Name: Black Up
Brand: Shabazz Palaces

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

spcd900

{"blocks": [{"data": {"text": "spcd900"}, "type": "paragraph"}]}

Colour

Colour details

Discogs ID

Discs

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Sub Pop Label of the Month - September 2016 - Free 12" Sampler with purchase while stocks last

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2011-07-11

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

PIAS

Tax rate GB

UPC / Barcode

1 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

Shabazz Palaces

Genre GB

Hip Hop

Label GB

Sub Pop

Only a little more than a year after releasing two EPs Seattle's Shabazz Palaces signed to Sub Pop for their full-length debut. Even on a high-profile label, former Digable Planets member Ishmael Butler (formerly Butterfly) maintains a shroud of mystique, rapping under the facade of Palaceer Lazaro and purposely avoiding publicity, interviews, and liner credits. Considering his long-term time in the game, his wordplay is still surprisingly relevant, and, masked as Lazaro, he reinvents himself by adding an air of sophistication to the persona of a streetwise gangster. Jazz references are no longer the norm and Butler steers away from the blaxploitation slang and rhymes about being an insect or a creamy spy, but he still has a distinctive, surreal style of flowing. As the mainstream becomes more and more predictable, Shabazz Palaces’ inscrutability is a welcome change. Because the beats are so abstract, roots take precedent, and a strong presence on the microphone becomes the most important aspect. Butler fills this role with ease. His smooth, sparkling rhymes glue Knife Knights' watery environment together to create a provocative listen from start to finish.

Tape - Cassette reissue packaged with a 4-panel J-card in a clear box. 

Black Up

Music GB