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10.0
28763
10.0 |
A.V. Club
By cutting out the usual comeback bluster and throwback rehash, Butler may have discovered hip-hop’s fountain of youth
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10.0
28771
10.0 |
The Irish Times
As the unconventional, exotic and otherworldy sounds bubble and beguile throughout, it’s clear that Shabazz Palaces have set their controls for an entirely other dimension
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10.0
28799
10.0 |
Consequence Of Sound
Black Up is not the best hip hop album of the year so far, it’s the best album of the year so far
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9.5
28761
9.5 |
Prefix
If there’s been a better album, hip-hop or not, out this year, I haven’t heard it
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9.1
28864
9.1 |
Beats Per Minute
Shabazz Palaces have pushed the music forward, so that it once again can be raw, real, and unconventional
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9.1
29340
9.1 |
Pretty Much Amazing
It doesn’t sound like any other hip-hop album that’s out
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9.0
29987
9.0 |
AU Review
There’s plenty of bass, jazz, space, echo, hazy flow, synthy weirdness and trumpet on show here and Butler’s ability to draw together seemingly disparate tracks is nothing short of genius
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9.0
30340
9.0 |
No Ripcord
As it ebbs away, you’re left in awe of their captivating invention
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9.0
29091
9.0 |
The Line Of Best Fit
The only thing worth asking is, “how can this be bettered?”
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8.8
28762
8.8 |
Pitchfork
Butler enacts the union of these opposites - words as action, action into words - and it's no exaggeration to call this transmutation what it is: magic
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8.5
28770
8.5 |
Bowlegs
A record of true thought and independent thinking
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8.0
29199
8.0 |
The Fly
It’s intelligent storytelling to stimulate the mind – and isn’t that what good hip-hop has always been about?
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8.0
28759
8.0 |
The Guardian
A thrilling, space-age vision of modern hip-hop
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8.0
28760
8.0 |
BBC
When it works... it’s an insidiously funky listen
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8.0
28765
8.0 |
NME
He has casually leap-frogged the likes of Tyler, The Creator and Wiz Khalifa in the Most Inventive Hip-Hop Album Of The Year Stakes.
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8.0
28766
8.0 |
PopMatters
If it’s a hip-hop album — and that’s a big “if” — then it’s the finest one yet this year. And if it’s not, well then, let’s just call it one of the finest albums of 2011
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8.0
28767
8.0 |
Slant Magazine
Black Up reveals Shabazz Palaces as an artist much more in line with the future, voicing his dissatisfaction by carving his own path
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8.0
28774
8.0 |
Mojo
Black Up is more than just music for Radiohead to namedrop. Print edition only
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8.0
28939
8.0 |
Uncut
There's an earworm-like lure in every track. Print edition only
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8.0
28998
8.0 |
The Observer
This album will not destroy all before it. But it will knock trinkets off your shelves with its sub-bass wobble and titillate those parts that conventional hip-hop doesn't reach
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8.0
29027
8.0 |
State
Shabazz Palaces sound like no one else and that is where the beauty lies
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7.0
28764
7.0 |
Spin
Black Up impresses most with its beguiling sounds
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7.0
28877
7.0 |
Under The Radar
The opening and closing tracks sound like a yin-yang set for an album that matches its dark with light
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7.0
30580
7.0 |
Rolling Stone
Noirish sound clouds
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7.0
29561
7.0 |
Blurt
Butler time warps between the planes of crunk and classic rap with an avant-gangsta swagger
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7.0
29583
7.0 |
The Quietus
While Black Up plays like obtrusive background hip hop if you're not in the right mood, you'll wind up rewinding to this or that track as soon as it's over
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6.0
29035
6.0 |
Q
Lava-like bass and shuddering beats. Print edition only
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6.0
28869
6.0 |
The Independent
Interesting stuff, though occasionally one yearns for a decent tune
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