Digable Planets are an American alternative hip hop trio based in Brooklyn, New York, composed of Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler (from Seattle), Mary Ann “Ladybug Mecca” Vieira (from Silver Spring, Maryland) and Craig “Doodlebug” Irving (from Philadelphia).
Butler and Irving met in Philadelphia in the late 1980s; Vieira and Irving had been a couple while attending Howard University. Originally from Seattle, Butler was interning at Sleeping Bag Records in New York and would visit his grandmother in Philadelphia where Irving was living and rapping with an outfit called the Dread Poets Society (later known as the 7 OD’s). The initial demos recorded under the name Digable Planets featured only Butler. After a brief stint with two other members, Butler began collaborating with Irving and Vieira in 1989.
