German carmaker Porsche is promoting its new all-electric vehicle, the Taycan, in the U.S. market with a TV commercial featuring a sample of the 32-year-old song, ‘Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)’ by the funky jazzy hip hop trio Digable Planets.
‘Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)’ was the first single from the Digable Planets’ debut album, Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space), which was released in 1993.
The song won the 1994 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group at the 36th Grammy Awards — beating Naughty by Nature’s ‘Hip Hop Hooray,’ Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg‘s ‘Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang,’ Arrested Development’s ‘Revolution,’ and Cypress Hill’s ‘Insane in the Brain.’
Digable Planets was also nominated for Best New Artist that year but R&B singer Toni Braxton took home the award.
Digable Planets is composed of three rappers — Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler, Mariana “Ladybug Mecca” Vieira, and Craig “Doodlebug” Irving. The trio’s last studio album (their second) Blowout Comb was originally released in 1994. Light in the Attic Records reissued it on vinyl LP in 2023.
Get ready to see and hear more from Digable Planets. As seen above, the trio is still performing. In June, they’ll hit the ‘Roots Picnic: Hip-Hop is the Love of My Life’ event at the Hollywood Bowl with with The Roots, Queen Latifah, Common, and Arrested Development, among other legends.
Check out the Digable Planets’ recent live performance on KEXP (above). NPR needs to get Digable Planets on Tiny Desk, stat!