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The Lab Rats
- Avg user rating:
Out of 8 votes - Similar Artists: RJD2, Eminem, Beck, Prince Paul, Automator
Out of 8 votes
- Location: Columbus, Ohio, United States
- Genre: Hip-Hop » Alternative Rap
Editor's review
Some music evokes memories of a friend in your hometown, and the Lab Rats seem like that friend, the one you've known since high school. MC Brian Brown (who also adds some guitar) brings witty honest wordplay from an everyday man's perspective. DJ KW lays down raw, chunky drum breaks filled with crusty but funky rhythms that complete this down-to-earth hip-hop package.
Biography
Members: Brian Brown, MC: vocals, electric guitar. Kelly Warner, DJ: turntables, Show-Bud pedal steel guitar, keyboards, congas, backing vocals/MC. Biography: Multi-instrumental musicians from Columbus, Ohio who make genre-bending music featuring rap, beats, grooves, keyboards, guitars, scratches, riffs, jams, feedback, sweat, laughs, beers, blues and truths. The Lab Rats are defined by a Rock and Roll mentality and a blue collar reality; explained within the realm of hip hop, blues, rock & electronica; determined to make new music. Coming from the lower-middle class land of suburbia, lyricist/guitarist, Brian Brown delivers observations taken from his life and the world around him. With 30 menial day jobs under his belt and the loans from his unfinished community college days almost paid off, he has chosen the pen as his weapon to combat the doldrums of a Midwestern, working class lifestyle. DJ KW is the beatmaking part of this duo. Deeply experienced in the making and DJing of electronic music, KW is steeply entrenched in a multi-instrumental world of keyboards, laptops, guitars, hand percussion. KW loves technology and loves it equally in his studio and on your stage. In addition to blazing his pedal steel guitar, he uses two Numark CD-X digital turntables and KORG synths. "Half Full Ashtrays, Half Empty Glasses" is the second offering from this Columbus based hiphop duo. It’s front porch stories of ghost trains that visit you in the night. It's an existential exercise that explains the purpose of your nervous system. It's a guide to stretching pennies and the art of scratching lottery tickets. It's a deadbeat dad story that would make Oprah Winfrey weep. It's a conspiracy theory from a delirious lyricist. It’s half full ashtrays and half empty glasses. Everything you hear on this record (beats, clinks, riffs, skronks, booms and bips) were performed by the Rats themselves and are the result of a self contained effort. No classic recordings were harmed in the making of this album. Their first record, "Short Order EP" was called one of the best five releases in 2004 by the Columbus Other Paper. www.Myspace.com/LabRats www.laboratoryrats.com
