The complexity of the references these guys make is insane. It's like they're speaking their own language and you gotta decode it. Modern day Shakespeare shit.
Josh McClung Vocabulary is not the be all end all of complex writerly art, as it doesn't take into account metaphor, similie, double entendres, plot structure, plot devices, theme, depth etc. Also, the study was done on the complete works of Aes, this is just one particular song. Don't get me wrong, these guys are dope, but verbose and cryptic lyrics don't fully account for the complexity of art, and I sometimes feel the kind of lyrics they make are so personal that interpretation is rather singular and restrictive (though hard to conduct), which is the exact opposite of meaningful complexity. The depth and wealth of meaning that Shakespeare achieved while also speaking to the masses is unparalleled, and not just a fabrication of baubling presumptuous intellectuals.
Miss the days of skating around the city with my friends at 4am while the rest of the city sleeps. No crazy tricks...just cruising around having fun. Perfect video for the song. Love it.
@@emptyv660 some people who worked for Rare at the time wrote the lyrics and performed the song. Grant Kirkhope did the instrumental and George Andreas wrote the lyrics and did vocals.
aesop's metaphor about losing the beachhead is brilliant. i picture him at a bar where he can't maneuver a shoe (never mind two) and he's in a bad mood and doesn't want to be bothered but this beautiful woman breaks through. the whole verse is such a vivid picture for me.
+TillSimilarsRepel I always think of it (not being able to maneuver a shoe) as being a reference to living spaces in NY but I like your interpretation as well.
*I consider myself a daredevil* It's 4AM It's 4AM It's 4AM x2 It.. it.. it.. it... [Aesop] 4AM, short of breath Patient zero, hoarding pets [Rob] Drinking his omelet Timing his meds Morphine drip Get a fix to the flesh Gripping the edge of the ledge Of the place where he gets to be met With the end of the day Left of the face is a table, a tray TV Guide with the guy from The Fray Or maybe it's Clay Anarchy's son Regardless The farewell party's begun Party of one You start in the breach Birthing a burden Shouldering me In tonight The rest of the rat fam Round and round Like the death of a Pacman Life of a salesman Hiding his text John Wayne couldn't even stand The rein of my ex Later I'll just Go with phone tag 'Til the court tells me "Sure" Now row the boat back Hold the stoge pack Get with the fall With the beehive hair And the rest on his bald Head held high Family, no joke Grown folk broke At the antique roadshow Can't breathe right In his noserbleeds In his wing, they singing ring Around the rosary It's 4AM It's 4AM x2 It.. it.. it.. it... [Rob and Aesop] It's 4AM, pouring sweat Patient zero, courting death [Aesop] Use your illusion And move As a wounded gazelle On a moonlit Future in hell I'm a loser Room with a view To a stupor No real room To acutely maneuver A shoe Nevermind two In a sequence He get down To the root of the defect Peep Cruel is a pool full of deep ends Prove an immovable defense You in the beautiful breach Unusually moody And losing the beach head Rats in the wall Tap out drums An amassing of non-retractable claws This old man He plays actual odds On these detachable jaws Not for the faint Go moshing the paint Cold dime in the day By impossible day Frog town creep In a sensible car No caution Or obvious sense of tomorrow Spit shake Might stake or break the right Nicely Or instigate tonight's crises Sample the you scream, I scream Break if his eyes go widescreen It's 4AM It's 4AM x2 It.. it.. it.. it...
I've been dealing with severe depression and whatever other bullshit human problems for a long time now. This is a go-to song for me when I'm feeling down. It brings me to tears. Rob and Aes are so honest and poetic in this song. I almost wish it were longer, but it's perfect just as it is.
the hail mary mallon show i saw in b.more was like a religious experience or some shit. i was new to hail mary mallon until a couple of days before the show, but not to aesop rock or dj abilities. dj was so sick all the way through, mixed up some amazing, even heartwarming, to me, breaks from vocals; aesop wiped the floor with every rapper and poet i've ever heard or read (and i'm a listening-and-reading kind of girl), played my favorite song *of all time* right in front of my face, obviously changing my life forever; and rob sonic? how did he fare in the face of legends like that? goddamn if didn't keep right the fuck up with those two monsters. he totally blew my fucking mind. it was amazing, the best night of my life, hands down (my son was born in the daytime, so i stand by that). thanks, guys :)
soundcloud.com/optik-tj-hall/optik-drunken-sailor-dinner-with-blockhead-freestyle sometimes I feel like rhymesayers would be a great housing for my creative edge
The whole album is incredible. The vibe takes me back to to NYC especially The Bronx during the golden age of Hip Hop. I just wish they hit Las Vegas during the tour. Only time I've really missed my hometown NYC, is now.
HMM....one of my favorites. This track is the one of the best, and they made a video...awesome. thanks Aesop Rock & Rob Sonic for making some of the best music out there, so thankful I stopped listening to mainstream radio since 2001!
