Ishmael Butler | |
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 Ishmael Butler in 2019 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Ishmael Reginald Butler |
| Also known as |
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| Born | July 3, 1969 Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Occupation(s) |
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| Instrument(s) | Vocals |
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Labels |
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| Member of | |
| Children | Jazz Butler |
Ishmael Reginald Butler (born July 3, 1969) is an American rapper, record producer and songwriter. He is best known for his work with such groups as Digable Planets in the 1990s and Shabazz Palaces in the 2010s. [1] [2] [3]
Butler was born in 1969 in Seattle. His father, Dr. Reginald Butler, was a historian of African American culture and an esteemed professor at the University of Virginia. He first forayed into music by playing the alto saxophone in his middle school jazz band. In 1987, he graduated from Garfield High School [4] and moved to Massachusetts to enroll in college. [5]
In 1989, Butler dropped out of college and moved to Brooklyn, where he recorded a demo of hip hop tracks which was eventually delivered to the Pendulum Records executive, Ruben Rodriguez. In 1992, Butler auditioned for Pendulum Records with his friends, Craig Irving from Philadelphia, and Mary Ann Vieira from Washington, D.C, forming Digable Planets. [5] Digable Planets' 1992 single "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" achieved commercial and critical success, charting on the Billboard Hot 100 . Known for merging hip hop with jazz and philosophical lyrics, [6] the group released two albums before disbanding in the mid-1990s. Following Digable Planets' demise, Butler recorded music under the alias Cherrywine and took film classes at New York University. In 2003, he returned to Seattle to take care of his mother. [2]
In 2009, Butler formed Shabazz Palaces with his neighbor, Tendai Maraire. After self-releasing two EPs, they signed to Sub Pop Records, releasing their first album, Black Up, in 2011. [2] Its follow-up, Lese Majesty , was released in 2014. [3]
Butler also became a member of Sub Pop’s A&R team in 2013. [7]
Butler has a son named Jazz Ishmael Butler, known professionally as Lil Tracy, from a previous relationship with Coko Gamble, the lead singer of Sisters With Voices. [8]
DCide is a privately held, Washington, D.C. based independent record label and distributor. The label was started in summer of 1995 by founding partners Jeffrey B. Clyburn, Burton Gray and Mark Thorp. Their first act Nothingface sold over 500,000 records worldwide and is widely recognized as one of the standard-bearers for the new metal genre. In 2002, DCide entered into a partnership with Geffen Records to release the debut record from TRUSTcompany out of Montgomery, Alabama. TRUSTcompany's guitar driven rock evokes memories of the Smashing Pumpkins with Deftones-like vocal stylings and bottom heavy riffing reminiscent of Led Zeppelin. TRUSTcompany enjoyed both critical and commercial success as their debut album "The Lonely Position of Neutral" went on to be certified Gold.
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often credited with helping popularize grunge music. The label's roster includes Fleet Foxes, Tad, Beach House, The Postal Service, Sleater-Kinney, Flight of the Conchords, Foals, Blitzen Trapper, Father John Misty, clipping., Shabazz Palaces, Weyes Blood, Guerilla Toss, Bully, Low, METZ, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Kiwi Jr., TV Priest and The Shins. In 1995, the owners of Sub Pop sold a 49% stake of the label to the Warner Music Group.
Digable Planets is an American hip hop trio formed in 1987. The trio is composed of rappers Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler, Mariana "Ladybug Mecca" Vieira, and Craig "Doodlebug" Irving. The group is notable for their contributions to the subgenres of jazz rap and alternative hip hop.
Jazz rap is a fusion of jazz and hip hop music, as well as an alternative hip hop subgenre, that developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. AllMusic writes that the genre "was an attempt to fuse African-American music of the past with a newly dominant form of the present, paying tribute to and reinvigorating the former while expanding the horizons of the latter." The rhythm was rooted in hip hop over which were placed repetitive phrases of jazz instrumentation: trumpet, double bass, etc. Groups involved in the formation of jazz rap included A Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets, De La Soul, Gang Starr, The Roots, Jungle Brothers, and Dream Warriors.
Acid jazz is a music genre that combines elements of funk, soul, and hip hop, as well as jazz and disco. Acid jazz originated in clubs in London during the 1980s with the rare groove movement and spread to the United States, Western Europe, Latin America and Japan. Acts included The Brand New Heavies, Incognito, James Taylor Quartet, Us3, and Jamiroquai from the UK, and Guru, Buckshot LeFonque and Digable Planets from the U.S. The rise of electronic club music in the middle to late 1990s led to a decline in interest, and in the twenty-first century, acid jazz became indistinct as a genre. Many acts that might have been defined as acid jazz are seen as jazz-funk, or nu jazz.
My Ghetto Report Card is the ninth studio album by American rapper E-40. It was released on March 14, 2006, by Sick Wid It Records, BME Recordings and Reprise Records. The album was supported by two singles: "Tell Me When to Go" featuring Keak Da Sneak, and "U and Dat" featuring T-Pain and Kandi Girl.
Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space) is the debut album by alternative hip hop group Digable Planets released on February 9, 1993, by Pendulum/Elektra Records. The album has been certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.
