These days, Ishmael Butler is very busy with his Seattle art-rock project Shabazz Palaces; he just released the new mini-album Exotic Birds Of Prey. But some of us know Butler better for his old group. In the early ’90s, Butler was better known as Butterfly, one third of the wonderful, inventive Brooklyn jazz-rap trio Digable Planets. They were to rap what key be to lock.
Digable Planets officially reunited in 2011, and their last show was at the Big Ears Festival, the annual experimental music marathon in Knoxville. Today, they Planets were guests on Tamron Hall, the syndicated daytime talk show from the veteran broadcast journalist. Hall was clearly delighted to have them on the show, and they performed their 1992 hit “Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like Dat).” The song hasn’t lost any of its spark, and it feels good to watch the older Planets delivering those lines and sliding back into their old pocket.
Sitting down with Tamron Hall, the Digable Planets talked about how its a blessing to be able to continue serving as ambassadors for hip-hop, performing their songs around the world. Ladybug Mecca shouted out worthy successors like Rapsody and noname. Watch the performance and the interview below.
Digable Planets have a bunch of shows coming up; check out their dates here.