Lyrics Born - Everywhere at Once

“For his second solo studio record, the Quannum Projects godfather veers left from his sample-centric background and into something that should be highly pleasing to anyone who enjoyed hip-hop in 1988. “Everywhere at Once” isn’t the map-jumping free-for-all inferred by its title; rather, this is a focused and thoughtfully crafted party record that finds Lyrics Born employing a live band to work up his newfound love of shimmering, shining pop-funk, even as he expands his hoop-jumping, rat-a-tat rhymes. There’s much to dig into here, especially the readymade singles “I Like It, I Love It” and “Hott 2 Deff,” which sounds like something left over from the “Off the Wall” sessions. Meanwhile, “Do U Buy It” channels, uh, Gary Numan, and “Differences” and “Cakewalk” venture smartly into relationship territory. —Jeff Vrabel”