Great news, old-school hip-hop fans: Digable Planets are returning to Australia for the first time in a long time.
The iconic jazz-rap trio will land Down Under next month for an appearance at WOMADelaide 2025 alongside dates in Sydney and Melbourne, with their shows set to belatedly celebrate the 30th anniversary of Blowout Comb.
Speaking with Rolling Stone AU/NZ ahead of their visit, Digable Planets discussed what fans can expect from their set.
“We’ve always had a good time Down Under man, for real,” Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler said. “[A live band is important] in terms of loosening up the show, being able to kinda update [the music], performing it differently at different times, throwing little musical wrinkles into the set… it does allow you a little bit more dexterity than just rocking with the turntables.”
He continued: “It’s been a while since I’ve been able to do new forms of expression with Digable Planets, but when we get on stage, it’s always a new experience to me. Every night it feels like a different show, even though we’re performing the same songs, because of the live band and our willingness to be very creative and open to trying to do new things with it. So that’s dope.”
Digable Planets only released two albums – two acclaimed records – but Butler hinted that new music may finally be on the way from the group.
“We’ve been having some dialogue about what is it gonna sound like, what are we trying to accomplish, and what kind of taste do we want to express at this time,” he told Rolling Stone AU/NZ.
Love Hip Hop?
Get the latest Hip Hop news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
You can catch Butler, Craig “Doodlebug” Irving, and Mary Ann “Ladybug Mecca” Vieira at WOMADelaide on March 10th.
Digable Planets were one of 25 acts added to the festival’s lineup last November. They’ll perform at WOMADelaide alongside Róisín Murphy (Ireland), PJ Harvey (UK), Mariza (Portugal), Khruangbin (US), Nitin Sawhney (UK), and many more.
For more information about WOMADelaide 2025, visit www.womadelaide.com.au.
