The Lab: A creative crew taking entertainment a notch higher

By Detricia Pamba

Walking right through the door, you are welcomed by the sound of instruments, a mixture of bass guitars, piano and buzzling drums running through your ears. If you are a music fanatic, you can’t help but jam to the lively music that welcomes you. What’s even more interesting is the ‘what’ factor when it hits you that there is a DJ scratching his mixer, immediately setting the rest of the band and your heart ablaze.

This is just a fraction of what you get to experience when you meet this dynamic crew, The Lab.

The Lab, just like its name, is comprised of DJs, guitarists, singers, rappers and a live band, all of whom bring to you a musical lab for an otherworldly experience.

It is a one-of-a-kind mixture of a live band and DJ skillsets put together, making you wonder if you are in a club or on a live band concert.

As the Founder and Talent Lead of The Lab, Mo Twaba says, “The Lab means laboratory. It means mixing urban music, DJs and other instruments to create a fusion of live music. It is an entertainment agency that has 3 categories: Essential (performs live organic music), 3 a.m (a creative DJ platform) and The Lab (a mixture of essential and 3 a.m)”

Furthermore, Twaba told The Beat exactly how the idea came to him when he was envisioning The Lab.

“It was merely an idea. I have an extensive background in the music industry and I wanted to do something that will create a major difference in Tanzania and cause a disruption in the music industry. That’s how the idea of The Lab started. We asked ourselves what can we do that will be special in the industry – an extra ordinary kind of entertainment?” elaborated Twaba.

Despite envisioning the idea, it was known that to make the idea come to life, a team was needed. This team had to be so special and extraordinary that it could bring to life what was once just a mere thought. That was when other team members like DJ K-Flip and Young Bass joined the crew.

K-Flip is a renowned DJ who has been in the industry for more than 10 years. A DJ who was once a pianist at church, K-Flip found himself meeting a friend who was also DJ and from there, a new career took off. Little did he know that the exact choice he made to be a DJ would bring him right to the core of The Lab.

“I was invited by the management and a fellow DJ who shared with me the vision and that interested me to join. I loved the idea of doing something new, mixing my skills with a live band to give people a new experience that they have never had before, that sounded interesting to me,” he said.

The Lab though doesn’t only give its audience a different kind of experience as the energy is usually transcended from the bands and DJs themselves, from the preparations to the actual performances on stage.

K-Flip added that, “The K-Flip DJ-ing for The Lab is very different from the one doing gigs. With The Lab even the preparations are intense, more technical and lively, it almost feels like recreating an entirely different song on stage, something that with solo DJ performances, you won’t get.”

In addition, he told The Beat how different he feels about being on stage, performing with The Lab.

“In my perspective, at The Lab we don’t just play music, we perform and that’s what makes us different. The feeling that I get while performing with The Lab is a feeling that I have never experienced anywhere else, it feels like I’m flying and as a performer, I get so excited seeing people being happy and jamming to our performances. I really can’t explain how happy that makes me feel, especially when the audience responds positively to the happiness we exude,” K-Flip said.

The fierce energy by The Lab truly touches everyone that gets the pleasure to watch them perform. Speaking with The Beat, The Lab’s Spokesman, Ahmed Ally said that making a difference and showing their uniqueness is their vision and one day they hope to become Tanzania and eventually Africa’s top performers.

He said, “Our vision is to build a live event and entertainment production brand that will attract the highest number of attendees in any music concert and event, not just in Tanzania but throughout the Eastern Africa region and the entire African continent.”

It is through this vision that The Lab’s bassist feels that their performances set them apart from the rest in the entertainment industry.

Elijah also known as Young Bass has been a bassist for 10 years. His passion for music started while he was still in secondary school and that was where he nurtured his skills and became a critical part of The Lab.

“Before The Lab, I was playing bass with Infinity sound, a band that we formed in 2020. After a year, we were introduced to the concept and were recruited by the management, that’s how I got to join The Lab,” he said and added,

“I just love how we play with creativity at The Lab. It makes us unique. We get to perform with DJs, rearrange existing music, making us very different from other bands, it’s quite an honour to get to do this.”

Before becoming the renowned crew that they are today, every team member seemed to have their lives on point career wise. Individually, the whole team is already great at what they do but together, they are unstoppable and landing themselves at The Lab wasn’t a mere coincidence.

“The recruitment of the team is something that we do not take lightly,” said Twaba. “We choose the best of the best and let them shine even brighter by joining us. But first, they have to be great as individual artistes because that’s the caliber of talent we select. That’s how we chose our creatives,” he added.

The Lab was founded on March 10, 2021 and this year it celebrated its first anniversary. The audiences have been very welcoming as their events within just the first year have been very successful.

With that regard, The Lab brings up yet another event on June 26, 2022 to celebrate and appreciate their fans for their incredible support.

The Lab’s DJ known as DJ Dhifa told The Beat that the event will comprise of The Lab alongside many other artistes such as Nandy and DBN Gogo from South Africa.

“This weekend is going to be a vibe. We are going to shut down St. Laurent, Kawe and make a performance of a lifetime from the afternoon to midnight. This one is not to miss – our best one yet,” he said.

If you haven’t gotten the chance to watch these talented artists perform, here is your chance. Fun, energetic and talented are just a few words that come close to describing them. My experience after meeting The Lab was epic, calling it a great experience would still be an understatement.