Ishmael Butler Releases New Shabazz Palaces Album

The veteran artist returns with It's a Style Sport, his first album under the project name in six years.

Updated on Oct. 28, 2026 in Hip-Hop and Rap

Ishmael Butler Releases New Shabazz Palaces Album

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Ishmael Butler has released his new full-length album, It's a Style Sport, performing under his Shabazz Palaces moniker. This marks the first major release for the experimental hip-hop project in six years.

Why it matters

The album highlights Butler's collaborative creative process and his influence across rap, jazz, and R&B. His return signals a new chapter for the artist as he continues to explore experimental soundscapes.

The album marks the first Shabazz Palaces release in six years, following the debut LP Black Up from 2011. The project incorporates musical elements of rap, R&B, jazz, and new wave.

The players

Ishmael Butler

He is a 57-year-old musician and producer known for his work with the experimental hip-hop group Shabazz Palaces and the 1990s jazz-rap group Digable Planets.

Shabazz Palaces

This is an experimental hip-hop project based in Seattle that blends various genres including jazz and R&B.

Erik Blood

He is a collaborator who worked with Ishmael Butler on the production of the new album.

The details

Ishmael Butler created the album by leading jam sessions, where he provided skeletal structures to musicians who then played until the music locked into place. The final recordings incorporate complex soundscapes constructed from drum machines, bass stabs, and keys.

October 2026: It's a Style Sport album is released.
2011: Shabazz Palaces releases debut LP Black Up.
1990s: Digable Planets releases two albums.

Industry Dynamics

This release follows the precedent set by the 2011 release of the debut Shabazz Palaces LP Black Up. The project continues to influence the experimental hip-hop landscape by bridging gaps between traditional rap production and avant-garde jazz structures.

Fans of the artist can access the new material across major digital streaming platforms and retail outlets. The release provides a long-awaited expansion of the artist's catalog following a six-year hiatus from the Shabazz Palaces project.

The takeaway

The album serves as a masterclass in collaborative production, demonstrating how skeletal structures can evolve into complex layered compositions. Listeners looking for a fresh approach to genre-bending music will find the fusion of jazz and new wave particularly notable.