NEWS AND LYRICAL FACTS:
Lyrical and his wife, Love Jones (pictured), will be featured together on Lyrical's new album "PUT EM ALL TO SHAME." The album is entirely produced by DJ SHAME and is being engineered by Lyrical's former student Robie Rowland. Robie is now the co-owner of Echo Studios in Boston. You can hear audio of "HOT," a single that Robie produced, which was an exclusive gift made for the guests at the Lyrical & Love Jones wedding. The cover of the single is featured as the picture on this page. The photos of the couple were all taken by the bride's brother, Ray Jones.
LYRICAL is a faculty member at Norhteastern University and is currently teaching the mathematics of the music industry as a project with his freshman. The class follows the career of a rap artist at multiple sales levels and look at how to construct an algebraic formula that can predetermine the yearly income at every level of sales for the artist and his or her team. This project was recently covered by The Chronicle of Higher Education and will appear in an upcoming edition of this esteemed newspaper.
Lyrical is currently an Adjunct Professor at the New England Institute of Art and Bay State College. In addition to these two schools (and Northeastern University), Lyrical has also taught at Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology, Lasell College, Fisher College, Middlesex Community College, and Le Cordon Bleu (Boston Culinary College). Before teaching college Lyrical was a high school teacher in his native Lowell, for the Lowell High School Alternative Program. He was hired, along with Jen (Hartigan) Couture, to help write the business plan and teach (Mathematics) at the school. Ms. Couture is currently teaching History for the LAHSP.
Lyrical is a vegetarian. He has not had red meat since 1989 and has not eaten any foods that came with a face (face foods) since 1998. Lyrical does not drink, has therefore never been intoxicated, nor has he ever done a drug. He does admittedly have a borderline case of OCD and attributes this quality, along with an addictive personality, to why he has become a proficient writer and mathematician.
In 2003 and 2004 Lyrical performed about 15 stand-up comedy shows at various clubs in New England. He had been asked to host more and more shows and wanted to develop stand-up skills and improved timing to be a better host. He also takes great comedic pleasure in the fact that he has written this "news" section in a second person narrative voice and is well aware many will never catch this detail. He laughs to himself while now reading this online, which is in some cases one more laugh than many of his jokes received back in 2003 on the Boston comedy circuit. Lyrical will do stand up again when time permits.
Lyrical was a core-extra in the Paramount film "School Ties" that started Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Chris O'Donnel, Brendon Fraser and more. He is very visible dancing next to Brendan at the high school dance scene and running onto the basketball court in this movie which was set the 1950's. The film mistakenly used a gym with a three point line- even though in the 1950's there was no such thing as a three pointer. Lyrical pointed this out to the director who decided not to re-shoot the scenes (ironically the name of Lyrical's extra part was "boy on basketball team" even though this glorious title does not appear in the credits). Since most high school students were not rocking a bald fade in the 1950's, Lyrical can be spotted with a 50's dew in full effect (which he kept for quite awhile -including senior portraits). He has also been featured on Animal Planet, Chronicle, Urban Update, CityLine and many other local and regional broadcasts.
As a teen in the rap group X-Caliber, Lyrical was first on a vinyl record entitled "Twist on Dis" which appeared in stores by 1990. This record was released on Jam Trac records and was recorded at Newbury Sound in Boston and produced by DJ Luis "Col" Medina who heard Lyrical Lord Plourde and other members of X-Cal in Lowell at the local college (UMass-Lowell) radio station (WJUL/WUML) free-styling on Diamond Don Saunders weekly show. Diamond Don would feature X-Caliber's early rap song efforts on the air, as well as mega-mixes by DJ Luis Medina. Don would later throw shows across the street at Cumnock Hall at the university that would include DJ SHAME; this is where Lyrical was first introduced to DJ SHAME and his turntable skills. This also sealed the deal for Lyrical who decided at this point he too would go to college at UMass-Lowell and eventually become a DJ on the air and involve himself in Hip Hop promotions. Lyrical sharpened his DJ skills from this point on due to further inspiration from another local emcee/DJ, and long-time friend, "Def Rock" from EMC.
X-Caliber went on to record "Butta Messenga", and "Brand Name Woman" in the late 1990's; the records are considered area classics to this day and both continue to sell extremely well overseas (Def Rock did the scratches and pre-production of these tracks). Lyrical soon after started recording as a solo artist and moved out of Lowell to head to Cambridge and next created the group Invasion with longtime friend "Dred" (AKA Sickmen) and his cousin J. "Presence" Scott.
From 2002-2006 Lyrical promoted scores of shows throughout the Boston area including a one year Friday night residency at Axis/Avalon which up till that time was notorious for not playing much Hip Hop. Lyrical also promoted Wednesday nights at the very popular Bill's Bar in Boston, shows at The Western Front and The Middle East Club in Cambridge, and venues in Lowell and all around the Greater Boston area during this time period. Lyrical also partnered with the Mass Industry Committee to help promote and plan many shows including the M.I.C. Hip Hop Awards at the Back Bay Event Center in Boston. Voting for the awards was online and at stores everywhere and the event was a tremendous sold-out success. Lyrical was nominated for five awards himself in 2006, and one in 2007. Lyrical also worked for Mayor Menino's Hip Hop round table for two years and performed at the City Hall Peace Fests opening for acts like Big Daddy Kane and many more.
