Shabazz Palaces Does Victory Lap at Neumos
In the strange event that you're trying to avoid hearing about Shabazz Palaces' first full-length album, Black Up, released on Sub Pop this week... good luck to you. It's going to be impossible. This album is possibly one of the most anticipated hip-hop releases of the year.
Shabazz Palaces emerged in 2009 shrouded in an aura of carefully crafted mystery: two self-released mini-albums, no interviews, performing behind a head scarf and sunglasses at a small handful of shows, and the alias Palaceer Lazaro. In the past two years Ishmael Butler has been able to maintain some of that mystery, but since those two albums garnered so much praise and attention, he's had to give up on some of that. Which means you can read some interviews and when you see Shabazz Palaces at Neumos tonight or tomorrow night, you'll be able to see his face.
More broadly, Butler's project has also served as a good reminder to the rest of the nation that some really good hip-hop is being made here. Hip-hop in Seattle is nothing new to us, but it seems like the music hasn't gotten much recognition outside of this city - you know, since we are the city of "grunge". Well, that's not the case anymore. NPR got wind of our growing hip-hop community and is dedicating a whole week to Seattle hip-hop on their music blog, The Record.
From the few interviews that Butler has done you can tell that he wants listeners to focus on the music and not the people who make it. He has crafted a very clear direction for this project and he stands behind it. His words are carefully chosen and his lyrics reveal more about how he sees things than the interviews do.
The new album came out on Tuesday and already critics are calling it the "album of the year," best hip-hop album of the decade, and a "masterpiece". Pitchfork gave it their stamp of approval with an 8.8 rating and a "Best New Music" label. The new music isn't as dark as the 2009 releases and it is still pushing the boundaries of contemporary hip-hop.The two shows at Neumos should give us an idea of where Shabazz Palaces headed and it will give the new music the big space and big speakers that it deserves.
Thursday 6/30 & Friday 7/1, 8 pm // Neumos // $15
