Ishmael Reginald Butler (born July 3, 1969) is an American rapper, record producer and songwriter. He is best known for his work with such groups as

Digable Planets Digable Planets () is an American hip hop trio formed in 1987. The trio is composed of rappers Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler, Mariana "Ladybug Mecca" Vieira, and Craig "Doodlebug" Irving. The group is notable for their contributions to the subgenre ...

in the 1990s and

Shabazz Palaces Shabazz Palaces is an American hip hop group from Seattle led by Ishmael Butler a.k.a. Palaceer Lazaro (formerly Butterfly of jazz rap group Digable Planets). Much of the Butler's work as Shabazz Palaces has been made in collaboration with mult ...

in the 2010s.

Early life

Butler, who is a native of Seattle, was born in 1969. His father was a history professor at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

. He first forayed into music by playing the alto saxophone in his middle school jazz band. In 1987, he graduated from Garfield High School and moved to Massachusetts to enroll in college.

Career

In 1989, Butler dropped out of college and moved to Brooklyn, where he recorded a demo of hip hop tracks, which was eventually delivered to the Pendulum Records executive Ruben Rodriguez. In 1992, Butler auditioned to Pendulum Records with his friends Craig Irving, from Philadelphia, and Mary Ann Vieira, from Washington, D.C, forming Digable Planets. Digable Planets' 1992 single "

Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat) "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" is a song by American hip hop trio Digable Planets, released as the first single from their debut album, '' Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space)'', in November 1992. The black-and-white music video was ...

" achieved commercial and critical success, charting on ''

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streamin ...

''. Known for merging hip hop with jazz and philosophical lyrics, the group released two albums before disbanding in the mid-1990s. Following Digable Planets' demise, Butler recorded music under the alias Cherrywine and took film classes at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

. In 2003, he returned to Seattle to take care of his mother. In 2009, Butler formed Shabazz Palaces with his neighbor Tendai Maraire. After self-releasing two EPs, the duo signed to

Sub Pop Records Sub is a common abbreviation of words beginning with the prefix "sub-". Sub or SUB may also refer to Places * Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia, IATA code SUB Computing and technology * , an HTML tag for subscript * SUB designate ...

, releasing their debut album, ''

Black Up ''Black Up'' is the debut studio album by American hip hop duo Shabazz Palaces. It was released on June 28, 2011 in the United States on Sub Pop. The album was produced by Knife Knights at Gunbeat Serenade Studio in Outplace Palacelands." Rece ...

,'' in 2011. Its follow-up, '' Lese Majesty'', was released in 2014. Butler also became a member of Sub Pop’s A&R team in 2013.

Personal life

Butler has a son named Jazz Ishmael Butler, known professionally as

Lil Tracy Jazz Ishmael Butler (born October 3, 1995), professionally known as Lil Tracy, is an American rapper and singer. He was also known under the name Yung Bruh during the beginning of his career. Tracy is best known for his collaborations with the l ...

, from a previous relationship with Coko Gamble, the lead singer of

SWV SWV (Sisters with Voices) is an American R&B vocal trio from New York City whose members are Cheryl (Coko) Gamble, Tamara (Taj) Johnson, and Leanne (Lelee) Lyons. Formed in 1988 as a gospel group, SWV became one of the most successful R&B g ...

Discography

References

External links

* Living people American hip hop musicians African-American rappers Five percenters Rappers from Seattle 21st-century American rappers 1969 births 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American people {{US-hiphop-bio-stub