Digable Planets

Digable Planets are a hip-hop, jazz fusion crew based out of Brooklyn, New York.   Its members include Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler, born on July 3rd, 1969 in Seattle, Washington, Mary Ann “Ladybug” Vieira, born on July 25th, 1975 in Silver Spring, Maryland, and Craig “Doodlebug” Irving, born on February 20th, 1967 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Coming together as a group in 1992, the three members chose their collective moniker to represent the philosophy that every individual is a planet and each piece of music is as unique and complex as the individual that creates it.

In 1993 the group released their debut album, Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space), which featured samples from Sonny Rollins, Curtis Mayfield, and Art Blakey. The single “Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)” charted at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100.  The group then won a Grammy Award that year for “Best New Duo or Group” and embarked on a United States tour.

The next year the group released their second album, Blowout Combs.  The group then dissolved over creative differences but remained active solo musicians. In 2016 the group reformed and went on the road for a reunion tour performing at Atlanta FunkFest and SummerStage in Brooklyn.