Princeton, you're in for a treat on October 15th – Aesop Rock, one of New York's most happening hip-hop artists, is coming to town to perform at Terrace Club. TIME???
"Aesop Rock is one of hottest hip-hop artists out there right now. Tight rhymes and ill beats define his music. Hiring him for a show at Terrace was a no-brainer." Jeffrey Lange '04, the promoter of this show, said.
Aesop Rock's music features honest tales of Lower East Side city life with futurized funk and intricate wordplay. Rock writes his own music and lyrics, making his music highly personal.
Vice Magazine writes, "If the hip hop world had to write a graduate-level thesis paper it would probably be handled by New York lyricist Aesop Rock. A power-packed orator with a vocabulary level above the 99th percentile, his compositions are laid so thick and introspective that they can take days to properly digest."
Although highly successful now, Aesop Rock originally never planned to become a hip-hop artist or to be in the entertainment industry in general.
"I never wanted to be in the entertainment industry and frankly I still don't. I just like rapping and making beats," Rock said in an email. "Eventually, through hustling tapes and getting my voice heard around various N.Y. spots, shit just started expanding . . . It was and is very unexpected, so I'm sort of just doing my thing and letting it all run its course."
When asked about his choice of hip-hop as his genre, he said, "I just liked hip hop and started rapping for fun, way before there were 99 subgenres of rap. The music just felt right to me."
His last two albums have become legitimate underground hits, moving more units than most indie artists can hope to do over the course of an entire career.
Aesop Rock's latest album, "Bazooka Tooth," nearly all of which he produced himself, brings back the "golden age of hip-hop originality" with hip-hop that is described in a press release as "concept-driven, progressive and personal."
Entertainment Weekly writes of his sound, "Aesop Rock introduced a raw, urgent, intelligent new sound designed to break the monotony of mainstream rap."
Paper Magazine also acclaims Aesop's lyrics, "Aesop Rock, a Manhattan underground giant who's got the entire urban backpacker community in awe of his bionic vocabulary . . . this Lower East Side mogul continues to amaze with a blizzard of deep, intricate lyricism that takes the art of hip-hop prose to the levels of Tolstoy."
Rock's songs stand out with their honesty and deep personal connection to the artist. "I just talk about me and my observations and opinions a lot, on society, friends, whatever." he said. " I keep it pretty down to earth, so I think people can identify with it to a degree. I just want to be honest and original. Those traits are on the endangered species list these days."
Onstage, Aesop Rock loves a good time with his friends above all else; his ultimate performance career goal is simply to "keep a tight show and be able to do it all with my people."
"Touring isn't my favorite part of this shit, so when I'm out there I just want to be having a good time with my friends," said Rock. "I couldn't ask for anything more out of a show."
Rock spends a lot of his spare time on his music – "just writing or working on beats. That's just fun for me," he said. Aside from his career, other hobbies include movies, TV and video games.
Aesop Rock will be touring worldwide this fall and winter.
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