Shabazz Palaces: Black Up

Shabazz Palaces
Black Up
Rating: Grrrr

For the past year, Shabazz Palaces has been a mystery alterna-rap group releases a set of EPs that left many listeners breathless with anticipation for what they could possibly release next. This seems to be a trend this year with acts like WU LYF and The Weeknd releasing material without any press or publicity, letting the music talk for them. Of course, this being the Internet age, it doesn't take long for the word to get around, and with Shabazz Palaces, it was discovered that the mastermind behind all the trippy beats and molasses slow flow was none other than former Digable Planets member Ishmael Butler (formerly Butterfly), who now raps under the name Palaceer Lazaro. Aside from his dreamy flow, there is little link between Shabazz Palaces and his work with Digable Planets. Where the latter was all trippy dippy, jazz influenced flower power rap, Shabazz is decidedly darker and more barren, drawing from the drug haze of trip hop and more dense, troubling rap from Dalek or the Anticon label. There is a palpable sense of dread and anxiety that covers Black Up in a dark cloud, that is difficult to shake once you are inside its walls.

From the sandpaper rough via gunshot beats of "Yeah You" which takes on people who blindly follow trends,



"Youology" and its dense multitracked layers thick as mud,



to "Endeavors For Never (The Last Time We Spoke You Said You Were Not Here. I Saw You Though)" with its jittery black hole jazz and spacey effects,



Shabazz Palaces always keeps you on edge, fearful of what is around the corner. And you never quite know where the album is going, even within each song, with the flow sometimes morphing several times. Opener "Free Press And Curl" wanders at first in an opium haze of stuttering beats and gauzy synths before dropping out into an analog synth-heavy murk.



Which bleeds into the haunted house ghost moans of "An Echo From The Hosts That Profess Infinitum" whose middle section drops out with soft electronic percussion:



Not everything is overdone with menace, "Are You...Can You...Were You? (Felt)" soothes with soft strings and pianos over a hushed, drawling rap,



and "A Treatease Dedicated To The Avian Airess From North East Nubis (1000 Questions, 1 Answer)" is pure beat poetry, a disguised in the club come on,



A slight nod to the trippiness of Digable Planets comes from the jazzy guitars and drugged out beats of "Recollections Of The Wraith" with a gorgeous vocal sample cooing in the background.



Black Up is a pure headphones album; there is so much going on within each song, you need some good equipment to pick up all the subtle nuances. It is not a difficult album to listen to, despite the heaviness of the beats and music, there is always something new flying around the corner to shock and surprise. For those of you, like me, who are tired of mainstream rap and hip-hop, and lean more towards the more avant garde practitioners of the genre, Shabazz Palaces is a true find.

Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.