"Shriek into the vacuum if in spite of your accomplishments, you wake up feeling empty as Houdini's grave probably is." I think Klutz is one of his best songs hands down but he has so many bangers its hard to tell.
One of the best ever. Also, he had a moment around the time of Bazooka Tooth were he did poke through. He was on a Tony Hawk soundtrack, None Shall Pass blew up and he hosted a music show on MTV. Not exactly Cardi B, but he has now and again gotten the recognition he so rightly deserves from the heard.
I'm only just getting into his music, but listen to the ends of his verses before the hook on Rings. *That's* a fast flow. This is pretty average pace flow
boccaccioe Whaddup! Just honestly reading through the comments and seeing who isn't an asshole that is genuinely curious about new music! 🙏🏻 anytime you have the chance you should check out my debut album! 'Far from Average' is the title! It's available here on RU-vid and on all other platforms as well🔥
Honestly, it's not necessarily that this is particularly fast rapping for aesop, but rather, the typography is there, which draws your focus, and then it moves too fast and flip flops around so much you basically can't read most of it, which only serves to make it harder to tell what he's saying. I ended up closing my eyes during those parts because holy fuck, that was a stupid decision, and the creator should feel bad.
I have been completely unable to maintain Any semblance of relationship on any level I have been a bastard to the people who have Actively attempted to deliver me from peril I have been acutely undeserving of the ear that listened up And lip that kissed me on the temple I have been accustomed to a stubborn disposition That admits it wish its history disassembled I have been a hypocrite in sermonizing tolerance While skimming for a ministry to pretzel I have been unfairly resentful of those I wish Had acted different when the bidding was essential I have been a terrible communicator Prone to isolation over sympathy for devils I have been my own worst enemy since the very genesis of rebels ~Aesop Rock
Gopher Guts indeed .. those lyrics spoke to me so personally the first time I heard them, I was in awe. He takes so much of what I think and feel and puts them on wax in a way I never could. Many of Aesop’s lyrics will be with me for the rest of my life - it’s why I got so much love for the dude I’m probably going to have one of his lyrics tatted on me one day - if I could just narrow it down to one ..
Couldn't resist joining the bandwagon: "Used to draw Hard to admit that I used to draw Portraiture in a human form Doodle of a two-headed unicorn, it was soothing Moving his arm in a fusion of man made tools And a muse from beyond Even if it went beautifully wrong It was tangible truth for a youth who refused to belong" Hands down the greatest ever, forever grateful for his art.
I was reading all these dense lyrical verses in the comments, and the juxtaposition between them and this, not to mention the context of the video, led me to laugh deeply and heartily. Excellent comment. ❤
Daylight/Nightlight was my intro and i havent stopped since. He's the Goat and maddeningly underrated. Got friends who like Logic but have never heard Aesop.
One thing that I think helps make none shall pass catchy while dense is another similarity with james joyce- each line is a microcosm of the song at large. You don't need to actually listen to each line or understand every reference to understand that you're listening to a condemnation of the way we use our unparalleled luxury to forget the people who can't get to comfort. As well, the song has a microcosm/macrocosm quality- it can be taken as his individual feeling and experience, or the voice of a generation that began noticing the loss of opportunity several years before the 08 melt down. This layering of micro and macro creates the most satisfying experiences. Sometimes great art errs heavily on one side or another- either singing too much from personal particular experience or taking a more omniscient voice than the singer is qualified for. When the particular and the general align, the greatest of lyrics are made.
I didn't play that one as much but I was 11 or 12 when thug 2 came out and I loved hearing the "no jumper cables" remix. couple years later when NSP dropped I got it around my birthday. Then started looking for more of his music. Can't say I was disappointed.
Love the video, but I would have to say that Daylight is his most popular song, I mean, it’s the one he usually ends his shows with...at least he used to. If you’re going into the underground rap thing, do a video about Eyedea.
E&A are legends. Sadistik does a great job carrying Larson's torch/style if you ask me, although he's a lot darker in a general sense. The Balancing Act, produced by Emancipator, is great. The Art Of Dying with Kid Called Computer producing is also just fantastic. Just uh, don't listen to them while in a good mood. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TY5nE51ScKY.html this song even has a verse from Eyedea. They were friends, which makes sense because Sadistik has been rocking the heroin addict look for years. They probably shot up together, it just too bad Eyedea lost his control. R.I.P
@@bredivil96 sadistik has become a bit too 'edgy' for me in recent years. although his skill is still very impressive. also check out No Bird Sing and Kristoff Krane (who also did an album with sadistik), they were very close to Eyedea and you can hear it in the music
Aes has always been one of my favorites since I found him. A friend showed me Skelethon when it came out and I went home and downloaded his entire discography. One of the only discographies I could put on shuffle and never skip a song. I write hip hop and he has always been an inspiration. He urges me to play with words in an intricate and precise way, while using intense rhyme schemes and vivid metaphors. I met Blockhead once. That was awesome. Great video.
Seeing him live too is really unique. He uses music sheets to remember lyrics and still raps on beat. Please show me a live rap show nowadays that doesn't have the rapper lazily encourage the audience to sing the rest of the lyrics. Or gets the Producer/DJ to just raise the mix of the track while the rapper throws water at the crowd.
The way this man paints a picture is just mind boggling. Most recent for me is Tuesday it's such simple story/concept that he weaves into a beautiful word cornucopia.
Ive known about Aes for years but life had me vibe with Atmosphere for a long time, but Im finally getting deeper into his music. Been doing myself a disservice not listening to him more. Super stoked for Integrated Technology Solutions nov 13.
I personally feel like once i was awakened, Aesops stuff slowly started making so much sense on a deep, multilayered level. Because more than anything i think most if not all of his lyricism is actually a way to integrate himself on a level youd have to look deeply to even realize. Once you do, its a lot to process>>>"Woke up 8 years non responsive, its a lot to process.."
