AESOP ROCK

'Aesop Rock' (born 'Ian Matthias Bavitz', 1976) is an American hip hop artist. He was in the forefront of the new wave of underground acts that emerged during the late 1990s/early 2000s. He is signed to El-P's Definitive Jux label and remains one of the most popular and critically acclaimed independent hip hop artists today.

Contents

Music

Personal life

Selected discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

Guest appearances & Misc tracks

Production Credits

Appearances on compilations

References

External links

Music

A Long Island, New York-born MC, Aesop initially recorded and released two self-financed records, ''Music for Earthworms'' (1997), featuring underground legend Percee P on two tracks, and the ''Appleseed'' EP (1999), while also working as a waiter. These two independent releases are widely sought after in the underground scene.
After moving to the Mush label, Aesop released his first major album, ''Float'' (2000), with guest appearances from Vast Aire, Slug, and Dose One. Production was split between Blockhead and Aesop himself, with one track by Omega One.
Shortly after releasing ''Float'', Aesop Rock signed to Manhattan-based label Definitive Jux (commonly shortened to Def Jux), where he released ''Labor Days'', an album dedicated to the discussion of labor in American society and the concept of "wage slaves". This album was most well known for its single "Daylight." Because of its popularity, ''Daylight'' was re-released in 2002 as a 7-track EP, including an "alternative" new version of the song, "Night Light," whose paraphrased lyrics simultaneously refer back to, and stand in stark opposition to, the original's.
Labor Days was followed by ''Bazooka Tooth'' in 2003. For the first time, production was mostly handled by Aesop himself, with three tracks from longtime collaborator Blockhead and one from close friend and Definitive Jux label CEO El-P. Guest appearances include Party Fun Action Committee, El-P, and Mr. Lif (all Definitive Jux labelmates) and Camp Lo. With this release Aesop hit a higher level of recognition, releasing "No Jumper Cables" as a single and music video, then another single, "Freeze," shortly after.
In the summer of 2004, Aesop Rock appeared on the Evil Nine Single "Crooked" from the Album ''You Can Be Special Too'', on Marine Parade records.
In February 2005, Aesop Rock released a new EP, ''Fast Cars, Danger, Fire and Knives''. The first pressing of the EP included an 88 page booklet with lyrics from every release from Float until this EP (the lyric booklet is titled ''The Living Human Curiosity Sideshow''); later pressings of the album come without the booklet, but with an additional bonus track. In addition, a limited number of albums were available direct from Def Jux with Aesop Rock's graffiti tag on them. In response to demands from his fans, Aesop did less production on the EP: three songs are produced by Blockhead, three produced by Aesop, and one by Rob Sonic.
Aesop Rock was commissioned to create a 45-minute instrumental track for the Nike+iPod running system, entitled ''All Day''. It was released in February 2007. Distributed via the iTunes Music Store and featuring Allyson Baker on guitar and scratches from DJ Big Wiz, Aesop has described the release as "something that evolved enough that the sound was constantly fresh and attractive, as though the runner were moving through a set of differing cities or landscapes."
^[1]
''All Day'' was followed in August of the same year by Bavitz's fifth full-length album, ''None Shall Pass'' (2007).

Personal life

Bavitz grew up in Northport, New York and attended Northport High School. He married Allyson Baker, guitarist of San Francisco rock band Parchman Farm in 2005. They reside in San Francisco together. His move was a highly discussed topic in the Internet community, as he was well known for representing New York City in his work and his life.
He has tattoos on each forearm referring to the chorus of his song "Commencement at the Obedience Academy." His left arm says the words "Must Not Sleep," and the right says "Must Warn Others," quoting the line "Must not sleep; must warn others/ Trust blocks creep where the dust storm hovers."
The Daylight EP contains a secret track at the end of the disk where Aesop discusses a bout of severe depression. According to the song, "In August of 2001 my seemingly splinter-proof brain bone, scaffolding imploded I kept it on the hush, but nearly tumbling to the cold hard concrete on near bodega trips for cigaretes and soda, shook me to casper. Dizzy with a northern chaser, motor sensory eraser agorophobe tunnel vision, guilt, self loathing arrangements."...
"And, I'd be lying if I said all of this made even the slightest fragment of sense to me. That's real... Simply put: I don't know what happened, or what's still happening, but I literally feel like I'm teetering on the blunt edge of my sanity." The song is written in dedication to four people who helped him with his problem.
Bavitz is a graduate of Boston University where he studied painting. ^[2]

