The rise of experimental Hip-Hop these past few years was mostly in the hands of loud and abrasive groups that were just as influenced by Rock and Punk as they were by Hip-Hop. Death Grips, Ratking, and Clipping. have all made major strides in the past few years by crossing over into audiences that normally wouldn’t dabble in Hip-Hop. When Death Grips first saw a rise against punks and metal heads, Indie labels like XL Recordings and Sub-Pop began signing these acts. However, one of the major groups in this rise isn’t even remotely abrasive. This group is the delightfully weird Shabazz Palaces.

Hailing from Seattle, Shabazz Palces is made up of rapper Ishmael Butler (notably of Digable Planets) and producer Tendai Maraire. When they broke on the scene, their debut album Black Up was their opening statement. Though that album’s brand of wonky consciousness didn’t really do anything for me personally, it certainly gained them a lot of fans. In a year full of notable debuts, Shabazz Palaces certainly had one of the most memorable and influential. Three years later, the group has followed up that project with an album that is even more audacious and bold, and this renewed strength helps the group quite a bit.

Lese Majesty is a massive and sprawling Hip-Hopera; built up of 7 short suites, it’s one of the most ambitious Hip-Hop projects in recent memory. In a genre weighed down by derivatives and safety, it’s refreshing to find progressive experimentation that doesn’t simply throw in punk influences (as awesome as those experimenters are). However, as the album carries on, the individual songs begin to melt into each other. 18 tracks are easy to guffaw at initially, but the album is so hazily cohesive that it’s hard to actually notice. The free flowing songs revel in abstraction and cloudiness. While it certainly isn’t “Cloud Rap”, the atmospheric textures that permeate throughout every song certainly create an album that is beautifully hazy.

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