Portland Music Festival

When Ishmael Butler exploded onto the hip-hop scene in the early ’90s with critically acclaimed beatnik-rap outfit Digable Planets, it’s unlikely anyone would have anticipated how prophetic his chosen moniker, Butterfly, would prove to be.

The group was heralded for its smart mashup of hip-hop and lounge jazz, finger snaps and all. It spoke to the cerebral ideals and musicianship lurking in a genre that was, at the time, obsessed with guns, bitches, money and ego.

When Planets was sucked into the black hole left by the supernova of mainstream gangsta-ism, though, nobody—not even Butler himself—could have envisioned that nearly 20 years later, the prolific MC would emerge from his soggy Seattle cocoon completely changed and more prolific and groundbreaking than ever before.

As Shabazz Palaces, Butler is spitting out some of the most challenging, daring and experimental hip-hop on the scene today, and with his debut full-length for Sub Pop, Black Up, Butler has accomplished a rare feat: a comeback in which an artist defies all expectation in favor of a total reinvention of self.

Shabazz’s avant-garde beats are at once stripped down and complex, venturing from spaced-out soul vocals wafting over simplistic snares devoid of the genre’s typical thump to marimba-driven compositions packing enough boom to kick you in the chest with the force of 1,000 808s.

Lyrically, mysticism and social awareness cohabitate in the musical landscape, with Butler switching from a stream-of-consciousness staccato to brilliant bursts of tongue-twisting finesse, combining experimental poetry with a swaggering street cred that lands him in a strange wonderland somewhere between Dead Prez, heroin-soaked Miles Davis and another dimension entirely.

On stage, it’s a wonder to behold—albeit one that could cause confusion for hip-hoppers intent on throwing their sets in the air. Shabazz is a master of lulling listeners into a focused state of hypnotic bliss, only to suddenly deliver a sonic roundhouse kick that gets bodies moving.

Shabazz Palaces is, in that sense, a puppet master showcasing bravado and the skills to back up the swagger. Returning to MFNW for a second consecutive year, the prolific mad scientist is poised to take his second act to the next level. Pay attention. This is what hip-hop’s future really should sound like.

Shabazz Palaces plays MusicfestNW at the Roseland Theater with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis and TxE on Friday, Sept. 9, 9 pm. Entry with MFNW wristband or $16 advance ticket from TicketsWest.