With each new Shabazz Palaces release, it feels like we’re given a glimpse into a distant future, or maybe a far off galaxy, or possibly a parallel universe similar but maybe just a bit better than our own. Whichever theory you subscribe to, it goes without saying that the Seattle group’s music exists within a world of its own.
Their latest album, The Don of Diamond Dreams, is another mind-bending trip guided by Ishamel Butler’s cool, prophetic rhymes. On “Chocolate Souffle” he claims himself to be at the “zenith of slick demeanors” while synthesizers blurt and thump beneath. He swipes at phones for being “not that smart,” proclaiming himself an explorer instead of a scroller. Butler’s lyrics often look at the world from a million miles away but still cut with vindication from someone who has lived on and seen the mental traps of planet Earth.
Read KEXP writer Martin Douglas’ review of ‘The Don of Diamond Dreams’
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