Black Up Explained

Black Up
Type:	studio
Artist:	Shabazz Palaces
Cover:	Black up.jpg
Released:	June 28, 2011
Genre:	Experimental hip hop^[1]
Length:	36:01
Label:	Sub Pop
Producer:	Knife Knights
Prev Title:	Live at Sasquatch 2010
Prev Year:	2011
Next Title:	Live at KEXP
Next Year:	2012

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."^[2]

Reception

Critical reception

Black Up received widespread critical acclaim; many commented on the experimental song structures and intricate lyricism. Review aggregator Metacritic gave the album a normalised rating of 83 out of 100, based on reviews from 36 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Metacritic included Black Up in its "Midyear Report: The Best Music of 2011 So Far."^[3]

In his review for MSN Music, music critic Robert Christgau said that, misleading titles notwithstanding, the album "improves mightily when the volume is high enough to break the beats into components so they're impossible to ignore." Jon Pareles, writing in The New York Times, viewed the album as proof that hip hop "still has an audacious progressive fringe."^[4] Kitty Empire of The Observer wrote that, although it is not game-changing, Black Up resonate with listeners in a way the conventional hip hop cannot because each track is "lean and muscular, never losing sight of the fact that hip-hop should writhe inexorably forward."^[5] In 2019, Pitchfork ranked Black Up at number 179 on their list of "The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s"; cultural critic Hanif Abdurraqib wrote: "From great mystery exploded an album of impossible vision."^[6]

Accolades

Black Up on year-end lists! Publication! Country! Accolade! Year! Rank

Mojo^[7]	UK	Top 50 albums of 2011	2011	36
Popmatters^[8]	US	75 Best Albums of 2011	2011	30
Pitchfork^[9]	US	Best Albums of 2011	2011	14
Pitchfork^[10]	US	The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s	2019	179
Hip Hop Is Read^[11]	US	Top 25 Hip Hop Albums of 2011	2011	10
Epitonic^[12]	US	Top 40 Albums of 2011	2011	4
Gorilla vs. Bear^[13]	US	Albums of 2011	2011	1
Gorilla vs. Bear^[14]	US	Albums of the Decade: 2010-2019	2019	5
Prefixmag^[15]	US	Top 50 Albums of 2011	2011	1
The Seattle Times^[16]	US	Best Pop Music 2011	2011	1
Potholes In My Blog^[17]	US	Top 15 Albums of 2011	2011	1
Cokemachineglow^[18]	US	Top 50 Albums of 2011	2011	1

Personnel

Shabazz Palaces

• Ishmael Butler (aka Palaceer Lazaro) – vocals
• Tendai Maraire – instrumentation

Additional personnel

• THEESatisfaction – guest vocals
• Blood – mixing
• Dumb Eyes – artwork
• Knife Knights – production

Charts

Chart performance for Black Up! Chart (2011)! Peak
position

Notes and References

1. Web site: Wragg. Stephen. August 9, 2011. Shabazz Palaces: Black Up. No Ripcord. July 21, 2013.
2. Web site: Sub Pop – Black Up . . 2011-11-05 . November 7, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111107053429/http://www.subpop.com/releases/shabazz_palaces/full_lengths/black_up . dead .
3. Web site: Midyear Report: The Best Music of 2011 So Far . .
4. News: Pareles. Jon. Jon Pareles. Industrial Hip-Hop And Bouncy Sociopathy. July 3, 2011. The New York Times. AR14. July 21, 2013.
5. News: Empire. Kitty. Kitty Empire. July 2, 2011. Shabazz Palaces: Black Up – review. The Observer. London. July 21, 2013.
6. Web site: The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s. Pitchfork. 8 October 2019. 9 October 2019.
7. Web site: MOJO's Top 50 Albums Of 2011 . . December 2, 2011 . December 16, 2011.
8. Web site: The 75 Best Albums of 2011 . Popmatters Staff . . May 5, 2013.
9. Web site: Staff Lists: The Top 50 Albums of 2011 . Amanda Petrusich . Amanda Petrusich . . December 16, 2011 . March 4, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304220733/http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/8727-the-top-50-albums-of-2011/5/ . dead .
10. Web site: The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s. October 8, 2019 . . October 9, 2019.
11. Web site: The Top 25 Hip Hop Albums of 2011 . Ivan Rt . Hip Hop Is Read . December 31, 2011.
12. Web site: Epitonic's Top 40 Albums of 2011 . Epitonic Staff . . February 9, 2012.
13. Web site: contributor list: Top 30 Albums of 2011 . Chris . December 5, 2011 . . December 5, 2011.
14. Web site: Gorilla vs. Bear's Albums of the Decade: 2010-2019. Chris . September 20, 2019. . October 9, 2019.
15. Web site: best music of 2011: Prefix's Top 50 Albums Of 2011 . Staff . . December 12, 2011.
16. Web site: best pop music of 2011: Best pop music 2011: Seattle and beyond . Andrew Matson . . December 24, 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111231213018/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/matsononmusic/ . December 31, 2011 . mdy-all .
17. Web site: Top 15 Albums of 2011 . David Reyneke . Potholes In My Blog . January 4, 2012 . January 21, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120121022041/http://potholesinmyblog.com/top-15-albums-of-2011/ . dead .
18. Web site: Top 50 Albums of 2011 . https://archive.today/20120724004512/http://www.cokemachineglow.com/feature/6630/top50albums-2011?pg=5/ . dead . July 24, 2012 . Clayton Purdom . . January 4, 2012 .