Brooklyn B-Boy Breaks Musical Barriers
8:30PM ET December 13th, 2012
Contributor : Malcolm Strong
A Rocky Williform Company

A devout hip hopper that can sing as well as the best R&B singers with a musical and biological link to class P-Funk instrumentalism; L*A*W* is living proof that genre is an illusion. The Brooklyn native has become renowned for his high-energy live shows and eclectic musical releases. Born Lawrence T. Worrell, L*A*W* (Lyrical Assault Weapon) is the nephew of legendary Parliament/Funkadelic keyboardist Bernie Worrell, and coming from such impressive stock instilled him a love of music that is unquestionable and unrestrained. A lover of music’s rich history, L*A*W* seeks to bridge generational and cultural gaps with his craft; though he has had to fight his share of industry battles due to his unwillingness to pigeonhole his sound.

“When you’re a black artist—[pigeonholing] is the automatic thing,” says the Grammy-nominated emcee/singer/instrumentalist. “Considering the fact that we created so much of American music, when we started to mold to certain things, i.e . Berry Gordy creating Motown, a lot of us forgot certain things.” L*A*W* skills as a guitarist and love of classic rock music weren’t exactly embraced by an industry that believes that a young Black artist should cater to urban radio. And he knows that there’s an entire history behind that stereotypical mindset. “Jimi [Hendrix] didn’t get the props from our community until after-the-fact,” he says. “. The worst thing that happened in the ‘70s was the ‘Black music division.’ Morris Day told me that in Minneapolis, in the early ‘70s, they had one station that played everything. That’s why that ‘80s Minneapolis sound was so diverse. So thank God for Fishbone, thank God for Bad Brains, thank God for Death, thank God for Prince, thank God for Lenny Kravitz.”

L*A*W*s love of hip hop is also evident in his stage show. A student of Golden Age legends like Big Daddy Kane, he doesn’t subscribe to the point-and-wave approach to performance that many contemporary hip hop acts have adopted. ”I look back to Young MC and Kid and Play and Hammer—and as much as the streets would diss them, I dug them. As much as they would make fun of that, I would give anything to have that back,” he reveals. “When 1994 came and cats stopped dancing, I kept on. I do a lot of choreography--just straight-up hip hop modern dance. And all my cousins that used to break, they stopped. I made a whole other hustle out of it. I have people from other countries that want me to show them how to dance like that.”

All of those rich influences have kept L*A*W* one of the most raved about indie artists in music and onstage. His release The Planet 12 Syndrome has generated tremendous buzz, he won this year’s Brooklyn RAW Artists Showcase, and his “Planet L*A*W*” Movement is real--with everyone from actress Rosanna Arquette to famed songwriter Dianne Warren raving about his music. Nonetheless, he never takes for granted the success that he’s gotten—nor is it lost on him how he’s gotten it. “I think the number one reward is being able to be with the legends that are still here,” he says humbly. “I’m able to build with them and tell them how much their music means to me. Chaka Khan is like family to me--and that’s my favorite female singer. To be able to tell her how much she influenced me is crazy. Also, just seeing our audience is such an amazing thing. The audience has been receptive to us doing these different genres of music. Record labels told us no one wants to see a rapper/singer/musician all in one. But if that’s the case—who the hell are all these people coming to see?”

Check out L*A*W* at planet12law.com
And follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/planet12law