Let’s Discover Some Idols: MIC RAW RUGA(laboratory)

/ DAEMON

In my duties maintaining The Calendar, I stumbled across an upcoming livestream with a guest performance by one of my current trad-ol favorites, caeca.  The  headliner and presenter for the show is a unit named MIC RAW RUGA(laboratory) who have apparently been hosting a regular series of lives featuring site regulars such as  Gu-Gu LULU, Los an Jewels and NELN. I was intrigued that a unit with such impeccable associations could fly under the Homicidols radar for so long, and decided to see what they were all about.

That choice made my life better:

Introducing, “dog kawaii”, the unexpected candidate for 2020 Song of the Year. The haunting music box tones of Eminem’s darker tracks mix with an aggressive flow rhyming about shots at the vet and thrown sticks culminating in a (literally) barked chorus insisting that, damnit, dogs are cute. But this affirming tune isn’t just for the dog people. The brave and infectious song takes a daring turn in later verses serving as an anthem for inclusivity with the groundbreaking declaration that, yes, cats are cute as well.

It’s a banger.

As for the group behind it, MIC RAW RUGA(laboratory) are a four-member unit that have been active since late 2018.  In addition to the above 2020 single they released an EP , CONCORDE, last year.

Their sound seems to borrow equally from vintage RUN DMC/Salt-N-Pepa-era hip-hop, R&B and modern rap influences and techniques.  If the sound seems a bit reminiscent of early RHYMEBERRY, that’s no mistake.  The producer behind MIC RAW RUGA(laboratory), E TICKET PRODUCTION, was formerly at the helm of RHYMEBERRY for the first several years of their existence.

If you want to see the group in action, the aforementioned livestream with caeca and EMOE is being Twitcast this coming weekend.

It is also worth noting that the unit’s distribution and promotion seemed to be handled by VIDEO THINK, a mixed media outlet that, among other things, has published some in-depth interviews with FAREWELL, MY L.u.v, NELN and others.