forums : Jungle Scene : Hip-Hop

AESOP FUCKING ROCK

An appreciation thread and a great topic of contention.

People seem to be fairly split between him "overintellectualizing hip hop / too wordy / soulless / completely random" and being "metaphorically brilliant / a breath of fresh air" or whatever.

I hold with the latter; I'm one of those dicks that think most MCs / artists / urban poets don't really have much to say in the way of profound social commentary. On first listen I found Aesop's aggressively-structured rhyming style and vocabulary a little difficult to process; he says SO MUCH in every song that it's kind of hard to dissect. But as I've begun to read into the lyrics I can definitely see the depth. IMO he's been pushing hip hop into broader and more creative territory for years.

What do you guys think of him? (Never mind his lack of commercial appeal to a dumbed-down market)

Re: AESOP FUCKING ROCK

Aesop has DEFINITELY got a dope, original sound and presence in his vocals. Yeah, his "word randomizer" lyrics ar pretty damn humorous (to me at least) at times, but you still gotta give it up to him. He's put out so much in the last several years, and I think made a brilliant choice by working with Blockhead.

Blockhead's beats are so damn beautiful.

Wasn't really feeling Aesop's newest album at first, but now its totally grown on me, and I think one of the best albums to come out this year.

"T-A-K-E-N-O-P-R-I-S-O-N-E-R-S"

[ rickschrode - 14 Dec 2007 15:45 ]

Re: AESOP FUCKING ROCK

Blockhead is the dopeness.
And yes, i dig asop for many reasons.
I can listen to a song a hundred times and still catch meanings to certain parts i didnt catch before.
Its kinda like a wheres waldo of hip hop verses.
Very cool if u ask me.
A true original style that is the basis of real hip hop.
Anyone have lyrics to post up?
Id love to dive into reading his poetry rather than search for the meaning as it flys by at 100mph.

Re: AESOP FUCKING ROCK

def jux owns hip hop in my opinion...

Re: AESOP FUCKING ROCK

Aesop holds it down. I think in a way his lyrical sense is a big f**k you to the people who try to write songs about being profound or about being "real hip hoppers." He makes the words he uses, however nonsensical they may be together, work and flow beautifully.

Coupled with the beats from Blockhead, I think Aesop has always been on the new tip as far as the world of hip hop goes.. He's always got some fresh stuff going on.

Re: AESOP FUCKING ROCK

"float"

so i heard y'all wanna float...

yo, this fallen angel could stitch a wing with a shoestring
prime directive selects reflective aviation bathed in mood swing
i'm broke - i know a walking corpse'd spit icicle dagger to slit throat quicker than you can prove there's four letters in hope
i paint of a portrait of myself bored life inside the tortoise shell
tortured - orbiting hell's orchard intrigued but not compelled
i smell a hint of charred childflesh creepin' through my corridor
more than one canteen, a liquid caffeine and eclipse the slaughters
how is you is the villain of my Kabuki hologram
as i hobble with hollow hands
please pin the nozzle
we see intent to reinvent dream application with homage to ancients
but honor modern replacements circling now basics (fresh)
i'm Bilbo Baggins with stilts tipping the petri dish
beached fish on the shores with a feast of wits eats the corpse
divvy the servings and study the traits that deemed killa breed credible
now that's a harp of a different color -
yeah, but the song remains identical
i am not a crook (crook)
i cook the wick at both ends just to blend that element of chance with my tight rope leaf life
sight beyond
i reign where hunger pain got begone
elong to something civil saint cause this Rembrandt paints on
and it's a
tall canvas lodged in the gut of Atlantis
i'm pretentious, impressive lungs, some truly learn what a death chant is
i alone personify mankind's collective soul as the result of one angry Zeus fist blistering pulp cult evoked
face it (die!)
place it on the shelf next to that picture mommy gave you
and the day it rains but y'all pose by the slaveship anyway
it rain till the levee breaks
my face is a combine of Father Tom and his sweetest concubine
whine!
and it saddens me like televised casualties
i'll be hung in the village square in exactly five minutes -
you don't wanna miss it
i've been soaking up my discontent regarding the equation
i'm officially closed for consultation

i float
when everyone around me is busy drowning, i float
when everyone around me is busy drowning, i float
when everyone around me is busy drowning, i float

Re: AESOP FUCKING ROCK

i was craving some Mcdonalds fries yesterday, so i walked over and on entrance what do i hear over the speakers?

