Digable Planets

A very underrated follow-up to Digable's breakout debut, Blowout Comb is decidedly mellower than their first album though it's still steeped in vintage jazz. Despite lacking a major radio hit, this LP features several excellent joints. Check out "The Art of Easing" and "Highing Fly."

Trippy urban dreamscapes, detailed imagery and production grounded in funky '70s jazz
populate this crafty if sometimes incongruous sophomore outing. Instead of locking into
formula, Digable Planets have taken admirable chances, and a slew of superb live players
breathe life into tracks backed by tastefully understated New York-flavored beats and
ambient effects. But intentionally or not, the texture on Blowout Comb is more a... More >

Their edge was music not attitude, vocals not words--they had 'em both, their fellow middle-class revolutionaries in Arrested Development didn't. So while the follow-up rhymes could be more down-to-earth, it's amazing how good they sound with a live band and limited samples--less jazzy, a loss, but still thick, warm, and smoove. They rap like themselves and no one else, and as skilled as the guys are, Ladybug is the genius, even putting across rap's most (nay, only) charming piece of sun-people demonology: "I'm 62 inches above sea level/Ninety-three million miles above these devils." (Grade - A-)