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Blowout Comb is the second and final studio album by American hip hop group Digable Planets, released October 18, 1994, on Pendulum/EMI Records. The album was written and recorded in Brooklyn, New York, where the group moved, with recording sessions beginning in 1993 and finishing in 1994. On Blowout Comb, Digable Planets abandoned the radio friendly style of their debut album and worked with a more ambitious, stripped-down sound. The album features a diverse range of samples and live instruments, and contains lyrical themes of the inner city and black nationalism. It also features guest appearances from Guru of Gang Starr, Jeru the Damaja, and DJ Jazzy Joyce. Upon its release, Blowout Comb received minimal label support, and virtually no pre-release publicity. It peaked at number 32 on the Billboard 200, and number 13 on the Top R&B Albums, making it a commercial failure. It featured the singles "9th Wonder (Blackitolism)" and "Dial 7 (Axioms of Creamy Spies)", which also did not chart well, and failed to match the success of the group's previous singles. Several music writers have attributed this lack of chart and sales success to the album's afrocentric content, and un-polished tone. Shortly after the release of Blowout Comb, Digable Planets broke up due to creative differences and displeasure with the music industry. Although the album did not achieve commercial success, and received very little attention at the time of its release, Blowout Comb received generally greater acclaim amongst music critics and writers than the group's debut Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space). It has been noted for its seamless production and has been described as a "textured soundscape of a mythical world of rhymes, jazz and urban ambiance." Blowout Comb is often regarded as Digable Planets' best album, and has gained an underground following in later years. In 2023, it was reissued on vinyl LP by Light in the Attic Records. Background On Digable Planets' 1993 debut album Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space), the group used many references to insects. These concepts were inspired due to "insects nature to stick together and work for mutually beneficial causes", which the group saw as a useful principle for African-Americans in low-income communities. However, they abandoned these concepts on Blowout Comb, with group-leader Ishmael Butler articulating "All the insect concepts and imagery was outta there by the time we did Blowout. I felt that it had got misconstrued, kinda like De La Soul and the daisies. Blowout was a natural expansion of what Digable Planets were reaching for in the first place, but shallow ears got lost". Ishmael Butler then changed his group-name from Butterfly to "Ish", Mary Ann Vieira changed her group-name from Ladybug to "Mecca", and Craig Irving changed his group-name from Doodlebug to "C-Know". Black Moon's Enta Da Stage (1993) and Wu-Tang Clan's Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993) have both been credited for changing Digable Planets' post Reachin' ... direction. In late 1993, Digable Planets moved from Philadelphia, to Fort Greene, Brooklyn, where they all lived in the same neighborhood. Ishmael explained "New York City, New York was literally a Mecca for rappers so we went there and did it. Just the visceral energy; you walk outside and even if there's 20 inches of snow, somehow the city is rockin' and rollin'. I just approached it bright-eyed, like 'when I'm of age I'm going to New York. Rakim, he sounded like New York so I'm going there'. At an early age I had a sense that if you were gonna rap you had to go to New York if you were really gonna do it". While in Brooklyn, the group was heavily involved in the community, which they aimed to capture on Blowout Comb, making it a "Brooklyn album" and a "Brooklyn soundtrack". "Borough Check", featuring Guru from Gang Starr, was one of the first songs recorded for the album and is an ode to Brooklyn. It was stated that while in Brooklyn, the Digable Planets "observed, absorbed, and rocked the many styles of speak, gear, smoke, and sound that New York had to offer and incorporated the various shades into a stance that was strangely celebratory, wary, indulgent, and subversive". Composition Music Blowout Comb had a higher record budget, with more musical ambitions, which sought to utilize different samples and sounds that were un-common at the time, as the group viewed most other hip-hop artists' music as "recycled". The album has been illustrated as "a block party, but transformed by Digable's 'ghettopoesis' into a cool abstraction of street life", and "a motley clash of sounds that celebrate boom box batteries-in-the-freezer ghetto ingenuity as a raw, empowered expression". While on a world tour in support of their album Reachin' ..., the group collected vinyl records from various countries, and formed a deep rapport with various musicians they were performing with. Both of these factors influenced the overall sound of Blowout Comb, with its eclectic samples and live instruments. Ishmael Butler credits engineer, producer and instrumentalist Dave Darlington for helping him create the album. He recounted "Every song on Blowout is a mix of live instruments and samples. I would program the drums and tell someone 'yo, this is what I hear right here', then we'd record and get to slicing". Several music writers have described it as "being hard to tell the difference between the samples and the live instruments because they blend so well". Several music writers have also noted Blowout Comb's vocals as being "low in the mix". Ishmael Butler stated "I read where George Clinton said the stuff that's inaudible the first couple of listens adds longevity to a record, because it draws the person in. You might catch a word or a phrase on down the road, and that makes that record all the more intriguing". Ishmael also mentioned "The vocals were to be woven in with the fabric of the music, not necessarily something that was on top. The record label was like 'nobody can hear what you're saying', but I felt like if the music was engaging enough, then over time it would provide a richer listening experience". Lyrical content Many of the lyrics on Blowout Comb include references to the Five-Percent Nation, as well as the Black Panther Party, which weren't present on the group's previous album. Prior to recording, Ishmael took a trip to Los Angeles, where he stayed in Watts with several elders who were highly educated in black history. While on this trip, he absorbed many of their teachings, and reflected on his parents', who were both Black Panther members. He incorporated many of these concepts into the album's lyrics, as he didn't want Digable Planets' Afrocentrism to get overlooked by the cross-over appeal of their 1992 hit single "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)". Group-member Mecca clarified "it was time to be more direct on how we felt about things, and the need to assess them". Blowout Comb.... Discover the Sara Combs Rich Combs popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Sara Combs Rich Combs books.