Aesop f**king rock!
tune was "none shall pass"...

and a few weeks ago in a taco bell i heard Justice's "d.a.n.c.e." over the speakers.

so it turns out, some douche is sitting in a office compiling playlists for these fast food corporations that are targeting you as a demographic.

crazy.

Re: AESOP FUCKING ROCK

Blockhead and Aesop are wonderful!

Thank holly hell that there is such an intellectual hip-hop!!! ( a Bob Dylan of our time)

and yeah kellyd...everytime I listen there is a few sentences I perhaps have never heard or take on a whole new meaning

Once (in my college) years when I was anti Tele...I loved this song...no one said it better

Lyrics:
television, all hail grand pixelated god of
fantasy, murder scape and perspective
f**k a sore channel changed digit
I sit with a nasty network intervenes plan
with a stable diet of my cable pirate
yo, the doctor is in, the doctor is on
born the bastard son of static radiance cloned to welcome in every home
lead a blue screen, bruised dream canope
victim of the cursed nursed Technicolor drunk support team
ooh, I love all advertisements
though accused by robot news casters who capture and pollute
spoon fed hazardous fog to joy luck catholic squad
please take me, please calm me, please make me a zombie
please I want to donate my brain to the monstrous Panasonic profit
now, twenty first century plagued
dispersed to wide eyed glamour addict patients
telecast patrons
blue be the propaganda banners, well, sure I'll be a Marine
with a clean sword and blue uniform, it only takes a dollar and a dream
and I abide great idiot box power supply, fuzz vapor,
black out of New York, hey honey, get the generator
I'm in a doom, doom generation, pacin', ancient electric secret
never sleepin' to miss the AM oasis
my name is a wired heart, sloppy obligation
turn my stilt into my guilt and have a chatter box blame frame adjacent station
make reality scrambled and suck the life out of a hidden vandal
and loving every minute of the gimmick, change the channel

plug it in, turn it on, prop me up against the couch
lights out, I ain't ever gonna have to leave my house
satellite dish, get up on my wish list, turn me to a tyrant
let my clean spirit dissolve through the appliance

plug it in, turn it on, be my mother when she's gone, great
wipe the spittle off my chinny-chin during the breaks
if I gotta go blind I'mma do it for the love of all television kind
and that's fine, and that's fine...

make me a star, I wanna touch gold
hold me suspended in a dream, mearly inches from the screen
deleted passions sacrificed to one electron monster
crucify my little future to the monitor
damn it feels good, turn on, tune in
zoom in to hug the bug up in your family function
but the children seem to love it
yes mother, me and wild discovery
and heard the static flock to where I sleep
by the glow of that magic box big speaker
stereo mastered often kill the freak seekers, eyes spiraling
tangled in the star spangled wiring
I can turn from toxicated visuals
and all the kings horses abort the loyalty to royalty
f**k the fortress
riddle me with glee, hoist the end all telepromter above my sleeping head
I'll be dead by morning anyway
color my values with mundane humor in thirty minute tickets
to feel the magnetic seal picket censorship
I want commercials twenty four-seven
I wanna shop from my bed and set an
example for all my overworked, underpaid brethren
I bond with a six string(?) correspondence
and lurking circuitry circus
with allegiance pledged beyond the glass surface
adamant students within the fine school of possessed graduate catalysts
channel zero addict, immaculate
it goes- big screen, little screen, any screen'll do
just let me hold the controller and I won't have to murder you

plug it in, turn it on, let my little eyes glaze
twenty screens lined up along the borders of the maze
I wanna see the five day forecast, fourteen days in advance
so I can get my two weeks notice every time the sun dance

plug it in, turn it on, silent fix better than nothing
let a once divine soul feel the functions of the hypnotist
the viciousness, ridiculous, peaking a dummy's interest
touch the power button meet your maker, ain't that something?

plug it in, turn it on, say goodbye to Sunday afternoon
fix the antenna, sit back and let disaster bloom
it's a beautiful sight, with a most ugly intention
but I taste it everyday and bathe inside the consequences

plug it in, turn it on, never once have you talked back to me
your majesty, I love you, I despise you
my everyday is sitcom, soaps, news, bad dramatization
come along with me, my friend for the most glorious sensation
Basic Cable

Re: AESOP FUCKING ROCK

and my all time favorite Aesop quote from the song Daylight...

