Clear Some Space Out So We Can Space Out: Reaching Higher Planes with Shabazz Palaces

Shabazz Palaces - Belhaven Meridian

In 2009, two game changing hip-hop EPs fell from outer space into a thunderstorm of hype and praise. The curtain has been lifted and since releasing Black Up, their first full length album on Sub Pop in 2011, Shabazz Palaces have been keeping busy touring the world, working on a new album, and remixing Animal Collective songs. We got the surprisingly down to earth Palaceer Lazaro (aka Ishmael Butler, aka Butterfly from Digable Planets) on the phone to discuss their upcoming show at Migas on June 29.

In Chinese there's a phrase, balinghou, to refer to those born after the 1980s. How does the generational difference between you and your frequent collaborators and tour mates, Thee Satisfaction, affect your dynamic?
I think the biggest difference [between our generations] is just the internet. It's able to give you access at a speed that nobody was even imagining. So, to come up when you have that extra access is such a leap. I won't say ahead because, to me, I don't think it's a leap ahead. It's just a leap in that direction. To have that access is gonna change everything.

You've been touring a lot, what's the craziest thing you've experienced abroad?
There's a lot of them, but the craziest would probably be, there was like a riot and a fight and people going crazy. It was in Brussels. Late night in Brussels is pretty wild, I must say. And I was involved in it.

How were you involved in it?
I can’t even say. Nah, but every place is cool.

Is there anything from home you have to bring with you when you leave the country?
Oh yeah. Roasted pecans. I roast them at home, myself, and bring them with me.

You're known for defying expectations. What are your expectations of China?
I didn't know I was known for that, but that's pretty cool. I think if that's true it's because I've taught myself to suspend expectations, especially when I'm sure that something is going to be more exciting than I could imagine. I don't even think about what it may be. I don't expect anything. That way, it's like clearing your palate before a taste or something like that. You're just open. So that, as soon as you get there, you're opening yourself up to all the excitement available to you. I don't have any expectations, really.

I'm from your hometown of Seattle so I know how we worship you there. How have you been received outside of the US so far?
You said they worship us in Seattle? Well, if that's true, it's in a very practical way. They'll come up and tell us they like us and say what's up and stuff, but they won't go crazy or nothing like that. They just come up and say "I really like your music." It's never, like, dramatic. I've never been involved in nothing like that.

Your lyrics are pretty heavy. What do you think your music communicates to your listeners who don't speak your language?
I think it’s gonna sound strange. And when things are strange they can either be strange in a good way, or strange in a way that makes you have emotions that aren't good. I think it'll be strange and then we'll see which way it falls after that. There's a lot of feeling that's good in our songs. Most of it's gonna lean on the good side because it comes from a good place. But we'll see.

Your first to EPs were released anonymously. Once you signed to Sub Pop the cat was let out of the bag. Do you think traveling to new places, where audiences might not be familiar with your music, gives you back some of that mystery?
It wasn't really about mystery as much as it was about ... Nowadays it's like, let's say you come out with a song, right? Or you come out with an album and you just say "hey, this is the name of the group" and that's it. Well, people think you're trying to be mysterious because you're not giving out all types of information. But at the end of the day the artifact is what matters, the music. All the information around it is just marketing sh*t. It's not anything other than "let's try to sell this, let's try to build this brand of consciousness up around this thing so we can sell it." So it really wasn't about mystery. To answer your question; I think yes, because what we were wanting to do is just let the music find its own way through the world. It'll be happening more readily and easily there because they don't know who the f*ck we are. So it'll just be people coming to listen to music and hearing it.

Head along and just hear it on Saturday June 29 at The Bar at Migas. Tickets cost RMB 50.

Photos: www.ukfestivalguides.com, www.dnainfo.com