In 2006 Lyrical's solo album was voted "Album of the Year"in the Mass Industry Hip Hop Awards after receiving a great deal of press and airplay throughout the region and on college and mainstream mix-shows nationwide. During this same period Lyrical was entering and winning a multitude of MC Battles. Lyrical won several Onslaught MC Battles at Clark University in Worcester, two Boston Losst Unnown Battles, The Scorz MC Battle in New Hanpshire and several smaller ones in the area. Previously Lyrical had won other smaller battles, but was also a competitor in the most famous battle of all time - The New Music Seminar/Clark Kent 1993 Battle for World Supremacy. He also made it to the East Coast Zulu Nation Finals Battle in Harlem in 1994, and two Boston Superbowl Battles, and other lesser known competitions in the area- and as far away as Seattle (Brainstorm Battle). Lyrical would also host his own battles in Lowell (co-hosted by Immortal Technique) and others all around the Boston area - including the Red Bull Spanish MC Battle that culminated in Puerto Rico.
Invasion recorded and released two successful 12 inch singles "WHY" and "SALT" (Myshowcalledlife Records) which received enormous radio support in the area and charted well throughout the country throughout 2003. By 2004 Lyrical had started recording a solo album, iNFiNiTi, that would additionally feature several unreleased Invasion and X-Caliber tracks, plus other songs featuring members of those groups. The album was released in 2005 on Lyrical's D.I.M.E. label which was picked up by Blaze The World Records which previously was distributed by Caroline/EMI. iNFiNiTi was recognized as one of the more highly acclaimed albums of the year for independent Hip Hop.
iNFiNiTi was engineered by Nelly Pro Tools and all the graphics were also done by Nelly, with his partner from Scratchismz - A. Garcia - doing all of the photography. Only the earlier recorded material from Invasion and X-Caliber was not recorded at Scratchismz studios; those were recorded in part at Wonka Studios by Bob Nash. The album featured the single THE FOCUZ IS BACK (Massive Records) which by 2006 had charted as high as #2 on the national college radio charts. The album featured artists, producers and DJs that had been instrumental to Lyrical throughout his career. This included artists and friends such as Illin' P, Rip Shop, Session, eNVy, D.I.Z., DJ Jimizz, and DJ Gee-Spin along with production from long time friends Def Rock, Syntax, Ski (background skit music "Headbobbas" produced for X-Caliber in 1996), D-Tension, Nelly Pro Tools, Nyda, Iroq, and newcomers Caz-1 (Invasion producer) and Decap.
Lyrical plays basketball regularly and can also juggle. Lyrical sites his pogo-stick skills and impersonations of various cartoon and Muppet characters as his guilty pleasures. Writing in the second person (or is it third?) is also a highly enjoyable past-time for this Lowell born artist.
EXTREMELY RANDOM LYRICAL TRIVIA AND TIDBITS:
- Lyrical has lived on West Meadow Road, Dingwell Street at Princeton Blvd, Varney Street, and Bridge Street (Mass Mill Drive) in Lowell. He attended Chelmsford High school but taught at Lowell High.
- His elementary school on Middlesex Street in Lowell was knocked down and is now replaced by a KFC/Taco Bell. While at Chelmsford High lyrical co-starred in a local movie called "Wave Good-Bye" about a time machine/ microwave oven with some upperclassman friends at the high school.
- His first real job was as a paperboy for the Lowell Sun.
- He was a manager at Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
- His first group was Chemical Reaction. His second group was Cruz Control that later became X-Caliber. The original members were Joey B, Cruz Master Fee, Marcus B. Hot (AKA the Heat), and Lyrical (Lord Plourde) and studio DJ Kamikaze G. The live DJ's were DJ Styles and DJ Zulu, and Go Go G was an occasional keyboard playing studio member who also offered his back yard porch as a site for many of the groups first "concert" performances. The Uh Oh Dancers were the official dance crew!
- Lyrical is sitting on an Ottoman that his mother bought him for Christmas. This ottoman was the type that came inside a larger Ottoman which he keeps upstairs in his townhouse. Lyrical has had many Ottomans and therefore it is not odd at all for this picture of Lyrical sitting on one in an abandoned street in Downtown Boston with his wife in an elegant dress to be featured as the picture you are now looking at.
- X-Caliber rapped at the campaign kickoff for Paul Tsongas in Lowell.
- X-Caliber wrote the "Nick Paleologus Rap" for Nick when he ran for the office (he did not win, but his campaign won for best media campaign).
- X-Caliber has endorsed Xanthus Sneakers along with former Celtic Xavier MCDaniel and the short lived Magic line of Converse Sneakers that were pulled from stores at the same time Magic Johnson came down with HIV and soon after retired. The group made songs for both products.
- X-Caliber first recorded rap songs and performed for sales kick off parties for Apollo Computer which was later bought out by Hewlett Packard which the group also endorsed.
- X-Caliber was once mistaken for Kriss Kross at a Kiss 108 FM Concert in Massachusetts by reporters.
- KRS-1 has filmed a video segment for X-Caliber which the group subsequently lost.
- Ms. Melody gave X-Caliber Kentucky Fried Chicken at Smith College back stage when they opened up for Boogie Down Productions.
