. They had shitty food when I was a kid. It really upset me as a kid. This is the best we can do? There was a Denny’s in Japantown for 20 years. To me, that was my favorite place to go.
In the past 5 years, there’s so many new restaurants, snack shops, desert places, toy stores, dope clothing stores. They got my favorite market, Nijiya. I love going to Japantown now. It’s full of people. It’s a crazy amount of activity.
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