Celebrity Name: Shabazz Palaces
New Agency: Ground Control Touring
Primary Agent: Joe Price
Department: Booking & Touring
Territory: North America
- Shabazz Palaces has signed with Ground Control Touring for booking representation in North America.
- Joe Price is the primary agent on the deal, expanding GCT’s growing hip-hop and alternative roster.
- The Seattle experimental hip-hop act continues with Earth Agency for international representation and The Lal Firm for management.
- Sub Pop Records and Run Music remain in place handling publicity for the act.
Shabazz Palaces has officially signed with Ground Control Touring for North American booking representation. Agent Joe Price will handle the account, further building GCT’s roster of boundary-pushing artists.
The Brooklyn-based boutique agency has been on a strong run of notable signings in 2026, including Dagmar Zuniga and Izzy Camina, signaling a clear and deliberate expansion of its diverse roster.
Shabazz Palaces, the experimental hip-hop project led by Ishmael “Palaceer Lazaro” Butler, formerly of the iconic jazz-rap group Digable Planets, has been a defining voice in Seattle’s underground scene for over a decade.
The act made history as the first hip-hop act signed to Sub Pop Records, debuting with the critically acclaimed Black Up in 2011.
Their most recent releases, Robed in Rareness (2023) and the follow-up mini-album Exotic Birds of Prey (March 2024), earned glowing reviews from NPR Music and Pitchfork. Most recently, Shabazz Palaces performed at the Garden City Grooves Festival Finale in Victoria, BC in March 2026.
International representation remains with Earth Agency, management with The Lal Firm, and publicity with Sub Pop Records and Run Music.
Takeaways
This signing is a significant moment, not just for Shabazz Palaces, but for what it signals about where the live music business is heading.
Ground Control Touring, a boutique agency that has nearly doubled its roster since 2023, keeps proving that artists don’t need massive mega-agencies to tour powerfully.
For an act as artistically unique and cult-revered as Shabazz Palaces, landing with a home like GCT, known for its artist-first ethos and deep care for indie and alternative acts, feels like a genuinely great fit.
Joe Price’s track record of building careers for left-of-center artists (Protomartyr, Tropical Fuck Storm, Dry Cleaning) suggests he understands exactly the kind of audience Shabazz Palaces commands.
With new music energy still in the air following Exotic Birds of Prey and recent festival activity, the timing of this deal could translate into a much busier touring cycle ahead.
Could this GCT signing pave the way for a major new Shabazz Palaces tour or festival announcement in 2026? With GCT rapidly expanding its roster, is the boutique agency model officially overtaking the industry’s bigger players for alternative artists?
