One of the coolest things about following veteran artists is watching them evolve their sound on new albums or even entirely new projects, and in the hip-hop game Shabazz Palaces has served as a prime example of consistently impressive sonic growth. The brainchild of Ishmael Butler ("Palaceer Lazaro") - formerly "Butterfly" of the legendary Digable Planets - and multi-instrumentalist Tendai Maraire, Shabazz Palaces came onto the scene in 2009 with two anonymously-released EPs that were so locally lauded that the Seattle collective became the first-ever hip-hop artists signed to indie rock label Sub Pop. 2011 saw the release of Black Up, SP's first LP that brought more widespread acclaim for the collective, building on the classic flow and wordplay that epitomized Digable Planets while weaving in the spaced out abstract beats that brought the collective to another level entirely.
And now that you're caught up, you're going to want to check out Shabazz Palaces in person this weekend for sure. They're playing SOB's in SoHo tomorrow (tickets hyah) and Brooklyn Bowl on Saturday ("sold out" but limited admissions at the door nyah). Stream Black Up in its entirety on Spotify, and we'll post our thoughts on the Brooklyn Bowl show on Monday.
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