After coming together for a reunion show back in December, the rap trio known as Digable Planets have launched a reunion tour. The tour kicked off in May and ended in August, and was extended for a few extra dates due to a high demand. Supported by Pusha T and Camp Lo, Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler, Mary Ann “Ladybug Mecca” Vieira, and Craig “Doodlebug” Irving brought that cool, funky sound that they are known for, to the nation. Now the tour will be extended again, as the group prepares to travel to Europe for the first time in over 10 years The European leg of the tour will include stops in London, Paris, Stockholm, Copenhagen, and include two stops stateside in Boston and New York.
Digable Planets is considered an alternative Hip-Hop group. Different from the hardcore rap acts of the time, Digable Planets had a softer sound. The Brooklyn trio was reminiscent of beatniks, with their minimal instrumentals and spoken word like flow. The Grammy award winning group debuted in 1993 with their album Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space). Their most famous song, “Rebirth of Slick(Cool Like That),” comes from that album. They stopped making music together in 1995 with their last album being, Blowout Comb. In 2005 the group briefly reunited and released a new album, Beyond the Spectrum: The Creamy Spy Chronicles, which was a compilaton of previously released songs, B-sides and remixes.
After 20 years since their break up, Digable Planets still can enchant a crowd. What was suppose to be only a 13 date reunion tour, quickly turned into an international journey. Most likely there will not be a new album to accompany this new tour. This may very well be the last time we get to see Digable Planets perform together. Butterfly is now a member of the group Shabazz Palaces and Ladybug Mecca has joined forces with Prince Paul, Don Newkirk, Rodrigo Brandao to form the group Brookzill!. So if you are still cool like that, plan to catch a show coming up. The Boston and New York stops are on November 8 and 10.