Digable Planets

Super jazzy and undeniably hip, the DP's first record is best known for the breakout hit "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)." The album's lesser-known jams are just as crucial, however. Breezy and mellow flows ride easygoing melodies, offering smooth, lyrical odes to bebop legends and Brooklyn pride. Outstanding hip-hop circa 1993.

If hip-hop is to survive, it must move beyond pseudo-nationalistic dogma and the gangsta
gibberish spouted more often than not for the sake of shock value and a quick dollar. In
the past, visionary groups like Public Enemy, De la Soul and last year's conformity busters in
Arrested Development jumped into the fray just when it seemed rap was set to rap itself
over the head. Digable Planets follow in this tradition with their debut album, Re... More >

The title's about escaping oppression and mortality, fleeing social madness and physical contingency into a spiritual realm of your own, and I say they get away clean. As the Godfather taught and the Planets agree--on "Escape-Ism" and "Escapism (Gettin' Free)," respectively--all music is escapist one way or another, a symbolic/sensual refuge no matter how cerebral, demanding, or hard to take. The test is the alternate reality it creates, and by exploiting the solid tunes and light feel of jazz from Sonny Rollins to Lonnie Liston Smith, these hip hop bohemians come up with a credible one. The airy delicacy of their sampled groove seems magically hyperreal in this pop context, transforming Butterfly and Doodlebug's weakness into wit and Ladybug's sambalike skippity-skip into a come-on that's equal parts sexuality and self-respect. The specific "Pacifics," about Sunday in New York, respects the literal here-and-now more observantly than any number of gat-filled street whoppers, and "La Femme Fétal," about Butterfly's conversation with a female friend, is the most humane, didactic, and politically informed prochoice song ever recorded. They could be in for some nasty moments if they expect full acceptance in the so-called hip hop community, but what can you do? Alternate on over here. (Grade - A)