[Humbert] Aesop Rock in review.

Aesop Rock - Labor Days (2001)

Ask any devoted follower of the Definitive Jux label and they will probably claim that Aesop Rock was at the forefront of the "backpacker"/indie hip-hop movement which took place at the turn of the century. Being that Labor Days is often considered his definitive album, it's not hard to believe said claim.

With production handled by Blockhead and Aes himself, this release makes a jump from the jazz-oriented cityscapes of the Appleseed EP to exotic eastern samples and overtones ranging from the urban psychedelic to the quirky and sparse. (Think Stoupe's work on Violent by Design but with a more playful, mellowed edge). Bad news first: Production-wise, there are some decidedly weaker tracks. The excessive minimalism of Coma, for instance, fails to suit Aesop's insanity.

The album's highlight, however, is Aesop Rock's wholly unique style as an emcee. Aes utilises a relentless and unconventional delivery which, most of the time, does not aid listeners in discerning any coherent "meaning" in his abstract, seemingly neither-here-nor-there rhymes upon first spin. His rhyme schemes are hardly ever straightforward, but the variation in both his lyric and its execution should be enough to at least entertain first time listeners. After listening to the first few tracks, it becomes clear that Aesop Rock is amongst the most uncompromising of emcees and his approach to making music might best be summarised when he exclaims on Flashflood:

'I'ma never give, I'm juiced off rejection/ I'm as stubborn as a thousand Born Agains avoiding questions'

Such metaphorical imagery is scattered throughout the album, but it is the rapid rate at which Aesop creates new and distinct images which is the real centerpiece here.

Of course, there has been some debate over whether Aesop's songs really do contain definite meaning, or whether they are random stream-of-consciousness musings. As an album, Labor Days is held together by a single theme: work, or perhaps more appropriately, effort. The first verse of Daylight opens with

'Put one up for shackle-me not clean logic procreation/I did not invent the wheel, I was the crooked spoke adjacent'

...and ends with:

'This origami dream is beautiful, but man those wings will never leave the ground/ Without a feather and a lottery ticket, now settle down',

the song capturing a nihilistic sense of lethargy and regret which is supposedly inherit in the hopeless and mundane.

Sitting opposite the thematic unity of this work, there are admittedly countless metaphors and analogies whose imagery maintains a sense of schizophrenia and discontinuity -- but in this context, that should sound as a compliment. On The Yes and the Ya'll Aesop makes a definite connection between his concept of labor and his own occupation. He moves from fantastical recreations of a disenfranchised America:

'I wrote the book that shook America to splinters/ In a winter wasteland Icicle-bound barren township/ Call Baron Munchausen's proud gimps to clinch this chemical war pig/Delinquent sinkin like a paper tugboat'

and then demonstrates a humourous take on tired apathy:

'Life's hard, life's easy/ Life's everyting in between me/ Life's peachy like James and the Giant/ And I keep spittin as long as these kittens buy it/',

around a hook wherein he expresses scepticism of the music industry and all that comes with it.

Aes often treads the thin line between being interestingly obscure and being prentiously obscure; this line can also be conceptualised as a balancing act between poetry and deception, and what side he ultimately falls on is, I would argue, of a subjective nature. It is my belief that, at least on this album, Aesop is as genuine an artist as they come. There is a definite, cohesive sense of nihilism about this album, one which could not be wholly maintained without the direction and honesty beneath all of the surrealism.


I've heard countless albums which others often call "great" albums. Especially in this genre, where back-in-the-day classics are far from being in shortage. Labor Days would certainly be called a great album in many alternative hip-hop circles; the issue here is that, because hip-hop is becoming increasingly varied in both sound and in values, most allegedly great albums released since the late 1990s will be up for debate regarding their long-term status. I'm hesitant to call it great, not because of any stylistic points of contention, but just because some tracks simply aren't on par with others. Either way, if it doesn't qualify for such a categorisation, Labor Days is surely a memorable album. Similarly, if Aesop Rock doesn't qualify as a great emcee, he is indeed... well... something else.

There are many moments on the album where Aes reaches out on a personal level which is, at least nowadays, a precious if not rare experience when listening to such a virtuosic display of rhyming talent. Aesop Rock is brilliant without being braggadocious; at times, he is intelligent without trying to be. The abstract nature of his lyrics might be too much for the average hip-hop head, but with enough patience for his scholarly lyrical content and relentless, inventive delivery, his is a style which should not go unheard by any fan of underground hip-hop or indeed anyone looking for something fresh, regardless of genre.


Highlights:

• Daylight
• Flashflood
• The Tugboat Complex, Part III
  
• The Yes and the Ya'll
• 9-5ers Anthem

Hum-o-meter: 8.8/10