"Life's not a bitch life is a beautiful woman
Your only call her a bitch because she won't let you get that pussy
Maybe she didn't feel y'all shared any similar interests
Or maybe you're just an asshole who couldn't sweet talk the princess"

Re: AESOP FUCKING ROCK

i f**king love aesop!
how could anyone think his lyrics are random?
to be able to hear art in it's true form is amazing to me.
i know that sounds corny,but listening to him is like a brain challenge.
six-too has a similar style to aesop as well.
oh yeah,and sage francis.

Re: AESOP FUCKING ROCK

i would disagree that sage and aesop have a similar style, but definitely agree that they are alike in that they have strong messages. sage is a lot more pragmatic, i think - the medium is just a great way to get out a message, that's how he seems to see it. aesop on the other hand is all about exploring and pushing the medium.

Re: AESOP FUCKING ROCK

ahhhhh this s**t is f**king dope

(from 9-5er's anthem)

It's the year of the silkworm
Everything I built burned yesterday
Let's display the purpose that these stilts serve
Elevate the spreading of the silk germ
Trying to weave a web but all that I believe in is dead

Nah brother, it's the year of the jackal
Saddle up on high horse
My torch forced Polaris embarrassed
Shackle up the hassle by the dooming legend marriage
I bought some new sneakers
I just hope my legacy matches

It's the year of the landshark
Dry as sand, parched, damn get these men some water
They're out there being slaughtered
In meaningless wars so you don't have to bother
And can sit and soak the idiotbox trying to f**k their daughters

Man it's the year of the Orphan
Seated adjacent to the firefly circling the torches on your porches
Trying to guard the fortress of a king they've never seen or met
But all are trained to murder at the first sign of a threat

Maybe it's the year of the waterbug
Cockroach utter thug specimen
Your response, dreaming of your next of kin
I'm still dealing with this mess I'm in
I've been the object of your ridicule
You've been a bitch lieutenant

God it's the year of the underpaid employee
Spitting forty plus a week
And trying to rape earth on my off time
You bought dizzy, I can't keep myself busy enough
So you can run run run
And I'ma let you think you won

Re: AESOP FUCKING ROCK

i agree 100% my friend!
if only i had the funds to book the guy...

Re: AESOP FUCKING ROCK

Well, transportation wouldn't be expensive since he lives in SF now... wonder how much his booking fee is?

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wow,livin in s.f. huh?
that's cuts the cost that i had in mind way down.
sounds like it could be an option...

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http://gillmoreboy.blogspot.com/2007/08/interview-aesop-rock.html

apparently his wife is his booking agent.
it's like i always said,behind a strong man is a strong business woman!
lol! jk!

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I've liked his tunes for a long time, Since back in the day when I was digging thru catalogs ordering hip-hop for our old store (Zen Beats) in whittier. dude is ill...

Re: AESOP FUCKING ROCK

Kill em all, yield
(naw man It wasn't me it was Holden Caulfield brother
I just read and pulled the trigger)
Oh God, well leave me to tiptoe past the pearly gates
capture the halo, jet back to base, step past the chase
the bad taste of jet-lag and weight slackers
There aint nothin broken, where you at?
The pistons pump perfect, where you at?
The bass tone is Merlin, where you at?
This service is a urgent workin surgeons
Purging formulas lookin for an improper cause is whack

Re: AESOP FUCKING ROCK

trying to contact his booking agent aka his wife is not as easy as i thought...

Re: AESOP FUCKING ROCK

You should try contacting Def Jux first if you can't get in touch directly with the missus - they've got a repository of contacts for him, I'm sure.

Re: AESOP FUCKING ROCK

dude! ive tried,no response yet.
oh well,somehow someway im gonna get a quote.

