The Name: Aesop Rock
Sample Tracks: Daylight, Bent Life, Skip Town, Run the Numbers (off the El-P album “I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead”, which won the 2007 Ryan P. Smith Award for Best Album Title)
Why You Should Listen to Him: Beats so ill they should be quarantined. Lyrics that read like excerpts from the diary of Syd Barrett. New York-based rapper Aesop Rock may be wacky but he's never wack, and he consistently produces some of the best tracks in the business. And in a business where you can't throw a mix tape across a crowded club without hitting at least a few dozen A&R people, bloggers, and promoters, you're probably asking yourself, why haven't I heard of this guy? Well, it is an act of will to be this talented and yet so little-known. He intentionally flies under the radar, I think. He writes lyrics like:
Yo...put one up shackle me, not clean logic procreation,
I did not invent the wheel, I was the crooked spoke adjacent.
While the triple sixer's lassos keep angels roped in the basement,
I walk the block with a halo and a stick poking your patience.
(from "Daylight")
which hardly endear him to the mainstream. He would probably roll his eyes at this label, but he's a card-carrying member of the hip-hop "underground," that nebulous world populated by talented misfits who lack either the desire or the money-driven motivation to poke their heads above ground and embrace the world of bitches and bling.
But I like hip-hop for the same reason why I like The Simpsons. It rewards you for paying attention. And Aesop Rock's multi-layered beats and stream-of-consciousness lyrics do exactly that. Enjoy.
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