Black Up

Not to be confused with blacking up.

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]

Black Up
Studio album by Shabazz Palaces
Released	June 28, 2011
Genre	Experimental hip hop[1]
Length	36:01
Label	Sub Pop
Producer	Knife Knights
Shabazz Palaces chronology
Live at Sasquatch 2010 (2011) Black Up (2011) Live at KEXP (2012)

Reception

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	8.2/10[3]
Metacritic	83/100[4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
The A.V. Club	A[6]
Entertainment Weekly	B−[7]
The Guardian	[8]
Los Angeles Times	[9]
MSN Music (Expert Witness)	A−[10]
NME	8/10[11]
Pitchfork	8.8/10[12]
Rolling Stone	[13]
Spin	7/10[14]

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".^[4] Metacritic included Black Up in its "Midyear Report: The Best Music of 2011 So Far."^[15]

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."^[10] Jon Pareles, writing in The New York Times, viewed the album as proof that hip hop "still has an audacious progressive fringe."^[16] 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."^[17] 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."^[18]

Accolades

Black Up on year-end lists

Publication	Country	Accolade	Year	Rank
Mojo[19]	UK	Top 50 albums of 2011	2011	36
Popmatters[20]	US	75 Best Albums of 2011	2011	30
Pitchfork[21]	US	Best Albums of 2011	2011	14
Pitchfork[22]	US	The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s	2019	179
Hip Hop Is Read[23]	US	Top 25 Hip Hop Albums of 2011	2011	10
Epitonic[24]	US	Top 40 Albums of 2011	2011	4
Gorilla vs. Bear[25]	US	Albums of 2011	2011	1
Gorilla vs. Bear[26]	US	Albums of the Decade: 2010–2019	2019	5
Prefixmag[27]	US	Top 50 Albums of 2011	2011	1
The Seattle Times[28]	US	Best Pop Music 2011	2011	1
Potholes In My Blog[29]	US	Top 15 Albums of 2011	2011	1
Cokemachineglow[30]	US	Top 50 Albums of 2011	2011	1

Track listing

Black Up track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Free Press and Curl"	4:16
2.	"An Echo from the Hosts That Profess Infinitum"	3:15
3.	"Are You... Can You... Were You? (Felt)"	4:48
4.	"A Treatease Dedicated to the Avian Airess from North East Nubis (1000 Questions, 1 Answer)"	2:46
5.	"Youlogy"	3:59
6.	"Endeavors for Never (The Last Time We Spoke You Said You Were Not Here. I Saw You Though.)"	2:51
7.	"Recollections of the Wraith"	3:36
8.	"The King's New Clothes Were Made by His Own Hands"	2:07
9.	"Yeah You"	3:21
10.	"Swerve... The Reeping of All That Is Worthwhile (Noir Not Withstanding)"	5:10

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
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[31]	4
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[32]	33
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[33]	38
US Top Rap Albums (Billboard)[34]	23
US Indie Store Album Sales (Billboard)[35]	23