Selected discography

:''For complete discography, see'' Discogs.com entry

Albums

★ ''Music for Earthworms'' (1997)

★ ''Float'' (2000)

★ ''Labor Days'' (2001)

★ ''Bazooka Tooth'' (2003) (also released as ''Build Your Own Bazooka Tooth'' (2004))

★ '' (Instrumental album) (2007)

★ ''None Shall Pass'' (2007)

EPs

★ ''Appleseed'' (1999)

★ ''Daylight'' (2002)

★ ''Fast Cars, Danger, Fire and Knives'' (2005)

Singles

★ ''Boombox 12"'' (2001)

★ ''Daylight 12"'' (2001)

★ ''Coma / Maintenance 12"'' (2001)

★ ''Easy / No Jumper Cables 12"'' (2003)

★ ''Freeze / The Greatest Pac-Man Victory In History 12"'' (2003)

★ ''Limelighters 12"'' (2003)

★ ''Fishtales 7"'' (2006)

★ ''Coffee 12"'' (2007)

★ ''None Shall Pass 7"'' (2007)

Guest appearances & Misc tracks

★ "Take Me To The Basement" - ''First Contact 0.0.1'' by The Opus

★ "The Tugboat Complex" - from Compilation: ''Inside Out Vol. 1''

★ "Put Your Quarter Up" − with Slug & MF Doom by Molemen 12"/CD (Fat Beats) (2001)

★ "Water" - ''Euphony'' by Atoms Family (2001)

★ "Sinister" - with Vast Aire and Yeshua Dapoed ''Euphony'' by Atoms Family (2001)

★ "Coma (Remix)" - ''Euphony'' by Atoms Family (2001)

★ "Wise Up" - from Compilation: ''Tag Of The Times 3'' (2001)

★ "Blacklist" − ''Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives'' by Prefuse 73 (Warp Records) (2001)

★ "Killing Time" - ''Got Lyrics?'' by Illogic (2002)

★ "Dry Bones (remix)" - with Vast Aire, Kimani ''Dry Bones'' 12" by Oddjobs (2002)

★ "Flesh (remix)" − Atmosphere 12" (Rhymesayers) (2002)

★ "Train Buffer" - from Compilation: ''Urban Renewal'' (2002)

★ "Success" − ''I Phantom'' by Mr. Lif (Def Jux) (2002)

★ "Delorean" − ''Fantastic Damage'' by El-P (Def Jux) (2002)

★ "Obsolete" - with Slug, Eyedea, Illogic ''The Weightroom'' by Blueprint (2003)

★ "Secret Agents" - ''Cut To The Chase'' by Chase Phoenix (2003)

★ "Kill 'Em All (remix)" − ''Loose Ends'' by RJD2 (Def Jux) (2003)

★ "Final Frontier (remix)" − with Blueprint, Murs, Vast Aire ''The Horror EP'' by RJD2 (Def Jux) (2003)

★ "Happy Pillz" − ''The End of the Beginning'' by MURS (Def Jux) (2003)

★ "Love To Fuck" − ''Smashy Trashy'' by S.A. Smash (Def Jux) (2003)

★ "Numb (To The Guns)" - from Compilation: ''Nature Sounds Presents The Prof. in Con-Vexed'' (2003)

★ "Shut Down" − Push Button Objects 12"/CD (Chocolate Ind.) (2003)

★ "Miss By A Mile" - with Slug and Eydea ''We Came From Beyond, Vol. 2'' (2003)

★ "Encounter" - ''Chamber Music'' by Blueprint (2004)

★ "Hold Mine" - with Slug, Illogic, Eyedea ''Printmatic: Vitamins And Minerals EP'' by Blueprint (2004)

★ "Apocalypse Zone" - ''The Anti-Mobius Theory'' by Crypic One (2004)

★ "Time Capsule" - with Vast Aire ''Celestial Clockwork'' by Illogic (2004)

★ "Crooked" - ''You Can Be Special Too'' by Evil Nine (2004)

★ "Jet Son" - with Camu Tao ''Sunday Seance'' by Blockhead (2004)

