Shabazz Palaces Interview
Ishmael Butler, mastermind behind the brain-bendingly outré Seattle rap act Shabazz Palaces, talks about the cleanest water known to man, that one fan who licked sweat off his face, and why his son is like Howard Hughes.
Favorite Drink
I have to say water. My friend got this charcoal filter called a Berkey—it’s got these two huge columns of natural charcoal inside this big-ass tube. And you pour regular water in there, and over the next couple of hours the charcoal soaks up all the bad shit in the water. It’s some next-level cleaning stuff. I call it gold water. You can really taste the difference.
Strangest Display of Affection From a Fan
One time with Digable Planets, we were taking pictures with fans. Some girl came up, and as we were getting ready to take the picture, she just grabbed my dick, man. She had a lot of authority and conviction in her actions, and I just had to go with the flow at that point. It was a Polaroid, too, and her facial expression in the picture was just kind of regular.
Then one time with Shabazz, this girl came up and said, "Can I give you a hug?" I said, "You don't want no hug from me 'cause I'm sweaty," because it was after the show. And she licked my face! Chin up to my ear. Somebody who you don't know licking your face is just bad.
Favorite Actor
Aiden Gillen, who plays Carcetti on "The Wire" and is in "Game of Thrones".
The Last Thing I Googled
I'm kinda old, so anything digital just feels wrong to me. I don't necessarily think it's wrong, but I don't have that automatic interface with computers that younger generations do. I got friends who look up every single thing on their phone: directions, definitions of words, who you’re talking about, pictures. I use Google quite a bit, but I’m not like that. My daughter is into her phone, but in a healthy way. And my son is on some Howard Hughes shit—he doesn’t even deal with his phone at all.
Book I’m Currently Reading
I’m always reading a couple of things. I read a lot of periodicals, too. Now I’m reading Michael Ondaatje's Coming Through Slaughter. It’s about a coronet player from back in the early New Orleans jazz days.
Favorite New Song
Lil Herb: "At the Light"
Worst Habit
Eating full meals with snacks and dessert after 2 a.m. It just doesn’t make me feel good. Throws everything off.
Favorite TV Show
"Game of Thrones"
My Morning Routine
I get up, take a shower, drink some peppermint tea, and ride my bike either into Sub Pop or to the studio. When my kids were still in the house, I would get up before them, get breakfast together—most of the time it was oatmeal—make some carrot-celery-apple juice, and then wake them up as fast as possible, which was usually a chore. Then I’d try to organize who was going to be in the bathroom and for how long, and then get them out of the house in time. It was pretty military and a little athletic.
The Last Great Film I Saw
The Great Beauty. Keeping up with movies is damn near like keeping up with rappers or music, there's just hella shit everyday. I do the best I can. I run with cats that are into music and art, so I get a lot of assistance from my associates in terms of what's going on.
My Kids’ Favorite Music
My daughter likes Lil B always and forever, and my son likes Animal Collective.
http://pitchfork.com/features/guest-...abazz-palaces/
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