Aesop Rock HHV Records 37 Items

From the New York Underground

New Yorker Ian Matthias Bravitz, also known as Aesop Rock, is one of those rappers who has proved difficult to categorize. With highly unusual and often barely decipherable lyrics, the producer has independently built a loyal fan base over the years, reaching hip-hop fans worldwide. The rapper took his first daring steps into the rap scene as a college student: he released the tape Music for Earthworms in 1997 independently – recorded in a studio where friends granted him access during their breaks, the rapper burned his own CDs and distributed them on campus. However, the demo tape circulated widely on the internet and was downloaded over 300 times. Aesop Rock followed up with the Appleseed EP in 1999, showcasing his unique flow on eight tracks, which are highly sought after by fans in their physical form today. Indie label Mush Records in Los Angeles saw potential in the emerging rhyme fanatic and released his album Float in the year 2000. Obscure descriptions of the Big Apple characterized the album, and with feature guests like Doseone and Vast Aire, as well as Blockhead at the mixing console, Aesop Rock attracted attention in the underground.

Complex, poetic, catchy

Rapper and producer El-P liked it so much that he released the successor Labor Days on his indie label Definitive Jux, further propelling the musician’s career: as the name of the album suggests, the tracks are full of criticism and ideas about the American job market, wage slavery, and exploitation. From the beginning, the rapper has shown a social-critical stance – abstract but grounded, the album marked his first entry into the Billboard Independent Charts. The record Bazooka Tooth continued his success in 2003, and in his usual manner, Bravitz expressed his poetic thoughts with a catchy, nasal flow. The track No Jumper Cables even made it into the video game Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 in a remix version, and in the spirit of a freak show, he created his next EP Fast Cars, Danger, Fire and Knives, which saw the light of day in 2005. For the newly released training system Nike + iPod, the ambitious producer was asked to contribute a 45-minute piece for jogging. He entered the Top 50 of the Billboard Charts for the first time in 2007 with the album None Shall Pass – rarely did the complex verses of the word acrobat sound so catchy. When Definitive Jux closed its doors in 2010, the New Yorker initially paused his solo activities and began working on an album with his new crew Hail Mary Mallon to offer his fans some variety.

A rapper in his own niche

Skelethon marked the rapper’s return, who also took control of all production matters and told stories of the transient: “It felt like everything around me was dying: people, relationships, all plant life in my apartment.” With releases like The Impossible Kid and Spirit World Field Guide, he managed to continually increase his popularity over the years – he played the Coachella Festival stage for the first time in 2013. In response to the frequent incomprehensibility of his unusual lyrics, which are often part of the discussion, Aesop Rock simply says, “It’s probably because it’s not the most accessible music in the world. It may pose a slight challenge to the listener beyond your average pop song.” With Integrated Tech Solutions, he launched a concept album in 2023 that examines our everyday media consumption and modern technologies: analytically, poetically, and in his usual articulate manner, Aesop Rock navigates through the world of hip-hop at his own pace, occupying his unique niche.