Trip the Light Fantastic
In early 1993, the full glare of the spotlight shone on an unassuming young woman from Washington, D.C.: Mary Ann "Ladybug Mecca" Vieira, and her rhyming partners Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler and Craig "Doodlebug" Irving.  As Digable Planets, they constructed a unique melding of streetwise hip-hop with ultra-cool jazz loops and solos.  Their debut album, Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space), was an instant success and included the Top 20 single "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat). This track scored the trio a Grammy and is considered one of the most influential 12 inches in Hip Hop history. In just two short years Digable Planets had built a world wide fan base that craved their sophisticated sound.  As swiftly as the trio had burst onto the scene they disappeared from it, as rap music veered in a gangsta direction. Although it has been over a decade since Ladybug Mecca has been out of the musical eye, music has never left her life.