Following the critically acclaimed “Exit Path,” Lab Rat continues to merge the seemingly opposite worlds of rap and rock, groove and grunge, with “Drunk.” Here, he scatters deft and dexterous hip-hop salvos of lyrical observation over a sound that is part back street Bronx, part Seattle alt-rock. (The fact that Lab Rat is from Australia speaks volumes about how small the musical world is in the modern age.)
But if music is to move forward, it has to be through musical mavericks flouting the established rules and traditions. It was because of such attitudes that we moved from the old, tribal world to this more healthy, more cross-genre world that we find ourselves in today. It is through artists such as Lab Rat that the music scene will continue to evolve, bear fruit, and explore sonic pastures new.
For everyone who digs the heavy guitar grooves, there will be soneone who relates to the rapped deliveries. For every dyed-in-the-wool rocker who gets a better appreciation for urban sounds, there will be a member of the hip-hop or rap crew who finds themselves getting into the alt-rock ethos.
The future is arriving all the time, and “Drunk” is the sound of one version of it. It’s a version that I’m more than happy with.
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[…] ever walking that fine line between rock and rap, Lab Rat returns with his latest single, “Rolling Loud.” This third single from an album to […]