Shabazz Palaces, experimental hip-hop project composed of Ishmael Butler (vocals) and Tendai Maraire (multi-instrumentalist) signed on label Sub Pop, was very expected. Many people gave me the advice to go see their show. Of course, any time you waiting for something huge, there is the worry that you’ll be disappointed. So I was wondering if Shabazz Palaces might fail to deliver onstage the same goods as they do on album record “Black Up”. But they just burned the concert hall down to the ground !
Their show was hypnotizing, they energize the scene and the sound was superb.Drawing on influences that extend far beyond their contemporaries, Shabazz Palaces have crafted an eclectic style : simultaneously dense and minimalist. They are progressive to the point that the term afro-futurist seems to have been invented for them, sampling clattering jazz and placing it against the wobble of dubstep bass. The song structures are harmonically sparse affairs and yet placed, the bass low and enveloping, the digital handclaps and hihats crisp and ricocheting, the live percussion rounding things out, Butler’s vocals kept clear and calmly commanding.
Tendai ‘Baba’ Maraire returns to his family roots with “Wona Baba Maraire”, an album of Zimbabwean Shona music as seen through the eyes of a young African growing up in America that reflects his dual heritage.
Read more
