The "Digable Planets - Blowout Comb" episode

Rise of the Classics Podcast

Blowout Comb is the second studio album by American hip hop group Digable Planets, released October 18, 1994, on Pendulum/EMI Records. The album was written and recorded in Brooklyn, New York, where the group moved, with recording sessions beginning in 1993 and finishing in 1994. On Blowout Comb, Digable Planets abandoned the radio friendly style of their debut album and worked with a more ambitious, stripped-down sound. The album features a diverse range of samples and live instruments, and contains lyrical themes of the inner city and black nationalism.[1] It also features guest appearances from Guru of Gang Starr, Jeru the Damaja, and DJ Jazzy Joyce.

Upon its release, Blowout Comb received minimal label support, and virtually no pre-release publicity.[2] It peaked at number 32 on the Billboard 200, and number 13 on the Top R&B Albums, making it a commercial failure. It featured the singles "9th wonder" and "Dial 7", which also did not chart well, and failed to match the success of the group's previous singles. Several music writers have attributed this lack of chart and sales success to the album's afrocentric content, and un-polished tone. Shortly after the release of Blowout Comb, Digable Planets broke up due to creative differences and displeasure with the music industry.

Although the album did not achieve commercial success, and received very little attention at the time of its release, Blowout Comb received generally greater acclaim amongst music critics and writers than the group's debut Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space). It has been noted for its seamless production and has been described as a "textured soundscape of a mythical world of rhymes, jazz and urban ambiance."[3] Blowout Comb is often regarded as Digable Planets' best album, and has gained an underground following in later years.[4] In 2013, it was reissued on vinyl LP by Light in the Attic Records.