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Shabazz Palaces is an American hip hop duo from Seattle composed of Ishmael Butler a.k.a. Palaceer Lazaro (formerly Butterfly of jazz rap group Digable Planets) and multi-instrumentalist Tendai "Baba" Maraire, son of mbira master Dumisani Maraire. They have been active since 2009 and have released two studio albums, Black Up (2011) and Lese Majesty (2014), to critical acclaim. In July 2017, they released two more albums, Quazarz: Born on a Gangster Star and Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines, both on Sub Pop.BiographyThe pair anonymously self-released two EPs, Eagles Soar, Oil Flows and The Seven New in 2009 before becoming one of the few hip-hop acts to be signed to the Sub Pop label and releasing its debut full-length album, Black Up to wide critical acclaim in 2011. Black Up was listed #1 in Seattle Times music columnist Andrew Matson's "Local Top #10" of 2011.The duo released its second album, Lese Majesty, on July 29, 2014. The album was first premiered at Seattle's Pacific Science Center Laser Dome in April 2014.