Gorilla vs. Bear

mini-mix: Ishmael Butler of Shabazz Palaces + Digable Planets

Added 2020-04-26 18:36:40 +0000 UTC

In this week's GvsB Sunday mix, the great Ishmael Butler of Shabazz Palaces and Digable Planets shared some of the inspirations for his new album The Don of Diamond Dreams, so I thought now would be a good time to shine some light on his legendary career, and the tracks that have made him my favorite rapper for over 25 years.

This playlist not only covers both Digable Planets LPs (including Blowout Comb, which in my estimation is one of the best rap albums ever), and all 5 Shabazz Palaces LPs and both 2009 mini-albums, but also touches on Ish's lesser known projects, Cherrywine and Knife Knights, as well as a track he did with Camp Lo back in '97, and the sole track from WOKE, his supergroup with Flying Lotus + Thundercat. Also worth checking, but unfortunately not on Spotify: his track with Oneohtrix Point Never, and his beautiful unreleased track with actress Nia Long. Let's go:

listen on Spotify

[apologies for the lack of an Apple Music playlist, but their playlist feature has been bugging lately, and half of the tracks we add to the playlists aren't showing up]