Re: AESOP FUCKING ROCK

Aesop Rock is, and always has been one of my favorites in Hip Hop. I saw him with Mr. Lif & Cage a couple of years back... f**kin amazing show!



The song that got me hooked on him... 1,000 DEATHS!




I saw the rod-eye cross inverted and murder circle above my turret
Slither spiraling banister down a hide
My ruby glass glazed specs staple to trade the market thieves
Where vendors cop the stolen citrus out they pyramids
Merry without a slapstick mavericks plugged directly to 3rd rail surges
Piss on electric mayhem through city commuter circuits
Oooh child, raises oddity, son of a circus side show freak
Pertinent to the slide show, the wino's leak but I won't speak
Infected projection hung thicken the air
Pungent as burning plastics upon whiffing the nasal cringes
Pucker another 60-second lapse while 60 stars collapse the suckers
And I'm reborn every time the wine metamorphs back to water, my god
Sweet Christ crucify me with rail road spikes
Use my skull to bash them all in, gather sit and grin, weave
All fair the most serene communication's pageant
Where sitting with a stranger and living awards the badges
I spell Marry with my name stitched on my heritage
Incinerate arrogant simpletons to feed my cherished wind
Buried in leagues a please, thank you, pardon, excuse me
Your welcome, may I? ohh, I'd like to nod but no you may not
Let's take a deep breath, naw let's take a breath
Naw let's take, naw let's aaah s**t, well I guess that about says it
Maybe I'll craft the sycamore canoe and paddle upstream
Where the luck seems to reflect precious lovely interventions

Chorus:

I have died a thousand deaths, and I apologize for you and yours
For kicking your fantasies overboard
I mean I'm only one servant, makin' one hell of a diversion
And if the masses have agreed to split the sea then let it bleed

I have died a thousand deaths, and I apologize for them and theirs
For breaking down their ropes, ladders and stairs
I mean I'm only one servant, makin' one hell of a diversion
And if the masses have agreed to split the sea then let it bleed

Verse Two:

You ever died a thousand deaths? I have
And in the morrow stood a thousand steps from where my nourish laughed
And made a boat at, nomad, I roam in a social coma
Jones and be home alone days sink how my poems I
Dig in the dirt I bring up the earth like pulley systems
Thereby painting the perfect metaphor for hung juries
Strung along a song of spawning thorns of fury
Numb the anti-add-alarm before he recognized this worries me
Carpet by my spearheading fink-eye beretta
Walk my line, now what? Now strut that little poison combine
Y'all call natural, in honesty promise me twenty thousand salami links
And dive and finding my thriving ivy leaves climbing up the pit fall
Lack of most lords aboard, heroes unsung heroes unbrung rewards
Yo if I flutter in a trouble clutch then I dance fancy forward
Like park children double-dutching ropes in burning city summers
My wing span can and will employ full expansion
Unfolding while lamping at home with my hands spanning for gold
Told them the roof was on fire, when that structure burned to ashes
All y'all saw was Aesop Rock holding an empty book of matches
Maybe I'll sit until the spilling motors clear
Maybe I'll sit and stroke my billy goat beard
And rethink the time angels appear, maybe I won't
Bundled in my humble little plummet
Numb enough to die those thousand deaths under the sun it makes me sick

Chorus:

I have died a thousand deaths, and I apologize for you and yours
For kicking your fantasies overboard
I mean I'm only one servant, makin' one hell of a diversion
And if the masses have agreed to split the sea then let it bleed

I have died a thousand deaths, and I apologize for them and theirs
For breaking down their ropes, ladders and stairs
I mean I'm only one servant, makin' one hell of a diversion
And if the masses have agreed to split the sea then let it bleed

I have died a thousand deaths, and I apologize for you and yours
For kicking your fantasies overboard
I mean I'm only one servant, makin' one hell of a diversion
And if the masses have agreed to split the sea then let it bleed

I have died a thousand deaths, and I apologize for them and theirs
For breaking down their ropes, ladders and stairs
I mean I'm only one servant, makin' one hell of a diversion
And if the masses have agreed to split the sea then let it bleed