Transmissions :: Shabazz Palaces

About this episode

One of the pet theories we've nursed on this show is that music allows the right listener to do something like travel through time. Or, maybe, a better way to say it would be: music allows us a way to step briefly outside of the experience linear time. Our guest this week on the show, Ishmael Butler of Shabazz Palaces and Digable Planets, is used to swimming in waters where science fiction weirdness and musical expression mingle. Shabazz Palaces' new album, It’s a Style Sport, represents a new high water mark for the Seattle-based rapper; at once memoiristic and mystical, it’s a strange and beguiling listen. This week, he joins Transmissions host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss basketball, his "Afro-fractal" artistic approach, the influence of artists like the Cocteau Twins, and of course, that goofy old standby: what's it like being a middle aged guy in rap? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices