Lese Majesty
28 July 2014
Sub Pop
4
stars out of 5
Ishmael
Butler (the artist formerly known as Butterfly, of Digable Planets
fame) and Tendai Maraire formed Shabazz Palaces in 2009, and dropped
the highly critically acclaimed Black
Up
in 2011. Three years later they released Lese
Majesty
(a reference to lèse-majesté,
the act of offence against the dignity a reigning sovereign), which
can be seen as another huge middle finger in the face of mainstream
hip hop, and then some. Presented in seven “suites,” the album is
an extended dubscape of vignettes that meld together into one long
poem. And with titles like “Noetic Noiromantics” and “Colluding
Oligarchs,” you know that the lowest common denominator isn't going
to be present on any of the album's eighteen tracks.
Lese
Majesty
doesn't follow a linear narrative; instead, it loops, circles back,
revisits, and goes with its own flow. While one could argue that
there's a fine line between freedom from constraints and lack of
direction, the Shabazzers are focused and sharp throughout the
album's nearly forty-five minutes. The duo doesn't care about catchy
pop hooks or posturing for street cred—this is an adventure in
abstract dub that avoids clichés like the plague. At its most
“normal,” such as the irreverent “#CAKE,” the duo appears to
be holding up a mirror to mid-'80s industrial acts like Skinny Puppy
and Cabaret Voltaire and giving us a hip hop reflection thereof. This
sound is continued with the electro-inspired “MindGlitch Keytar TM
Theme,” indicating that either SPalaces have been listening to the
old electro-industrial stuff, or (more likely) that both share common
roots in the dub music of three or four decades ago. Regardless of
where it comes from, the music of Lese
Majesty
is an exciting indication of where hip hop might be going in the
years to come.
reviewed
by Richard Krueger
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