The Don of diamond dreams

"Butler's burst-fire flow and self-referential wordplay on Wet nods to the type of verse you might expect from Lil Uzi Vert - a far cry from Shabazz Palaces' sound but a signal that Butler keeps his minds open as well as his ears. Despite the stumbles, it's this willingness to switch things up and the ambition of scale in The Don of Diamond Dreams that prove Shabazz Palaces to be such a fascinating and exciting project in the age of algorithms and formulae. Uninterested in providing obvious satisfaction, Butler is willing to preserve a rare degree of mystery: there's almost a chasm of difference between listening to the record on speakers and earphones. His verbal clarity only reveals itself via the latter experience. It's as if his words evaporate on contact with air, enhancing the music's elusive form".

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"Ishmael Butler, the MC of the futurist hip-hop duo, looks in a new direction for inspiration on his latest project: his own son, emo rapper Lil Tracy".

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