Shabazz Palaces and THEESatisfaction // 8 pm // $15 // Neumos
No doubt you have already at least heard of Shabazz Palaces because anyone who was paying the least bit of attention to local music in 2010 was made well aware of the practically inescapable buzz surrounding the hip-hop duo. So, I won’t bore you with those details and history lessons. I will say this: if you haven’t listened to them yet then you are doing yourself a great disservice.
You are also missing out if you haven’t listened to Shabazz Palaces’ musical besties, THEESatisfaction. The two hip-hop acts been performing each other’s songs on stage and recording together in studios a lot in recent months. And now that THEESatisfaction have signed to Sub Pop, the two acts are also labelmates. The buzz around Catherine Harris-White’s and Stasia Irons’ project has been building as well, especially after they were featured in MTV’s and Lynn Shelton’s $5 Cover: Seattle.
The buzz is deserved though because both acts are making some truly groundbreaking music. Shabazz Palaces’ songs are bass-heavy mixes of ’80s hip hop, London dubstep that ignore the structure of popular hip-hop creating something new and exciting. THEESatisfaction’s neo-soul, psychedelic and electro inspired songs serve as a reminder that women can make hip-hop that is lively and fun and is more than just girls rapping like dudes.
Tonight will bring the two together again for a show at Neumos. Although THEESatisfaction is listed as the opener, expect for there to be a lot of overlap since they seem to love performing together. And if we’re lucky, Shabazz Palaces will be playing some new material from their recently mastered full length album.
