Shabazz Palaces - Belhaven Meridian from WHAT MATTERS MOST on Vimeo . Palaceer Lazaro, the man at the center of the enigmatic Seattle avant -rap project Shabazz Palaces , is otherwise known as Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler, one third of the boho -rap trio Digable Planets and frontman of the alt-hip-hop group Cherrywine. (He's also the cousin of fellow Rising artist Gonjasufi .) But he'd prefer not to talk about any of that. In fact, he'd prefer not to talk at all. Lazaro initially declined Pitchfork's interview request, replying that he'd prefer to read a writer's take on Shabazz Palaces' music rather than offer his own answers. He won't name any of the other people involved in the project. He wouldn't send us a photograph; instead, he requested that we run the graphic you see above. Shabazz Palaces have no MySpace page, and they self-released two albums into the ether last year on their website . They're a group happy to work in