Shabazz Palaces - An Echo From the Hosts that Profess Infinitum

What this video is

Released June 2013 as a retroactive visual companion to Black Up (Sub Pop, 2011), itself the debut full-length from Seattle art-rap duo Shabazz Palaces — led by Ishmael Butler (formerly Butterfly of Digable Planets) and percussionist Tendai Maraire, son of Zimbabwean mbira master Dumisani Maraire. Shabazz Palaces were the first hip-hop act signed to Sub Pop, and Black Up received widespread critical acclaim with a…

Why it matters

A landmark artifact of early-2010s experimental hip-hop video culture, demonstrating how abstract rap acts used low-budget, high-concept visual direction to match sonically radical material. The beat-synchronized image distortion and monochrome samurai iconography represent a distinct aesthetic…

The director

Joris Grelet is a director credited with helming the official music video for Shabazz Palaces' 'An Echo From The Hosts That Profess Infinitum' (2013), as confirmed by Stereogum. No further verified public biographical information is available from indexed…