Labels are so necessary and yet so confining sometimes. What does “alternative hip hop” even mean? In the case of Digable Planets, it means a fusion of jazz of hip hop that blends in some elements of the blues with literate lyrics and serious chops developed by the non-stop dedication to music of the group’s members. They won a Grammy back in the early 90′s for “Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)”, one of the catchiest songs ever recorded. After touring a few years and recording a few albums, the group split up for a while so the band members could all pursue a host of musical paths, but now they’re back together and better than ever.

Digable Planets put on a great live show, something you can check out for yourself this Wednesday the 12th [neumos]. One lucky Metblogs reader is going to get to this show for free which makes an already great night just that much more awesome. Send your full name to seattle.metblogs at gmail.com no later than Tuesday afternoon for your chance to score a pair of tickets.