It sounds almost like a script for a lost Coen Brothers movie: Aspiring Latino rapper graduates high school in Southern California, moves to North Dakota and sees his career take off. Then he brings his brother and cousin to Fargo, where they record a CD that gets picked up by a big label.

Let it be pointed out, however, that reality does creep into this true-life, feel-good story when the California-bred rapper tires of cold snowy winters on the Great Plains and returns to his old stomping grounds in Vista and Escondido. The three cousins even brought their Fargo-based manager along with them -- although one wonders just how much arm-twisting had to go on to get someone to leave North Dakota in the winter, particularly when the destination was San Diego.

So, anyway, the Lost Angel Crew (playing Saturday night at the Metaphor in Escondido) is back home, gearing up for the soon-to-be announced release of "B-Real and the Audio Hustlaz Present: The Harvest Vol. II" on Latin Thug Records, which has a distribution deal with international label Koch.

"They're very reputable," group founder Johnny Frank Ostos Jr. said of their new label earlier this week, citing Latin Thug as the home to the popular Cypress Hill.

But Ostos, who goes by the stage name of WestKoast, emphasized that he and his fellow band members aren't relying on the label deal to guarantee them success.

"We spend eight to 10 hours a day just putting our name out there," he said, explaining that he, his brother David Anthony Arreola (Lobes) and their cousin, Gilbert Andrew Chavarria (Deviate Minded), save money by using the Internet to promote themselves.

"You don't need a hundred-thousand-dollar promotion package to get your name out there," Ostos said.

"If you grind," added Scott Cich, the band's manager and newly transplated Fargo native. "If you sleep, you're done."

Ostos said the team of four (the group plus Cich) constantly works MySpace, Facebook and other Web sites to promote the Lost Angel Crew.

The band's roots go back to when Ostos was attending Vista High and he began rapping at local "cutting" contests.

"I started out as a battle rapper, freestyling," he said.

But he said that when he graduated he was itching to get out of Southern California and go do something different. He ended up in Fargo, and said that, at first, he enjoyed it.

"Coming from here, seeing snow was incredible," he said.

He also began performing around town, with Cich -- whom he met at work in Fargo -- crediting Ostos for basically creating a hip-hop scene in Fargo.

Back home in North San Diego County, Arreola was learning to rap, although Ostos said he didn't give his brother much credit at first.

"I made fun of him," Ostos said.

But as Arreola improved, Ostos persuaded him to also move to Fargo so they could work together on a regular basis.

The band was completed one day when the brothers heard their younger cousin's work online (Ostos and Arreola are 28 and 24, respectively).

"We heard Gilbert's beats on MySpace and were blown away. He came to Fargo and we literally recorded an album in seven days."

Chavarria, who just turned 21, said part of the challenge of creating the group's beats is they don't have much money for software -- so he's created them using demo versions of the various software packages, meaning once they're created and saved, he can't really change them after the demo software expires, and he moves on to another brand, using a different file format.

"I'm really happy with the beats I've done with that production technique," he said.

The band members all said they view their music as their job (although Arreola also has a day job), and take it very seriously. Chavarria said they rehearse their stage show to get it down pat, and Arreola said they keep to a set work schedule to make sure everything gets done on time.

They're playing quite a few shows around town, and even in Los Angeles, though Ostos said that as they play an upbeat, positive brand of hip-hop different from the prevailing gangsta rap, they've gotten a better reaction from fans in San Diego.

"L.A. is more involved, but San Diego is more open to the underground."

The Lost Angel Crew

When: 8 p.m. March 14

Where: The Metaphor Cafe, 258 E. Second Ave., Escondido

Admission: $7

Info: (760) 747-1882 or thelostangelcrew.com