Jester Logic Whaddup! Just honestly reading through the comments and seeing who isn't an asshole that is genuinely curious about new music! 🙏🏻 anytime you have the chance you should check out my debut album! 'Far from Average' is the title! It's available here on RU-vid and on all other platforms as well🔥
He speaks like a prophet parables wordplay that means different things at the same time real art listening to his music is like looking at a painting it means different things to different people and different things at different times or moods
My first experience with Aesop Rock was a completely visual one. There was a gallery at my college where art majors would do their senior projects, and one day there was a show where the artist had made a series of paintings based on hip hop songs. The centerpiece was an enormous six-foot-tall portrait called "6B Panorama", based on the Aesop Rock song of the same name. It remains the most astonishing painting I have ever seen in my life. It featured a sprawling cityscape painted in immaculate detail, and hung next to the painting was a printout of the lyrics so that you could read them and confirm that every image in the lyrics was painted on the canvas. What a profound way of experiencing his lyrics for the first time, reading them like a poem and seeing them painted like that. One lyric that I remember in particular was "I see a roof garden on the apartment across the street and kick myself, because somewhere along the way I lost my seeds". It was just such a powerful statement of regret, of dreams deferred and missed opportunities; I was actually kind of disappointed later on when I actually listened to the song and heard the way he actually delivered that line, because it sounded like he was telling a joke. You're definitely not wrong about him being challenging to listen to; I find myself having to listen to every song about a dozen times before I start to feel like I've got a handle on all the dense imagery and metaphors. Every song takes the same conviction that made me stare at that painting for a solid hour playing "Where's Waldo" with the lyrics. I've been listening to him for ten years, but I've really only ever listened to two of his albums: Float and Labor Days. I've heard several of his others, but I've never been able to motivate myself to approach them with that same dedication.
Give Impossible Kid the same kind of time, it's worth it. Skelethon after. Some songs on None Shall pass are great (like the title track) but I feel like it was his weakest. Also if you don't have his Daylight EP I suggest getting that, as it has a lot of stuff from the Labor Days era through a different filter - like looking at a negative image of that painting from college.
Some of his songs will make me feel completely different with every listen, everytime a line becomes clearer and a whole new layer of context is unpacked
I found Aesop, believe it or not, through a Tony Hawks American Wasteland. He didn't have any tracks on there, but he was a feature on this song called "Sniper Picnic." (Also found Rob Sonic on that song.) I always thought Aes was the best in that song but didn't know who he was. Yeeeears later I remembered it, looked him up, and found the song "Daylight." The rest is musical history : )
Great Video. The only criticism I have, is that 60fps would've been nice. Especially during the quick lyrics-reveals, where it would have helped in making the words clearer and easier to read at this pace. Otherwise, an absolutely beautiful breakdown :D
Great video but you should know your introducing info is slightly untrue. It’s not a total of 7,700 unique words in his music, it’s 7.7k unique words out of Aesops first 35k spoken in song. I hate that study because it’s so misleading, it’s a stupid idea to judge artists based on their earlier works and not their latest, if that study used recent works it’d be a much more diverse study. Also Rock is elite but there is one competitor; Busdriver at roughly 7.3k unique of his first 35k, another worthy underground legend.
I think you're wrong, but I'm not 100 and I'll have to double-check. But i remember it was not the first 35k words in his first works. It was random, and adjusted so that the "lessers" could even be graphed.
@@Doomscrolled No, lyrics probably. Not only that, but he has a good flow. His voice is the only thing I can really agree with against him. That's why I catagorize his older and newer stuff differently. Still one of my big insparations for creativity.
No lie I've been listening to none shall pass since 2011 on a daily or weekly basis and I am still picking out nuggets of gold and appreciation in it. The album is so dense I almost can't listen to other hip hop albums becasue I don't get as much out of them. At the same time I realize None Shall Pass is like, in a whole other realm I just can't shake it, especially Five Fingers and No City. I adore those tracks to death
The reason i think he did that was because it WOULD be difficult to read, it helps bring the speed and technicality with which aesop rock raps to the attention of the watcher.
I found Aesop Rock by playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4 which has Labor. Shortly after I dove right in to Float and Labor Days and now they're 2 of my favorite albums.
"None Shall Pass", the phrase in the song anyway, seems to be a reference to Gandalf the Grey's standoff with the Balrog in the mines of Moria....as the phrase that literally precedes the titular one is, "...with a cane to the sky like..."
It's good to see this man get some good damn recognition! So many times I've tried to show Aesop off & everyone is like "what is this?" 🙄An acquired taste I suppose.. like my music like I like my beer... STOUT!!
This video is going to be my tool to get more people into Ace. Maybe I can spark some deeper thinking into people and have a meaningful conversation 😂. Seriously great video!!
Listening to Aesop Rock for the first time (Cat Food) was a genuinely life-changing experience. If I could emphasise one more thing about him that this video didn't quite cover, though, it would be his self-effacing humour - he doesn't take himself seriously all the time and can actually be pretty brutal about himself on occasion. He'll linguistically magic up this mythical persona and then take a pin to it in the next line.
Aesop made me appreciate rap. Like most music. Shit is made for a profit. This man is not only amazing and replay will last the ages but there is always something new to interpret even from when he started to today. the heart, soul and mastery he has lyrically though not appreciated is right where it needs to be.
8:08 Aesop is actually rhyming multisyllable there, not internal rhymes. 4 syllable rhymes in fact. /swine in the swarm/ /comply and conform/ /eye of the storm/ /siphon to lure/ /prize and award/ /vile and bizarre/ /violence and war/ /triumph is more/
