Yesterday, Digable Planets announced that they were canceling an upcoming tour scheduled to begin this week. The reason? According to a MySpace bulletin, it’s because Ladybug decided to leave the group. No word yet on how this will affect Common Market, who were scheduled to open Digable Planets’ dates.

The full text of the bulletin is below. Warning…it’s written in all caps.

…UNFORTUNATELY THIS IS TRUE!!! THE 3 INSECTS FROM OUTER SPACE HAVE BEEN INFECTED LIKE EVERY OTHER GREAT GROUP IN HIP HOP HISTORY BY IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE PRINCIPLE MEMBERS…I KNOW THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF FANS UP AND DOWN THE EAST COAST THAT WILL BE DEVASTATED BY THIS NEWS…MANY CITIES WERE CLOSE TO BEING SOLD OUT…MARY ANN VIEIRA FORMERLY KNOWN AS LADYBUG HAS DECIDED AT THE LAST MINUTE THAT SHE WANTS TO WALK AWAY FROM THE GROUP AND NOT HONOR THIS TOUR…THE OTHER TWO MEMBERS HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO CANCEL THIS TOUR AND REGROUP…PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL PROMOTER OR TICKETMASTER FOR TICKET REFUNDS…WE THANK ALL OF YOU GUYS FOR YOUR LONGTIME SUPPORT AND LOVE OF THE DIGABLE PLANET SOUND…THE GROUP MEMBERS WILL GO THEIR SEPERATE WAYS BUT GROUP CREATOR AND PRODUCER BUTTERFLY ALONG WITH DOODLEBUG WILL CONTINUE TO COLLABORATE ON MUSIC AND IN THE NEAR FUTURE WILL ANNOUNCE THE INTRODUCTION OF A NEW MUSIC COLLECTIVE THAT THEY ARE PUTTING TOGETHER…THIS DOES NOT TAKE AWAY FROM THE LEGACY CREATED BY THE DIGABLE PLANETS IN 1993 WITH THE GROUND BREAKING SINGLE “REBIRTH OF SLICK(COOL LIKE DAT)” BUT IT DOES BRING US TO THE END OF AN ERA…REGRETFULLY YOURS THE DIGABLE PLANETS…

(March 24 update): Here’s what Common Market posted in a MySpace bulletin yesterday:

Due to unreconcilable differences among the members of Digable Planets, their tour has been canceled. We are very sorry to no be able to be on this tour.

We’re big fans of DP, and were really looking forward to the tour. We’re making other plans to get back out on the road and we’ll hopefully be announcing new tour dates soon.

Thank you all for your support, help and excitement. We truly appreciate you and believe everything happens for a reason.

Next month, early 90s fave Digable Planets will head on its latest tour since reuniting in 2005. Seattle duo Common Market, who have actually released new music this decade (last year’s Tobacco Road), will open for them.

• 3/25: Paradise, Boston, MA
• 3/26: Jerky’s, Providence, RI
• 3/27: Pearl Street, Northampton, MA
• 3/28: Asylum, Portland, ME
• 3/29: Higher Ground, Burlington, VT
• 3/31: Toad’s Place, New Haven, CT
• 4/01: Highline Ballroom, New York, NY
• 4/02: Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA
• 4/04: Bourbon Street Ballroom, Baltimore, MD
• 4/07: 9:30 Club, Washington, DC
• 4/08: Soapbox, Wilmington, NC
• 4/09: Orange Peel, Asheville, NC
• 4/10: Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro, NC
• 4/11: The Loft, Atlanta, GA
• 4/13: Club Downunder, Tallahassee, FL
• 4/14: The Social, Orlando, FL
• 4/15: City Limits, Delray Beach, FL

On September 9, Common Market will issue its second album Tobacco Road via a joint venture between Massline Media and Hyena Records.

As the latest project from rising Seattle collective Massline, Tobacco Road marks a number of subtle but noticeable changes. The album cements Common Market’s new relationship with Hyena Records, a label and distributor dominated by alt-country, classic rock and jazz-fusion artists. Its release closely follows Common Market’s EP, Black Patch War, which dropped last April.

