How Shabazz Palaces Made 'It's a Style Sport' in Eight Days in Seattle, Washington

Shabazz Palaces made a rap record about style, and made it fast. The Seattle, Washington project led by Ishmael Butler cut It's a Style Sport in eight days at Seattle's Hall of Justice Studios, and Sub Pop released it Oct. 23, 2026.

Butler's mission statement, via Sub Pop: "Taking it back to what rap is really all about."

Eight days, one crew

Butler showed up with "blueprints of each song in hand" and let his friends build them out, according to Sub Pop. Longtime friend and collaborator Erik Blood provided instrumentation, production and mixing.

The band is a circle of road dogs: Evan Flory-Barnes on upright and electric bass; Thaddeus Turner on guitar, keys, and vocals; Gerald Turner on bass and vocals; Kassa Overall on drums; Carlos Overall on saxophone; and Marquetta Miller on vocals. Every one of them has toured with Shabazz Palaces and Digable Planets for five to 10 years, Sub Pop says.

Rap as a friendly competition

Sub Pop calls the album "an ode to the rap game of years past," with Butler paying homage to "the oft-forgotten honor of exceptional showmanship." He describes the spirit as "tough, friendly competition to see who could out-style the next person with surface stuff." The label also says it reveals "a more reflective and upfront side" of him than listeners have seen before.

The 10-track set opens with "Ahh World (I Won The Alpha Bet)," which Stereogum called a burbling spoken-word electro track with a cinematic sense of scope. It came with a sci-fi animated video from director Jacob Kasar. "Tongue In Chic," which Sub Pop calls "a whimsical pop number" with Prince-like guitar licks and Italo disco synths, followed with a visualizer on Oct. 1.

The titles alone show the wit: "Show Me Missouri In Mink," "Jheri Curl Jump," "Deadstock Dude" and closer "From One Future To Another."

From Digable Planets to Sub Pop

Butler first made his name in Digable Planets. When he announced Shabazz Palaces about 15 years ago, he presented it as "a loose and mysterious collective," Stereogum notes; today it's "essentially Butler's solo project," though he still gets plenty of help in the studio.

Sub Pop associates his work with Afrofuturist artists such as Sun Ra, Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders. It's a Style Sport follows the 2024 mini-album Exotic Birds Of Prey and the eight-minute standalone single "Time Knows Me."

Where to listen and follow

Get the album from Sub Pop, visit shabazzpalaces.com

Sources

Stereogum — "Shabazz Palaces Announces New Album It's A Style Sport: Hear 'Ahh World (I Won The Alphabet)'"
Sub Pop — "Shabazz Palaces: It's a Style Sport"
Sub Pop — "Shabazz Palaces"