‘The Great American Rat Park Experiment’ - Ya Boy Pax

We dive into ‘The Great American Rat Park Experiment’ by Ya Boy Pax for this week’s review.

Ya Boy Pax started his musical journey in Orlando Florida at 17. Rapping and making beats on Reason Essentials, he began releasing music in 2017. Around 2019 Pax became more serious, learning about sound design, tape production and synthesis. Building from his Instagram following, Pax released ‘Places’ and quickly became a fixture of Orlando’s beat scene. Rocking with ChillTapes, The Free Rice Crew and more. From this storied foundation comes ‘The Great American Rat Park Experiment’, but how did Pax’s past affect his creative output?

‘The Great American Rat Park Experiment’ is an album forged in the fires of loss, self-discovery and travel. As Pax explains below the album was born, and completed, out of reaction to tragedy:

‘After a really close friend of mine's death from a fentanyl overdose, I spent about 6 months traveling across the country in month-long airbnb stays and just learned a lot about myself and the world around me. I think I grew as an artist more in those months than in the prior few years. I finally settled in Los Angeles and almost exactly one year later I had one my best friends since I was a kid die from suicide, and it just felt like a perfect time to finish the project.’

You can feel the anger, fear, sadness and emotional discovery that Pax describes in the context of the album, in every track. The album feels like a journey of self discovery with all the internal conflict that comes with that. It sounds corny but Pax has made pain and growth, groovy. Never shying away form the more visceral, auditory expressions of shedding one’s old skin.

Thematically the album is also inspired by travel and that’s exactly how the album flows. The seamless blend between tracks helps this internal journey feel unified with the physical journey. The disparate productions are tied together through the theme but also the way they are presented. Pax describes each beat as a time capsule of the places he visited. As ‘a reference to revelations I [Pax] had at each place along the way.’

Overall, the album’s very name sums up the theme perfectly. ‘The Great American Rat Park Experiment’ refers to an experiment where lab rats who were killing themselves in previous addiction experiments; were given a new cage filled with fulfilling activities and it turned the results of the previous addiction experiments around. Pax expanded on this direct comparison when we spoke to him:

‘Traveling the country and seeing what different places were offering to keep their constituents from either overdosing, committing suicide, or dying from COVID made me feel as though we're all constantly subjects in similar experiments.’

In terms of instrumentation ‘The Great American Rat Park Experiment’ is diverse to say the least. Pax rides the waves of heavy, bombast and subtle suggestion with ease. The drums underpin the whole project. These are slamming, heavy drum lines but they do not dilute the depth of emotion in the themes Pax presents. Take the intro track ‘A Drastic Rate of Change.’ It starts with a ticking clock which rises with synthetic lasers and pads, finally giving way to a massive swung groove injected with choppy bass, muddy synth and vocal chops. A masterclass in diversity of sound.

The listener finds this dichotomy throughout ‘The Great American Rat Park Experiment’. On one hand the drums are filthy and huge on most tracks (which gives the album a massive sound that forces you to pay attention) but on the other; Pax knows how and when to dial back for introspection. Tracks like ‘Eagle River’ have a delicate atmosphere to their digital fuzz. It feels warm and introspective whilst still being raw. An auditory fingerprint we find across the album.

Pax’s patchwork sample/synth style shines gloriously on ‘The Great American Rat Park Experiment’ too. The intertwining sounds seem at odds at first but Pax manages to wrangle the beauty from each sound. It may seem chaotic but in the chaos there is perfect synergy. Take ‘The Panopticon’. A choppy start builds and builds, then gives way to this gorgeous plucked melody that jitters and floats over subdued drums. This is collage music at it’s very best. Truly a standout moment of the album.

‘The Great American Rat Park Experiment’ is a glorious ode to the power of the human spirit when faced with loss. Everyone has experiences like Pax and ‘The Great American Rat Park Experiment’ tells us that’s ok. That it’s what we do next that matters most. The album explains through it’s beautifully, chaotic but controlled track structure that when you are on a journey of self discovery, either in the physical or mental realm, things will not always be clear but that’s ok. That’s part of the process. The superb blend of synthetic sound and samples tells the story of Pax’s journey through melody, whilst the characterful and full drums keep the pace. Ever changing but ever pursuing. Quite simply ‘The Great American Rat Park Experiment’ is a fantastic album. Born of loss and pain but ultimately honesty; Pax leaves it all on the table and invites you, dear listener, to come along with him and find your own meaning in the maelstrom. 

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Listen to ‘The Great American Rat Park Experiment’ below: