About Lax Boyz

People typically don’t look to teen rappers to be innovative and to push the genre forward. LAX -- the Los Angeles-based trio of Spank B, Poke and Zay Zay -- is about to change that.

Spank B (brother of Poke and cousin of Zay Zay) represents for the streets with sharp punch lines and clever metaphors. The confident Zay Zay represents for the ladies and Poke brings the best of all worlds to his artistry. Spank, the group’s most vocal member, is extremely personable, while Zay Zay’s charm is evident upon first glance. As is the case with his music, Poke combines Spank’s spunk with Zay’s savvy. As a unit, LAX draws from such disparate influences as The Notorious B.I.G., Juelz Santana and E-40, helping create music that covers a variety of sounds and styles.

LAX (short for LA International and also the slang name for Los Angeles International Airport) honed their skills by playing numerous live shows throughout Southern California and Nevada. With the help of producer Poli Paul (who developed the group) and the guidance of managers Doc Clarke (a popular LA radio personality) & Ian Fletcher, LAX built up a substantial fan base and were offered multiple major label deals. But LAX chose to align themselves with innovative veteran A&R guru Demetrius Spencer and Texas based venture capitalist Bobby Patton, who signed the trio to their well-funded One Recordings.

The trio then impressed platinum producer Jazze Pha and secured his services for its single, “Ride Like This.” With smooth, wistlely keyboards, the addictive beat serves as the perfect backdrop for the trio to boast about its cars.

“We’re basically telling everybody stop because they haven’t seen a ride like this,” Spank explains. “Immediately, there was a bond between Jazze Pha and us. We just felt a good vibe and we like vibing with people. He has good character. He brings energy and it just pops off. We made a great record and it became the single.”

LAX then gets serious on “My Block,” an autobiographical cut where they rap about the peril of growing up in Los Angeles’ gang infested streets with the insight and perspective of the genre’s elite. Elsewhere, they team up with Poli Paul again and Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker, who adds his percussion might to “Show Rockin.” The rock-tinged tune features LAX rapping about their ability to turn the party out -- and fulfills a longstanding goal.

“Since we’ve been doing music, we’ve always wanted to do a rock song,” Spank B reveals. “We always had that in our mind, because we listen to rock -- Blink 182, Linkin Park, all that stuff. We wanted to have a rock beat and spit over it. When we found the track, we wrote to it and it just came out like magic. It was what we dreamed of.”

Elsewhere, LAX examines their relationship with the ladies on “Real Talk” and discusses their religious beliefs on Faith. If is seems like LAX makes music that travels the entire lyrical and sonic spectrum, that’s because they do. It’s been that way since the trio first started rapping when they were each about eight years old.

“People would tell us that we’re talented everywhere we went,” Spank B recalls. “When we were free styling, people would tell us that they’re talented, that we should do something. It was just in our souls from the get-go. When we were born, we just came out spitting.”

The group then went through a variety of names -- including the Troopers and Da Wazkles -- as it built its rep touring schools in the Los Angeles area. The group’s current name, LAX, was given to them by co-manager, Ian Fletcher. During this crucial time in the trio’s growth process, Spank B, Poke and Zay Zay all worked on sharpening their lyrical skills and enhancing their lively stage show under the guidance of managers Doc Clarke & Ian Fletcher of 3pm Inc.

“We felt like we had different elements that could make a super group,” Spank B says. “We all rap about different things and have different styles.”

And even though LAX flexes its West Coast musical heritage on the funky tunes “Real Talk” and “La La,” the group makes a point to deliver diverse and wide-ranging music. “You can’t expect to make a big impact on the youth and in the world just staying regional,” Spank B says. “If you’re repping the West Coast and making music strictly for the West Coast, then that’s all that’s going to feel you and that’s not what we’re trying to do. We’re universal with it and we want a fan base that’s worldwide.” And it all starts with -- and at -- LAX.