Digable Planets

Featuring the rappers Ishmael Butler, Mariana Vieira, and Craig Irving, Digable Planets is an alternative hip hop trio from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The group formed in 1987, signed with Pendulum Records in 1992, and released the debut album Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space) in 1993. The record went gold, peaked at number 5 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and reached number 15 on the Billboard 200. Also earning a gold certification was the crossover single "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)," which climbed to number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1993 and won the Grammy Award for "Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group" in 1994. With its unique combination of jazz and rap, "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" also became the group's first and only Number 1 hit on the Hot Rap Songs chart, where the follow-up singles "Where I'm From" and "Nickel Bags" peaked at number 7 and number 12, respectively. Although Digable Planets' second album, Blowout Comb, did manage to produce another Top 10 hit on the Hot Rap Songs chart with 1994's gold-selling "9th Wonder (Blackitolism)," the album's darker tone failed to generate as much commercial momentum as Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space). Not long after its release, the group broke up in 1995, only to reunite a decade later for a comeback tour and the release of a compilation album, 2005's Beyond the Spectrum: the Creamy Spy Chronicles. The group toured sporadically until 2011, took another hiatus, then reformed in 2015.