In the Lab 30 BLog

From Eagle Scout to the Army's First DJ: Atlanta Hip-Hop Pioneer DJ Nabs Recognition on America's 250th Celebration 

A Durham-born, Atlanta-made turntablist who traded weekend gigs for weekend drills — and later became the first DJ to share a stage with the U.S. Army's official rappers

July 4, 2026 — As the nation marks its 250th anniversary, one of Atlanta hip-hop's foundational figures is being recognized not only for the records he broke on the turntables, but for the service he gave in uniform. Youtha Anthony Fowler, known worldwide as DJ Nabs, is a U.S. Army National Guard veteran whose four-plus years of service ran…

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The ONLY DJ IN HIP-HOP TO TOUR WITH THE KING OF POP

In the spring of 1992, Arrested Development's Headliner made a phone call that set off a chain of events nobody saw coming. Manager Michael Mauldin — who was overseeing both Arrested Development and the newly exploding teen rap duo Kris Kross — needed a DJ and music director to take Kris Kross on the road with Michael Jackson's Pepsi-sponsored Dangerous World Tour. Headliner had a name: DJ NABS, a Durham, NC-born DJ he had been working alongside on the Atlanta University Center campus circuit, the same man who had already cut a turntable remix of Arrested Development's career-defining single "Tennessee." One recommendation placed a 23-year-old Southern DJ at the center of what would become a $100 million global touring operation.

she labeled the sound

In recognition of Women's History Month, NABS has something to say about the women who helped build The Lab Legacy.

Before the platinum plaques, before the industry co-signs, there was a group of women who believed in the lab before the lab had a name.

The Icey Girls were DJ NABS' first chapter — the young ladies who proved that what was being built inside those sessions and performances was real. Over forty years later, that chapter still opens the book. Women's History Month isn't a campaign here. It's a catalog. 🖤
#SheLabledTheSound #InTheLab30 #WomensHistoryMonth #TheIceyGirls #DJNabs #WomenInMusic  #RnB #HipHop #NC #MusicHistory #WomensHistoryMonth2026