Y'all.

Y'ALL!!!

I am all over the place right now so let me just spit out three things that I want to chat about*.

1. Ishmael Butler and music partner Erik Blood have a new album out on Sub Pop that seems to have flown under the radar, at least in my world. None of my top three local record shops had it in stock and it's not because it sold out. They just never carried it. I just discovered it this week (face palm emoji) and I haven't listened to it yet. https://megamart.subpop.com/releases/knife_knights/1_time_mirage

2. Erykah Badu and Ishmael got something on. At least one of these things has transpired or is 'bout to pop off: a musical partnership or project, a romantic relationship, a baby or a platonic and endearing long-distance reverence for each other that has been on full display on social media. They've been hittin' at each other on Instagram for a minute. This is the most interesting post, from Erykah: https://www.instagram.com/p/BnawE4tH-83/?hl=en&taken-by=erykahbadu
Ish/Shabazz's account is now private but luckily I am already following him/the group: https://www.instagram.com/shabazzpalaces/. Ish is known to post and delete images. There are only nine posts, and one features Erykah with no caption.

Now, these are some weird, mad creative water signs in their 40s. And they are in my top 10 musicians list. I'm here for whatever is going on.

I did a quick Google search to see if they announced a song or somethin' and the first item that appeared was a September 2018 post on a site I don't normally f*ck with that didn't reveal much. A user suggested another thread there got deleted. Hmmm.

3. Does anyone know the status of the project Flying Lotus said he was working on with Shabazz Palaces and Thundercat? Hopefully, it's still in the works and they're just dealing with their crazy schedules.
Remember this? https://pitchfork.com/news/61398-flying-lotus-talks-woke-his-new-project-with-shabazz-palaces-and-thundercat/


*Yes, I am squeezing multiple topics in one post because OKP is not as active as it used to be. And I put this in GD because of the Erykah chatter. Admittedly, it's a bit gossipy. I normally don't engage in that but this is too juicy and exciting for me to not discuss. And I think OKP would be interested in whatever Ish and Erykah got cookin'.

Like, imagine if they did a project together...

>1. Ishmael Butler and music partner Erik Blood have a new
>album out on Sub Pop that seems to have flown under the radar,
>at least in my world. None of my top three local record shops
>had it in stock and it's not because it sold out. They just
>never carried it. I just discovered it this week (face palm
>emoji) and I haven't listened to it yet.
>https://megamart.subpop.com/releases/knife_knights/1_time_mirage

The story behind this album is interesting. I find it odd that the tracks state "feat. Shabazz Palaces" since Ishmael is half of Knife Knights and half of Shabazz Palaces. Maybe it's a legal/publishing thing?

"...Butler wanted Shabazz Palaces to stand on its own strength, not his outsized reputation, so he adopted a nom de plume for himself. As the project’s network expanded, though, he needed new monikers for his partnerships. Knife Knights is the name he gave to his work with Seattle engineer, producer, songwriter, and film composer Erik Blood, a vital force in the Shabazz Palaces universe. Now, after more than a decade of collaboration and the development of a rich friendship, Butler and Blood have made a proper full-length record together as Knife Knights: 1 Time Mirage, an eleven-track odyssey that finds the pair and a cast of their friends weaving together a singular world of soul and shoegaze, hip-hop and lush noise, bass and bedlam."

A recent interview with Ish via Pitchfork: https://pitchfork.com/levels/from-digable-planets-to-knife-knights-the-many-faces-of-ishmael-butler/

i can see using a new name to get away from your old work/old crew or label issues

but this makes it sound like he's pharrel or rza and trying to do a side project outside of all the creativity-crushing fame

dude should actually use whatever he can to get his stuff circulated more.
>
>"...Butler wanted Shabazz Palaces to stand on its own
>strength, not his outsized reputation, so he adopted a nom de
>plume for himself.

anyway, yea thx i didnt have this on the radar at all (see- earlier point about dudes projects not being known. reputation?). gonna check it out.

one issue i got with these super artsy folks (erykah included) is half the songs on their albums sound like demos/drafts, or just not fully thought out to completion. and then i feel silly for buying it.


and somebody is trolling all over erykah's page saying they pregnant.

