It's Aesop Rock time, again. The eclectic rhyme-sayer who burst onto the radar with his universally acclaimed Definitive Jux debut album Labor Days and then followed it up with the anthemic EP Daylight, returns to reclaim the truth and hand out lyrical beat downs to those who stole the up-rock and buffed the trains. Over four albums of futurized funk, Aesop Rock has been blowing minds with detail-driven narratives and dexterity defying word play. From the early records Music For Earthworms, Appleseed and Float to the masterful Labor Days, his singular voice has filtered tales of Lower East Side city life through a highly personal lens. And that voice has reached out and touched an enormous amount of people. Surprisingly, while his last two efforts were legitimate underground hits (moving more units than most indie artists, hip hop or otherwise, do in their entire careers) Aesop went into near seclusion for most of the time, avoiding the spotlight that was desperately seeking him out.
Building on the rapping style of eccentrics Kool Keith and Del tha Funkee Homosapien, Def Jux headliner Aesop Rock became one of the hottest MCs in the post-millennial underground. After a pair of self-released LPs (Appleseed, Music for Earthworms), he recorded Float for Mush in 2000. The former Ian Bavitz then issued a pair of singles -- "Coma" and "Boom Box" -- for another underground-rap label paragon, Definitive Jux. His second full-length, 2001's Labor Days, earned positive reviews and featured production from El-P and Blockhead. The Daylight EP kept his name in the papers, and his Def Jux follow-up Bazooka Tooth was released in September 2003. A seven-track EP, Fast Cars, Danger, Fire and Knives, followed in early 2005. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide (from mp3.com)
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