And that's a real shame, as the group's debut album Black Up was one of my favorites of 2011. That album, which really popped out of nowhere, contained some of the most forward-thinking music of the year, an enticing mixture of fragmented raps and woozy, disorienting beats. Sure, you could find some precursors-- the blossoming presence of cloud rap, and even Ismael Butler's work with the jazz rap group Digable Planets (who I also happen to love)-- but for the most part, no one was even approaching Shabazz Palaces level.
The group's first two EPs and album feature an MC under the name of Palaceer Lazaro, and he was able to introduce a mind bending, shiny and gritty (sounds like an oxymoron, but if you've heard their music, you know exactly what I'm talking about) urban night setting taking place in Seattle. The monotonous, wisdom filled voice driving these raps actually belonged to Ishamel Butler, much better known as Butterfly of Digable Planets, and specifically, the song "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)". His presence was just as evasive as his voice, as no one really knew what in the hell happened to him.
One can only assume that his reclusive actions were an attempt to disassociate himself from the music, and let the songs speak for themselves. And of course, the mysterious vibe he gave was more than a little alluring. But in 2011, that mystique would finally manifest in Black Up, a complete realization of all the group's potential. Since then, the group hasn't opened up a bit, and until this new project was announced earlier this year, I had more or less given up hope of ever hearing new music from Shabazz Palaces. When it went up for streaming, I was given the opportunity to allow their magic to grace my headphones, and it's this. And I feel terrible that the album turned out the way it did, because it seems like there was a lot of work put into it, but I've listened to Lese Majesty at least ten times, and I can barely remember more than a few of the songs. Of all the eighteen compositions, only ten of them pass the two minute mark, and honestly, not a single one of these minute long tracks are worth a shit. That's at least eight songs of pure filler, which is problematic to say the least.
But before this review gets too depressing, let me point out the good aspects. Although the project doesn't flow together well (the songs are divided into nine suites, which is kind of cool, but I really couldn't pick up on the story. If its there, props to Shabazz Palaces because their depth flew right over my head. All of the ten times I listened to this thing.), there are still good songs. The mind-scattering "They Come In Gold" has a beat change-up that would have stood out on Black Up, and the beauty of "#CAKE" and "Forerunner Foray" is simply undeniable. "Motion Sickness" too, contains one of the best instrumentals the crew has ever created, and Palaceer Lazaro's delivery (even on the albums worst moments, the dude still sounds cool as hell) makes this one of the year's true highlights. But too often these flashes of brilliance are interrupted by interludes that never manage to go anywhere. On the group's debut, most of the tracks ended somewhere very different from where they begin. Here, they often remain stagnant.
One thing I've always found fascinating about Shabazz Palaces is their ability to let the audience know when they need to pay extra attention. With their music floating all across your mind, it's especially alarming when they repeat a word or phrase. This is another area where Lese Majesty falls flat. Whenever I first heard Black Up, I spent the better part of a month walking around with Butler's random bars popping into my head. He makes what seems like nonsensical strings of vocabulary sound so damn enticing. Three years after the album release, I still don't know what in the hell a "dynamic electromagnetic style sensor" is, but I really want one. Here, the only lines that occasional remind me of the album's existence come from the song "Solemn Swears". Here's the catch: that's probably the worst song on Lese Majesty. I had to have lost brain cells listening to Palaceer recite lines like, "I set the tone like Al Capone", "I'm very nice like Jerry Rice" or my personal favorite, "I scream and yell like Samuel L." Come on guys, this is an entire song of first grade poetry.
But it's the group's tendency to use overly abstract song structures that makes this album a failure. When a more traditional length hip hop song arrives, this is far from a problem, and the whole process of listening to the track feels like a journey that you want to relive the second it ends. When we get to the shorter endeavors, though, it just seems like we're receiving the basic form of a rough draft. Interesting ideas, sure, and the beauty of songs like "Noetic Noiromantics" are interesting while listening, but I'm left with no desire to re-listen after the track ends. That Butler sounds so at home over this instrumentation makes it all the more disappointing when you don't get to hear him let loose.
Ultimately, I have the same issue with Lese Majesty that I had with Childish Gambino's Because the Internet: the ambition weighs down the final product. I'm sure that if I really sat down, studied the map that comes with the album, and looked at the lyrics while paying attention to the suites, I could uncover whatever story they're trying to tell, but the surface level sound just isn't intriguing enough for me to dedicate that much time. Especially when the music is such a scrambled mess of unfinished ideas and disappointment.
Still, I want to end this write-up on a positive note and I feel there are a few things worth mentioning. At one point on the album, Palaceer Lazaro say, "Meanwhile: plots & capers, lots of flavor, notching paper, watch your neighbors, wondering who's really fakers." So that's pretty cool, and the fact that the album's vinyl cover is made of shark skin is probably the most Shabazz Palaces thing I've ever heard. And most importantly, they haven't lost their touch in making completely incredible song titles: "Dawn in Luxor", "Colluding Oligarchs", and "Mind Glitch Keytar Theme"? That's still pretty damn sweet. But overall, Lese Majesty is chock full of ideas, and if its failure is due to its over-ambitiousness, well, I suppose there are worse ways to fail.
Rating: 2.5/5