[Intro] I consider myself a daredevil [Hook] x2 It's 4AM It's 4AM It's 4AM It.. it.. it.. it... [Verse 1] [Aesop Rock] 4AM, short of breath Patient zero, hoarding pets [Rob Sonic] Drinking his omelet Timing his meds Morphine drip Get a fix to the flesh Gripping the edge of the ledge Of the place where he gets to be met With the end of the day Left of the face is a table, a tray TV Guide with the guy from The Fray Or maybe it's Clay Anarchy's son Regardless The farewell party's begun Party of one You start in the breach Birthing a burden Shouldering me In tonight The rest of the rat fam Round and round Like the death of a Pacman Life of a salesman Hiding his text John Wayne couldn't even stand The rein of my ex Later I'll just Go with phone tag 'Til the court tells me "Sure" Now row the boat back Hold the stoge pack Get with the fall With the beehive hair And the rest on his bald Head held high Family, no joke Grown folk broke At the antique roadshow Can't breathe right In his noserbleeds In his wing, they singing ring Around the rosary [Hook] [Verse 2] [Rob Sonic and Aesop Rock] It's 4AM, pouring sweat Patient zero, courting death [Aesop Rock] Use your illusion And move As a wounded gazelle On a moonlit Future in hell I'm a loser Room with a view To a stupor No real room To acutely maneuver A shoe Nevermind two In a sequence He get down To the root of the defect Peep Cruel is a pool full of deep ends Prove an immovable defense You in the beautiful breach Unusually moody And losing the beach head Rats in the wall Tap out drums An amassing of non-retractable claws This old man He plays actual odds On these detachable jaws Not for the faint Go moshing the paint Cold dime in the day By impossible day Frog town creep In a sensible car No caution Or obvious sense of tomorrow Spit shake Might steak or break the right Nicely Or instigate tonight's crises Sample the you scream, I scream Break if his eyes go widescreen
@@tumelo4526In the words of Slug, “The only thing Overcast is good for is a coaster” That was over two decades ago. I sure hope his opinion has changed, because it will always be a banger to me.
the background music that plays when you end up in [THE MIRACLE WARD WAITING ROOM]. You are already at the lowest of lows. No wrestling grapple or bizarre yard wrestling object will save you from the truth. Someone is in FUCKING DEEP on the leisure deletion chamber codes. If you're not ready to commit all those actions to memory, get ready for a real fuckin rude Thanksgiving and Christmas next year.
i don't under stand how Steve can be so proud while kissing ass to his superiors. I will never kiss ass. I want to get promotions based off the merit of my work not who I humor. p.s. I HAVE NEVER HAD A FRIEND GET ME A JOB, I DON'T NEED CONNECTIONS TO GET A JOB. p.s.s. I respect my bosses as long as they don't ask me to kiss they ass.
The rhyming is sub par (I heard mostly assonance (vowel rhymes) and didn't even hear a single multi-syllabic or composite rhymes), the topic of discussion is non-sensible, and the beat isn't good enough for me to even remember how it sounds. How is this even remotely popular?
Popular isn't the focus, artistic expression is. If you don't want to decipher anything there is a ton of rap out there. HMM and Aes and Robs solo stuff reflect lyricists focused more on the poetry and story than the mainstream tropes of I'm awesome, bitches, party, i'm the most awesome, im so gansta, do drugs, sell drugs, so ghetto, ghetto so bad, MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Aesop is a wordsmith, dig into it a bit and he is a fucking poet.
Zak C Since my involvement with many of the rip groups on the undernet well over twelve years ago, to say that I have developed a plethora of artistic expression in the hip-hop form would be an understatement of multiple orders of magnitude. While I have no doubt that these "lyricists" are in fact "artists" that are more focused on "poetry" and the "story" that they are trying to convey, what I am questioning is how they managed to wind up in my queue of works for me to observe, and subsequently deem worthy to add to my main music library. I have an eight year old niece. She loves drawing and she loves art. I consider her works of art very relevant and very significant. However, I would be perplexed as to why anyone that doesn't personally know her, nor is related to her would consider it interesting and relevant enough for them to want to view it, let alone allow it to make any sort of impact on their lives. I maintain a desk job, where I view spreadsheets, numbers, values, figures, and other boring subjects on my computer screen. I recently had an argument with a co-worker as to whether 1% milk or skim milk was more preferable. I'm struggling to read the sticker that jiffy lube placed on my windshield from the last time i had my oil changed and I don't know if I am 300 miles or 800 miles away from needing an oil change on my 2004 Ford. I haven't had a date in over 2 years. I'm saving up for a new tv and ps4, hopefully my tax return will allow me to purchase these electronic devices that I covet. I am thirty-one years old, my metabolism has slowed down, and I keep telling myself that I'm going to develop an exercise routine "this coming weekend". I haven't been in a physical fight since 3rd grade recess. Yet I have more to say than these artists, I can kick their asses, and I can honestly convey to others the act of me refilling my water bottle at the water fountain near the mens room at my workplace with far more conviction than these non-sensible, non-educated, non-talented clowns can. But hey, if it makes you feel better, I'll en-queue these guys album in my 1700+ GB directory of compressed (mp3/aac/ogg) hip-hop, and I'm sure they'll stand out and that I'll enjoy listening to them repeatedly.
esnebta Take whatever you want seriously, Aesop raps in an abstract (I guess that's the best word, different? original?) extremely lyrical way and one can find that off putting or genius. He has been a successful underground artist for a decade plus so someone other than me must enjoy it. Rob Sonic is a well paired abstract artist and from listening to a lot of Aes solo stuff brings out more humor and happier beats in him (Whales and Break Dance Beach are favorites that exemplify this). Isn't to hard to decipher this song its about the kind of folks you find at 4am. Really I find it pretty funny someone would be so passionate about "why did this pop up in my stream!?!?!?"
esnebta Why are you using so many words? You could have expressed yourself better with fewer. I think--and I think most people would think--that you are using purposefully complicated speech to make yourself seem superior. This isn't the place to be rude or to be egotistical. By all means, express your opinions, but understand that they are subjective. If something seems nonsensical, that only means that you cannot make sense of it, and that is no reason to feel superior.