Tobacco Road finds Sabzi unveiling an elegiac, sample-based sound for rapper RA Scion that’s distinctly unique from Sabzi’s other group, Blue Scholars. Of course, as his Massline compatriots often do, RA Scion peppers his lyrics to leftist/radical ideas from the past century. The title Tobacco Road alludes to a 30s novel about struggling Georgia sharecroppers in the Great Depression. Many of the songs feature themes where impoverished rural protagonists manage to combine spiritual faith with political activism.

“Tobacco Road showcases a more lyrically engaging RA Scion over Sabzi’s most creative and melodic compositions to date. It is laden with heavy introspection and RA Scion’s staunch personal convictions on life, love and art with meaning, but is noticeably absent of the feeling of pseudo-evangelical idealism,” reads a press release for the album. “The album is not an ‘easy’ read, however, and not fashioned to be fully digested in a single setting. Tobacco Road is comprised of 18 tracks, within which lie hidden gems that the listen will appreciate with dedicated discovery. Upon closer examination, you’ll find the incorporation of seasonal progression in reference to the album’s agricultural influence.”

• 1. “Service”
• 2. “Trouble Is”
• 3. “Gol’ Dust”
• 4. “Slow Cure”
• 5. “Back Home (The Return)”
• 6. “40 Furrows”
• 7. “House”
• 8. “Winter Takes All”
• 9. “Weather Vane”
• 10. “40 Acres”
• 11. “Nina Sing” (feat. Funklove)
• 12. “Certitude” (feat. Chev)
• 13. “Crucible” (feat. Geologic from Blue Scholars)
• 14. “40 Thieves”
• 15. “Spits”
• 16. “Nothin’ At All”
• 17. “Swell”
• 18. “Tobacco Road”

www.commonmarketmusic.com
www.myspace.com/commonmarket

Photo by Tone.

Massline Media may be the most surprising indie label to emerge this year. With little more than persistence and quality music from its founders — Gabriel Teodros, RA Scion, Geologic and Sabzi — the Seattle crew has netted positive reviews in major publications such as Rolling Stone and fomented support from the world’s true school believers. Call it the little label that could.

“MassLine’s philosophy rejects the notion of art for arts sake, acknowledging that cultural arts is a hammer with which communities can reshape society,” reads the bio on Massline Media’s MySpace page. “Through the medium of Hiphop music, combined with grassroots community organizing and a DIY ethic, we use music not simply to entertain, but to educate and empower.”

Massline currently enjoys a distribution deal with Rawkus. Its next release will be Blue Scholars’ second album, Bayani. Before it drops on June 12, however, the Massline crew will embark on an extensive tour, completing several concerts throughout the western United States. Featured on the bill are Teodros, who released his critically acclaimed Lovework in February; Common Market, which dropped its self-titled debut last year; and Blue Scholars. Tour dates, as well as the track listing for Bayani, are below.

• 5/16: Berbati’s Pan, Portland, OR
• 5/17: Hell’s Kitchen, Tacoma, WA
• 5/18: Raw Sushi, Spokane, WA
• 5/19: The Loft, Missoula, MT
• 5/20: Zebra Cocktail Lounge, Bozeman, MT
• 5/21: Neurolux, Boise, ID
• 5/22: The Urban Lounge, Salt Lake City, UT
• 5/23: Aggie Theatre, Fort Collins, CO
• 5/25: The Nightlight Lounge, Bellingham, WA
• 5/26: Sasquatch Festival, Quincy, WA
• 5/28: The Hidden House, Phoenix, AZ
• 5/29: Hot Monkey Love, San Diego, CA
• 5/30: Knitting Factory, Los Angeles, CA
• 5/31: Pier 23 Cafe, San Francisco, CA
• 6/02: The Grove, Bend, OR
• 6/03: WOW Hall, Eugene, OR

Meanwhile, here’s the track listing for Blue Scholars’ upcoming album Bayani:

• 1. “Baha’i Healing Prayer”
• 2. “Second Chapter”
• 3. “Opening Salvo”
• 4. “North By Northwest”
• 5. “Ordinary Guys”
• 6. “Still Got Love”
• 7. “Bayani”
• 8. “Loyalty”
• 9. “Fire For The People”
• 10. “Xenophobia”
• 11. “The Distance”
• 12. “Back Home”
• 13. “50 Thousand Deep”
• 14. “Morning Of America”
• 15. “Joe Metro”

www.masslinemedia.com
www.myspace.com/masslinemedia