Peter Holslin wrote this from his vacation home on Mars Ishmael Butler handles the mic like a king. I mean this quite literally. On the new Shabazz Palaces album, Lese Majesty, I keep picturing the veteran rapper luxuriating atop a throne, ruling over some deep space Planet X, as he drops 10-dollar words (“sepulcher,” “farceur”), […]

Zilla Rocca divides cakes to rise the stakes Collecting cake is dirty business. Make the stakes too high and no one buys in. Make the punishment too soft and no one kicks back bread. You give a jackpot chaser a yard, he takes ten miles. Deadlines must be given, force used as a last resort. […]

Aaron Frank is just another case about the wrong path Every year, as the weather gets warmer, I always find myself trying to get outside more often to enjoy it. But with climate change destroying the weather patterns I grew accustomed to in my youth, spring essentially ceases to exist. In its place is a […]

Zilla Rocca is a 5 O’clock Shadowboxer holding the sector After the hellish winter we suffered along the east coast in 2013-2014, where 60 inches of snow pelted us into psychological mince meat, the spring of 2014 has been a mirage of sorts – 80 degree temperatures overtaken by rain, cool nights, and beautiful sunny […]

Shabazz Palaces offer the least compromises, which makes them the most radical. It’s not so much fear of speaking out that frightens political artists, but fear of fucking up the money. A decade and a half after “The Real Slim Shady,” rebellion is largely a pose. You can market revolutionary sentiment  to college kids in […]

TRUTH. BEAUTY. EMOTION. SOUL. FUNCTIONALITY. AWESOMENESS. MINIMALISM. SHABAZZ PALACES. Ish is holding court at Gorilla Vs. Bear today — dropping old Mingus, Gang Starr, Mobb Deep, Funkadelic, and 80 Blocks From Tiffany’s. Instructions self-evident.