Tomorrow, Shabazz Palaces will release two albums: Quazarz: Born on a Gangster Star and its "extra-spatial twin" Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines. Hence, now would be an appropriate time to revisit Ishmael Butler's first big hip hop outfit, Digable Planets.
Digable Planets are one of the most important purveyors and innovators of "jazz rap," along with groups like A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul. Comprised of Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler (from Seattle), Mary Ann "Ladybug Mecca" Vieira (from Silver Spring, Maryland), and Craig "Doodlebug" Irving (from Philadelphia), the Planets released two albums before disbanding: 1993's Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space) and 1994's Blowout Comb.
Click through the gallery to revisit the short-lived genius of Digable Planets.
Photo credit: Matt Carmichael/Getty Images
"Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)"
The Digable Planets's scored a surprise hit with “Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)," which borrows both its slinky bass walk and horn explosion from Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers "Stretching." The single cracked the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 and took home a Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, beating out Cypress Hill's "Insane in the Brain," Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg's "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang," and Naughty by Nature's "Hip Hop Hooray."
The Planets' Grammy acceptance speech:
"Nickel Bags"
Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space) is a trove of references to great thinkers and artists: philosophers like Sartre and Camus, jazz musicians like Max Roach and Miles Davis. The title itself refers to a Borges novel.
"The references, allusions, are all to the things that we feel are important in our lives," Mr. Butler said in a 1993 interview with the New York Times. "References to personalities, musicians or authors are there because we've read or listened to the stuff, or experienced it, and we think its important information to spread around. We try to bring in all sorts of information, because pop songs today don't have anything substantial to say, except the same old monotonous drone about love triangles."
"Where I'm From"
The afrofuturistic mission statement/origin story of Shabazz Palaces' new pair of albums ("I, Quazarz, Born On A Gangster Star, son only of Barbara Dream Caster and Reginald The Dark Hoper - he who rides on light - dreamer of the seventh dream and kissed eternal by Awet the Sun Scented") echoes the references to outer space that Butler and the Planets made in nearly every verse.
The beats is infinite where I'm from Voodoo Ashu Benin Gangsta
Lean where I'm from I'm interplanetary my insect movement
Vary its kinky if its hair G where I'm from
The fire hoses blow its purple when it snows I do a hit and go
Its hip, what's hip? When hip is just the norm.
"Pacifics (Sdtrk N.Y. is Red Hot)"
"Pacifics" a) nicely sums up the nature of the bohemian New York summertime chill sesh, and b) contains a Snapple reference that really just makes you want drink a motherfucking Snapple.
We foot it to the park where the swoon units walk
And sit with the Phoenicians digging on musicians
Hanging with the rebels sipping on a Snapple
Bugging with my crew just tripping in the Apple.
"La Femme Fatal"
It's hard to imagine a rapper in 2017 releasing a pro-choice anthem as fiery as Butler's "Le Femme Fatal."
If Roe v. Wade was overturned, would not the desire remain intact
Leaving young girls to risk their healths
And doctors to botch, and watch as they kill themselves.
"Black Ego"
The Digable Planets changed course on their highly regarded sophomore album Blowout Comb — they ditched the insect metaphor (no more “an insect til I die”), moved from Philly to Brooklyn, and adopted a crate-digging mentality that reflected the full breadth of their musical influences.
Butler, in a recent interview with Pitchfork: "My father was a stated jazz aficionado and he was into all the avant-garde stuff; he was a big Eric Dolphy fan. Mom liked Motown and CTI jazz; Donald Byrd kind of stuff. That shit was fly too. My sound also came from what I was listening to: DJ Premier, Prince Paul, Cocteau Twins, P-Funk, Prince. A gumbo of all of that stuff became our sound."
"For Corners"
"For Corners" samples:
- Roy Ayers' "Ebony Blaze"
- Shuggie Otis' "Island Letter"
- Skull Snaps' "It's a New Day"
"9th Wonder (Blackitolism)"
Numerous critics and engineers have praised the mix on Blowout Comb.
"We did subtle stuff like making the vocals a little lower," Butterfly said in a 1994 interview with the Chicago Tribune. "I read where George Clinton said the stuff that's inaudible the first couple of listens adds longevity to the record, because it draws the person into the record. You might catch a word or a phrase on down the road, and that makes that record all the more intriguing. The common link is a celebration of blackness, and by `celebrate' we mean a recognition of something, good and bad."
"Jettin'"
“I don’t listen to [Digable Planets’] music," Butler told the Seattle Times before a DP reunion show in 2015. "I never listened to it. But to hear it and go back to it, it puts you in that era, being in New York pre-Internet, it’s pretty fresh.”
"Dial 7 (Axioms of Creamy Spies)"
The Digable Planets broke up shortly after the release of Blowout Comb.
"We’re just human beings and we go through things: emotions, stress, up and downs," Irving explained to Pitchfork. "We were also young and immature and dealing with certain things in life. There were obstacles because of the music industry and we didn’t know how to handle it. But, at this stage in our lives, we have kids and responsibilities; back then, we were just wild."
Added Butler: "When we split-up, it was more about changing directions in life and creativity rather than about having problems with each other."