Big Wig
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Welcome to the newest addition to the iHipHop world: The Come Up. This is the 2nd installment in a weekly story that we do, where we profile up and coming artists that we have had our eye on, or that you should have your eye on. Today’s offering is a music collective from the west-coast: Shabazz Palaces. While it may be a little a little left field for some of you reading this, to me, this is on some truly original shit. I don’t see much music like this coming out these days, and when I do, I feel like it’s my duty to spread the word and share it. The collective has been topping local sales charts in Seattle, WA, where there’s always been a vibrant music scene. Check out the first album/EP below. Click HERE to check it out on iTunes.
Word is that there’s a few of these in the pipeline for the summer. I found out recently that Shabazz Palaces is actually headed by Ishmael Butler (Butterfly) from Digable Planets, which would explain (at lesat in part) the supreme lyricism, poetry and artistry that make this release worth checking out, listening to, purchasing and enjoying. There’s a great article in the Stranger (Seattle based culture site) about Ish and the group wanting to keep that under wraps, and I respect that. But the truth is, in the internet age, nothing stays a secret. There’s already message board posts calling attention to this very fact, and frankly, I’m glad. I love Digable Planets (as do a lot of true hip-hop heads), and have been all about their music, vibe, culture etc. for a long time, and I think there’s a lot of people out there who need to be exposed to this kind of music, and a lot of Digable fans who deserve the chance to hear it, and because of the secretive “insider” culture, might not ever find it. So consider this my humanitarian work for the week, liberating Shabazz/Ishmael to the masses, and hopefully, the people feel it.
