Album Review: Aesop rocks my socks
In a world where mainstream hip-hop consists of endless variations on “Snap Yo Fingers” and an artist can release three albums about dropping out of college, Aesop Rock continues to make great hip-hop by growing as an artist with each album.His newest record, “None Shall Pass,” is no different. Since his debut, “Float,” Aesop Rock has come off as a mix of Atmosphere’s Slug and Kool Keith sped up to a breathless pace, while the content of his rhymes is nothing short of poetic. On this album, his wordplay is more proficient and purposeful than ever.
On his previous album, “Bazooka Tooth,” he paired up criticism of his native New York with references to Harry Potter and Dungeons and Dragons, all within the first four songs. “None Shall Pass” finds Aesop refining his skill and taking it in a more lucid direction.
The title track begins in a completely nonsensical fashion and yet the simple combination of seemingly unrelated words is exquisite and interesting enough to warrant actual study. Then he ends the song with astoundingly straightforward social commentary directed at his hometown: “to my people who keep an impressive wingspan even when the cubicle shrinks / you gotta pull up the intruder by the root of the weed / NY chew through the machine.”
Production-wise, no Aesop Rock album has resembled another, despite dealing with only two primary producers: Blockhead and Aesop. “None Shall Pass” splits the difference with the two producers handling about half the tracks each, and this time they’ve brought the funk. The title track stomps like an old Diana Ross song and the upright bass slithers on “Bring Back Pluto,” which, for its first few seconds, is exactly what you think it’s about (“and then there were eight”) before descending into Rock’s traditional randomness.
While his flow is no longer as radically incoherent as it was on “Float,” his movements into coherence prove just as compelling.
Aesop Rock
‘None Shall Pass’
Release Date: Aug. 28
Genre: Rap
Grade: A-
This entry was posted
on Monday, September 3rd, 2007 at 11:32 pm and is filed under Album Reviews, Arts & Entertainment.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Print this post
Email this post© 2008 The Nevada Sagebrush
