Shabazz Palaces – An Echo From The Hosts That Profess Infinitum"The avant-garde rap group Shabazz Palaces, headed by the hip hop pioneer Palaceer Lazaro, has taken center stage on the Seattle hype circuit. Glorified for their tendency to keep the media probing for basic details, as well as the unmistakable sense that they’re bound to be game-changers in the industry, means that this enigmatic project will be a definite source of mania this summer. Palaceer Lazaro, known as Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler when he produced alt-hip hop in the 90s as Digable Planets and in the early 2000s under the signature of Cherrywine, is demonstrably adroit at re-formulating his identity to suit his changing musical ambitions.
The group’s debut album Black Up, set to drop on June 28th through Sub Pop, is being credited as 35 minutes of well-executed soundscapes that cover several persuasions of African American music such as hip hop, jazz, soul, rock, and techno. Though musical acknowledgments are omitted, a part of Lazaro’s noncommerical take on the biz, guests on Black Up include the multi-instrumentalist Tendai Maraire and Thaddeus Turner, as well as the female rap duo THEESatisfaction. Lazaro also enlisted Erik Blood to help him produce the album with sounds that even the most refined earbuds will struggle to make out. Blood says he tried to think beyond the realm of existing music, preferring to move towards imaginary spaces and alternate realities for inspiration. “Are You…Can You…Were You? (Felt)” lingers on layered percussions that vacillate between sonic progression and a desire to snap back against Lazaro’s repetitive chorus. “An Echo From The Hosts That Profess Infinitum” unfolds against the haunting disfigured vocals of a spirit while light instrumentals materialize almost by chance to assuage the track’s menacing nature.The structure of these snippets from Shabazz’s debut are incomparable to conventional hip hop. Such irregularities prove the arbitrariness of applying formulas when trying to unpack the blueprint behind their creations."
Photography by Trinh Huynh
THANKS TO CHARLIE MOFFETT and http://www.wearerebels.com/ for the plug
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