>i can see using a new name to get away from your old work/old
>crew or label issues
>
>but this makes it sound like he's pharrel or rza and trying to
>do a side project outside of all the creativity-crushing fame
>
>dude should actually use whatever he can to get his stuff
>circulated more.
>>

Right, he's not that well-known.

When SP first came out, he definitely was distancing himself from Digable Planets. If I recall what I read correctly, when Ish met his Shabazz Palaces partner Tendai "Baba" Maraire, he tried to distance himself from being a musician. He was still creating but planned on never putting out music again. Then, when they started creating music, they were very low-key about it. The first SP album in 2009 came out with little background information about the group. Ish wasn't trying to promote himself or reveal his past affiliations.

So, while I don't necessarily agree with this approach, I've come to expect this manner from him.

>
>one issue i got with these super artsy folks (erykah included)
>is half the songs on their albums sound like demos/drafts, or
>just not fully thought out to completion. and then i feel
>silly for buying it.
>
I never felt this way about Erykah's music but with Ish? Absolutely. The first album I listened to from the Knife Knights project was "Low Key," and it's a no for me, dawg.

"Give You Game" is a better song. Of course, all the butt nekkid white folks strolling through the forest, towards Ish, is, well, yeah... But, that's Ish for you. His Sub Pop videos are often off the wall.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0RSVMuCjzo

Some of the songs on the last two Shabazz Palaces projects also seemed half-baked.

>and somebody is trolling all over erykah's page saying they
>pregnant.
>
Yeah, I saw that. Someone said twins! I don't know about alladat, tho. I don't pay attention to detailed rumors of that nature. I do think that have (or had) somethin' goin' on.

either...
It's on streaming services it appears...

the other day i was wondering if SP put anything new out and eventually found Knife Knights.

at some point i figure we cant count on it, not sure til what age she would want to have babies

either way im down for a new badu album no matter what.

She's 47 and fairly progressive about maternal health.

She gave an award acceptance speech for BUST magazine's 25th-anniversary party earlier this year, and according to a Vanity Fair account, the first thing she said was: “I’m on my period. Right now, I got a fuckin’ pouch full of blood, and I’m so very, very honored and happy to be here.”

She's always been pro-health. So, I wouldn't be shocked if she isn't against being with child (or twin children) at nearly 50. She is a doula and has trained to become a certified midwife.

As mentioned in Kelefa Sanneh's amazing New Yorker profile back in 2016, she has even said verbatim on this here site: "I LOVE CHILDREN AND I WILL HAVE AS MANY AS GOD WILL GIVE ME."
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/04/25/erykah-badu-the-godmother-of-soul

This same article also mentioned that she was dating Carl Jones, a producer or EP on the Boondocks, Black Dynamite and In the Flow with Affion Crockett projects. I did not consider they had broken up until her and Ish started going at it on the 'gram.

im sure hoping shes still dropping albums here and there then

Nope. ;-)

BUST Magazine Anniversary Party (https://bust.com/)

She #KnowsHerAudience

Let's be clear, this would help Shabazz Palaces.

Some outlets are interpreting Erykah’s latest Instagram post as a pregnancy announcement. I didn’t get that vibe but she is alluding to Ish yet again. This time she played one of my fave Shabazz Palaces joints and crafted a caption with the word “Ish.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BqHHIhgnxF2/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=aipyuyg9a1w6

The two stories I saw I won’t post because the outlets/stories are trash.

https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/erykah-badu-sparks-pregnancy-rumors-with-round-belly-and-baby-daddy-ishmael-butler-news.64571.html?_amp

She updated her post. She said she’s not pregnant, just fluffy.

*hangs head low*

"Get ready....for your blessing....."