Shabazz Palaces from Seattle are a powerful, original force in modern music. Following from two self-released EPs, Black Up is the group's debut full-length on a label, and fascinatingly the first hip-hop album from the Sub Pop label, a label well known for their work with bands like Beach House, Nirvana, Fleet Foxes, Sebadoh, and The Shins amongst others. Founded by Palaceer Lazaro (aka Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler of 90s Daisy Age hip-hop crew Digable Planets), Shabazz Palaces specialise in a more abstracted form of beat creation, incorporating fractured and distorted soul samples, electronically altered beats and a careful consideration of space and echo between the verses.