The Digable Planets track “Pacifics” is one of the coolest hip hop songs ever made. It’s my favorite Sunday morning track when I need to just chill out a bit. It usually leads to me listening to Digable Planets for a nice stretch and ain’t nothing wrong with that. I really hope you have Digable Planets in your rotation every once in awhile as well. If not, maybe this will help you:
The Digable Planets’ music is therapy to me as it can help set a mood. That whole ‘93 album, Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space) is a beautiful piece of art. From the album cover to the sequencing of the tracks to the production and last but not least, the stylings of the track from Digable Planets aka Butterfly, Ladybug, and Doodlebug… Just look at those artists names… Just reading them helps let you know that this is a different crew. And the art…. I just always loved that cover art. It quickly let me know that these 3 artists had a tie-in with plants and insects.
They also didn’t cuss much and the beats were jazzy so I could let this ride on my boombox without head phones plugged in. If my parents opened the door and happened to hear it, sure they would get mad that it was rap music playing but I know my Dad could appreciate the jazz elements to the sounds right? Actually thinking back, no way… Parents heard any rapping and were like nah, this is in the same genre as NWA and 2 Live Crew so it must be a bad influence for you… how wild is that looking back? But I guess now, if I played my Dad some of these Digable tracks, would he be into them?
When I listed to Digable Planets in 2026, the music hits me the same way it did in the 90s when their debut album dropped. You press play on that album and you just feel the Fall. Or you feel the Summer when maybe the weather just dips a bit and you wonder if maybe you can go grab a hoodie and rock it. But listen to Digable and you also might want to pour a cup of coffee or water some plants… Just some cool out type activities. You don’t listen to Digable at the gym… You can absolutely play them while you work if you need to zone out or de-stress. I think it’s also safe with the family while you keep the TV off and just try to help the crew just mellow out a bit.
What artists give you the feeling of settling down and chilling out? Reggae always does it well… I think that’s the easy answer… What are some albums or EPs that you press play on and you instantly tone it down a few levels? I think Bahamadia is right there with Digable… That Camp Lo album always helps me feel cool… The Guru Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1 album for sure. But this first Digable album wins for me… And if there’s one favorite track off of the album that realllllllllllllllly sets the mood, it’s “Pacifics” for me.
That bassline is maybe my favorite bassline of all time. And I always loved what the artists were saying too. Butterfly kicks off the verse telling you it’s Sunday morning where he’s at and on Sundays he is digging through jazz records looking out the window in New York while some incense lit… The beat is sooooooooo chill… I didn’t know that Butterfly was part of the production team on this… They should really put the instrumentals out of this album. This track has 20M streams on Spotify but I bet that beat could match those numbers on some jazzy hip hop instrumentals playlists like no other. I guess while we wait for that to happen, let’s just listen to some Digable Planets and other chill hip hop vibes and try to mellow out just a bit.