Shabazz Palaces

Digable Planets MC Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler seems determined both to re-emerge and obscure himself with his newest project Shabazz Palaces. Now calling himself Palaceer Lazaro and bedecking 2009 EPs Shabazz Palaces and Of Light with images of scimitars and Taj Mahals, he raps over beats with a shadowy and exotic tinge. Part of that is derived from percussive samples that actually reach to the Middle and Far East, and part from slow-mo radar-sweeps of synth. “Chuch,” from Of Light, layers the electronic chill over a busy sample of group chanting and percussion, creating a trippy dual rhythm for Lazaro’s flow to tie together. Sub Pop signed Shabazz Palaces in 2010 and reissued both EPs as well as last year’s excellent full-length, Black Up.

Updated 03/22/2012