Blowout Comb is the second and final studio album by American hip hop group Digable Planets, released October 18, 1994, on Pendulum/EMI Records. The album was written and recorded in Brooklyn, New York, where the group moved, with recording sessions beginning in 1993 and finishing in 1994. On Blowout Comb, Digable Planets abandoned the radio friendly style of their debut album and worked with a more ambitious, stripped-down sound. The album features a diverse range of samples and live instruments, and contains lyrical themes of the inner city and black nationalism. It also features guest appearances from Guru of Gang Starr, Jeru the Damaja, and DJ Jazzy Joyce.
Hip-hop or hip hop music, also known as rap, and formerly as disco rap, is a genre of popular music that originated in the early 1970s from African Americans and Afro-Caribbean immigrants in the Bronx, a borough of New York City. Hip-hop music originated as an anti-drug and anti-violence genre consisting of stylized rhythmic music that often accompanies rapping, a rhythmic delivery of poetic speech. In the early 1990s, a professor of African American studies at Temple University said, "hip hop is something that blacks can unequivocally claim as their own." By the 21st century, the field of rappers had diversified by both race and gender. The music developed as part of the broader hip hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements: MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching with turntables, breakdancing, and graffiti art. While often used to refer solely to rapping and rap music, "hip hop" more properly denotes the practice of the entire subculture. The term hip hop music is sometimes used synonymously with the term rap music, though rapping is not a required component of hip hop music; the genre may also incorporate other elements of the culture, including DJing, turntablism, scratching, beatboxing, and instrumental tracks.
"Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" is a song by American hip hop trio Digable Planets, released as the first single from their debut album, Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space), in November 1992. The black-and-white music video was directed by Morgan Lawley. The song contains a sample from "Stretching" by Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers.
Shabazz Palaces is an American hip hop group from Seattle led by Ishmael Butler a.k.a. Palaceer Lazaro. Much of the Butler's work as Shabazz Palaces has been made in collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Tendai "Baba" Maraire, son of mbira master Dumisani Maraire. Active since 2009, Shabazz Palaces has released five studio albums on Sub Pop after self-releasing two EPs.
Black Up is the debut studio album by American hip hop duo Shabazz Palaces. It was released on June 28, 2011, in the United States on Sub Pop. The album was produced by Knife Knights at Gunbeat Serenade Studio in Outplace Palacelands."
Beyond the Spectrum: the Creamy Spy Chronicles is a compilation album by Digable Planets. The album contains remastered songs in addition to previously unavailable songs and remixes. The album contains their 1993 top ten hit "Rebirth of Slick ". Indicating the group's appreciation of jazz history, the album was released by the jazz label Blue Note Records.
Lese Majesty is the second studio album by American hip hop duo Shabazz Palaces, released on July 29, 2014. The album features contributions from Thee Satisfaction’s Catherine Harris-White, Erik Blood and Thadillac. The album was produced by Shabazz Palaces and mixed by Blood at Protect and Exalt Labs in Seattle.
Erik Blood is a musician, studio engineer, composer, and record producer from Seattle, Washington. He has released two solo albums: Touch Screens (2014) and Lost in Slow Motion (2016). He is also known for his work with, among other artists, the Seattle-based hip hop groups Shabazz Palaces and THEESatisfaction. He has often cited his friend Arlo's expansive collection of music for inspiring him. He has worked with Shabazz Palaces since they were formed in 2009. He also produced the Seattle punk rock band Tacocat's third album Lost Time. In 2014, he was nominated for a Stranger Genius Award in music.
Jazz Ishmael Butler, professionally known as Lil Tracy, is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. He was also known under the name Yung Bruh during the beginning of his career. Tracy is best known for his collaborations with the late rapper Lil Peep, specifically "Awful Things" which peaked at 79 on the Billboard Hot 100, and for being a prominent member of the "SoundCloud rap" and underground rap scene.
Pendulum Records is a hip hop-oriented record label originally founded in 1991 by Ruben Rodriguez, who was then working as a senior vice president for urban music at Elektra Records. In 1992, Rodriguez resigned his position at Elektra to devote more time to his position as president of Pendulum. At the time, Pendulum was an imprint label being distributed by Elektra. In 1993, it switched distribution partners from Elektra to EMI Records. One of the label's most prominent and profitable signatories was the hip hop group Digable Planets. Digable Planets member Craig "Doodlebug" Irving blames the switch from Elektra to EMI for leading to their second album, Blowout Comb, not being very well-publicized.
THEESatisfaction is a former American music duo based in Seattle, Washington. It consisted of Stasia "Stas" Irons and Catherine "Cat" Harris-White.
The Don of Diamond Dreams is the fifth studio album by American hip hop duo Shabazz Palaces, released on April 17, 2020, through Sub Pop. It was produced by Ishmael Butler and features collaborations with Purple Tape Nate, Stas the Boss, Darrius and Carlos Overall. The album received acclaim from critics.
Robed in Rareness is the sixth studio album by American hip hop project Shabazz Palaces, released on October 27, 2023 through Sub Pop. It includes collaborations with Royce the Choice, Lil Tracy, O Finess, and Geechi Suede of Camp Lo.
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