Shabazz Palaces - Myths Of The Occult (feat. Japreme Magnetic)

What this video is

Released February 5, 2024 as a single from the mini-album 'Exotic Birds of Prey' (Sub Pop, March 29, 2024), 'Myths of the Occult' arrives during a prolific late-career phase for Ishmael Butler's Shabazz Palaces project, following hard on October 2023's 'Robed in Rareness.' The album cross-pollinates shoegaze, ambient music, twisted electro, and funk into Butler's established Afrofuturist framework. The track…

Why it matters

Represents the mature Afrofuturist experimental hip-hop mode pioneered by Shabazz Palaces since 'Black Up' (2011) — one of Sub Pop's first hip-hop releases. The video exemplifies the 2020s phase of this tradition: high conceptual density, low commercial accessibility, and a visual language that…

The director

Stephan Gray is a Seattle-based director/DP who has served as the primary music video collaborator for Shabazz Palaces across multiple projects, including 'Dawn in Luxor' (2016) and 'Since C.A.Y.A.' (2017) and 'Fast Learner' (2020). He is also a narrative…