Reissued September 2, 2022
Light In The Attic
2xLP (Dazed and Amazed Duo Gold/Blue and Easin' In The Clear/Purple Vinyl)
For a brief time, in the early '90s, there was persistent effort to close the gap between jazz and hip hop. A Tribe Called Quest said "Jazz, we've got it." the Jungle Brothers looped Donald Byrd and Grover Washington Jr., Miles Davis made an album with Easy Moe Bee and The Roots turned Zoot into "Dynamite!" It was a beautiful and too-short time, an intense vacuum of short lived promise and lightning that flashed white-hot only to dissipate, seemingly, at the turn of the century when anxieties spurred violence and fear and confusion. Digable Planets hold the distinction of being the most effortlessly cool bunch from that crop. They're A+ academics with 40-inch verticals and the best style. They hang out at the coolest joints. They're who you want to be seen with. Even with a concerted political and social agenda, there is a natural ease to Blowout Comb, an intangible vibe. It's about as warm and relaxing an rap album as has ever been produced. Without belying it's timelessness — because it cannot be understated how good these beats, how smart the rhymes were and are — it is a premiere time capsule of one of the most fun eras in rap's still modest history.