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

Format multiplier

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

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

Total Cap

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

Artist

Shabazz Palaces

Genre GB

Hip Hop

Label GB

Sub Pop

Shabazz Palaces is a hip-hop collective hailing from Seattle, Washington. Led by Ishmael Butler, formerly of Digable Planets, the group has made a name for themselves with their unique sound and thought-provoking lyrics.
Influenced by a diverse range of artists such as Gonjasufi, Das Racist, and Cities Aviv, Shabazz Palaces has carved out their own niche in the music industry. Their experimental style blends elements of rap, electronic music, and avant-garde sounds to create something truly original.
With albums like "Black Up" and "Lese Majesty," Shabazz Palaces has garnered critical acclaim and a dedicated fan base. Their music pushes boundaries and challenges traditional notions of what hip-hop can be. If you're looking for an artist that defies expectations and delivers captivating performances, look no further than *Shabazz Palaces*.

Short for "Subterranean Pop" 

The label was an outgrowth of [a=Bruce Pavitt]'s Olympia, WA based (print) fanzine, which became the well respected cassettezine of the same name. 

After his move to Seattle he ran a music column in the Seattle Rocket also called Sub Pop.

After initial forays into the record label world with a [a=Green River] 7" (not officially on Sub Pop) and the Sub Pop 100 LP, the label exploded onto the indie scene with four influential colored vinyl 7"s which included [a=Mudhoney]'s "Touch Me I'm Sick" which made the year-end top 10 playlist of nearly every music journalist in the world.

Subsequent hyping of the label in the English music press put them on the map, and grunge was born.

Label-Code is 03159; rarely found printed on releases (basically only on releases manufactured/licensed by Warner/WEA Germany)

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