Aesop Rock examines the intricacies of life and loss on Garbology
Minneapolis, Minnesota – Aesop Rock teams up with longtime producer Blockhead for their forward-thinking, hard-hitting album Garbology.
There's no one in the game quite like Aesop Rock. Though he likely won't hold an interview to announce this feat, his work speaks for itself, and his latest album is no different.
Garbology marks the first time in Aesop Rock's career where his album was produced entirely by Blockhead, and it shows.
The producer's stripped-down approach to making beats is highly noticeable, and seems to give the 45-year-old rapper a new musical barrier to work around in the name of creativity.
The New York native came up through New York City's underground hip-hop scene, and landed his first record deal in 1999.
The deal came just one year after Aesop Rock, born Ian Matthias Bavitz, graduated from Boston University, where he met Blockhead in 1994.
Blockhead has arguably produced some of Aesop Rock's best music, including the single None Shall Pass and fan-favorite track, Daylight.
From the sounds of Garbology from top to bottom, it seems the producer has struck gold yet again.
Mellow beats meet hard-hitting verses
The album kicks off with The Only Picture, a track that's narrated by an unnamed artist who walks through his process of formulating tunnel vision on his own accord in an effort to create art without outside noise or influence.
After a brief introduction into the art of self-isolation for creative purposes, Aesop Rock delves into hard-hitting and fact-spitting rhymes on Jazz Hands.
On the track, Aesop Rock declares, "The revolution will not have jazz hands", before rapping, "I know you're alien to matters of the heart and mind, that s*** that make you park the car and scream into the dark of night."
Those listening to the album who aren't familiar with Aesop Rock will notice off the bat that the hip-hop artist is quite the wordsmith. His extensive vocabulary and ability to diversify his cadence and the way he enunciates words is unrivaled.
That along with his ability to creatively describe his real life experiences and verbalize his internal thoughts allows Aesop Rock to stand out amongst the masses.
The Blockhead-produced beat on All the Smartest People sounds like the score straight out of a murder mystery: creepy, chilling, and epic to rap over – which Aesop Rock so eloquently does.
"Nothing like a smug young punk realizing what his counterpoint ain’t. All the smartest people that I know seem to teeter in a paranoid state. You can know it all and never know you haven’t actually departed," he raps.
The music artist totes his admiration for hard work and dedication while giving a low-key nod to introverts around the world on the song, That is Not a Wizard, rapping, "I hate praising net worth over legwork, I hate ceding all power to the extroverts, I find the current social architecture [to be] hell on earth."
Ultimately, Garbology is a record that proves to the world that Aesop Rock is, as he so graciously says on the album, "Back on my bulls***," and fans like it that way.
Cover photo: Screenshot/Instagram/aesoprockwins