When Digable Planets arrived in 1993 with Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space), the Philadelphia trio with the enlightened flow and easygoing vibe sounded undeniably fresh. But an air of nostalgia also bubbled up in their jazz and funk samples and name-checking of pop culture figures from decades past.
Enough time has gone by since the Digables released their two seminal albums, Reachin’ and 1994’s Blowout Comb, that they can now inspire their own nostalgia. Digable Planets are celebrating three decades of Reachin’ with an anniversary tour that includes another milestone: their first South Florida performance in 30 years.
Reachin’ was the last cassette I ever purchased — at the Spec’s at the bottom of the Miracle Center in Miami — before moving on to CD’s. I was immediately transfixed by the lyrical smoothness of Butterfly, Ladybug Mecca and Doodlebug. If A Tribe Called Quest could have been any more charming and laid back, Digable Planets would have been the result. They mixed intellectualism with silly rhymes to a blissful result. I remember arguing back in the ’90s that Digable Planets were the greatest hip-hop group ever, only for the rejoinder to be that they needed to put out more music.
In 2016, I interviewed Butterfly, aka Ishmael Butler, when he was touring with his art rap group Shabazz Palaces, and asked about that. “We’re not opportunists,” Butler said. “We recorded all that when we lived in a five-block radius. We want to record new music, but not as an exercise. It’s difficult living far away with responsibilities of an adult life. But we’ve been discussing it a lot more than we ever have now.”
Eight years later we’re still waiting for a third Digable Planets LP, but in the meantime we get to celebrate their timeless classics in person. Butler told me that he’s most in his element on stage: ”Innately, music is my calling. To release it commercially allows you to earn a living. I prefer the troubadour aspect of being a musician traveling around playing. That’s what leaves me fulfilled.”
Digable Planets play 7pm Sunday, February 18 at Revolution Live in Fort Lauderdale. officialdigableplanets.com ~ David Rolland