★ "Kill Switch" - ''Jaku'' by DJ Krush (Red Ink) (2004)

★ "Posse Slash" − with Karniege, Breez Evahflowin, Poison Pen ''Look Mom ... No Hands'' by Vast Aire (Chocolate Ind.) (2004)

★ "Bazooka, Chameleon, Robot" with Access Immortal & El-P ''All In All b/w Make News'' by Aesop Rock & Karniege (Def Jux) (2004)

★ "Lo-Fi Funk" - ''1988'' by Blueprint (Rhymesayers) (2005)

★ "Preservation" (with Del tha Funkee Homosapien) − ''Wu-Tang Meets the Indie Culture'' (Babygrande Records) (2005)

★ "Sabbatical With Options" − ''Surrounded by Silence'' by Prefuse 73 (Warp Records) 2005)

★ "Poems 4 Post Modern Decay" − ''True & Livin''' by Zion I (LiveUp) (2005)

★ "Voltronic Instructional Espionage" - ''Deadlivers'' by Grayskul (Rhymesayers) (2005)

★ "Try To Remember" - ''The Donkey Show Volume 1'' by Hangar 18 (Def Jux) (2005)

★ "Helium" - ''Yung World'' by Vordul Mega (2005)

★ "Slow Suicide Stimulus" - ''Slow Suicide Stimulus" by Tame One & The Dusted Dons (2005)

★ "Junkyard" - Aesop Rock from Compilation: ''NBA 2K6 The Tracks'' (2005)

★ "Nuclear Five" - with Karniege, Masai Bey ''Common Man's Anthems'' by The Presence (2005)

★ "Left It To Us" with El-P, Tame One, Yak Ballz ''Hell's Winter'' by Cage (Def Jux) (2005)

★ "Take, Hold, Fire" − with El-P ''Mo' Mega'' by Mr. Lif (Def Jux) (2006)

★ "Side Two" - with Babbletron on DJ Ese's "Side Two" (Embedded Music) (2006)

★ "Run The Numbers" - ''I'll Sleep When You're Dead'' by El-P (Def Jux) (2007)

Production Credits

★ "Float", "Big Bang", "Garbage", "Fascination", "6B Panorama", "How To Be A Carpenter", "Prosperity", "The Mayor And The Crook" - ''Float'' by Aesop Rock (Mush) (2000)

★ "Kill 'Em All" - Aesop Rock from Compilation ''Definitive Jux Presents'' (Def Jux) (2000)

★ "Labor", "One Brick", "Battery", "Boombox" - ''Labor Days'' by Aesop Rock (Def Jux) (2001)

★ "Wise Up" - Aesop Rock from Compilation ''Tag Of The Times 3'' (2001)

★ "Bracket Basher" - ''Daylight'' by Aesop Rock (Def Jux) (2002)

★ "Dead Pan" - Aesop Rock from Compilation ''Definitive Jux Presents II'' (Def Jux) (2002)

★ "Bazooka Tooth", "N.Y. Electric", "Easy", "No Jumper Cables", "Limelighters", "Super Fluke", "Freeze", "The Greatest Pac-Man Victory In History", "Frijoles", "Kill The Messenger", "Mars Attacks" - ''Bazooka Tooth'' by Aesop Rock (Def Jux) (2003)

★ "All In All" - Aesop Rock from Compilation ''Definitive Jux Presents III'' (Def Jux) (2004)

★ "You're Dead To Me" - Murs from Compilation ''Definitive Jux Presents III'' (Def Jux) (2004)

★ "Zodiaccupuncture", "Rickety Rackety", "Food, Clothes, Medicine", "Facemelter" - ''Fast Cars, Danger, Fire And Knives'' by Aesop Rock (Def Jux) (2005)

★ "Knowledge" - ''Year Of The Beast'' by C-Rayz Walz (Def Jux) (2005)

★ "All Day" - ''Nike+ Original Run'' by Aesop Rock (2007)

Appearances on compilations

★ ''Def Jux Presents'' (2001) (Def Jux)

★ ''Def Jux Presents 2'' (2002) (Def Jux)

★ ''Def Jux Presents 3'' (2004) (Def Jux)

★ ''Def Jux Teaser 2005'' (2005) (Def Jux)

★ ''Definitive Swim'' (2007) (Def Jux & Williams Street)

References

1. Nike+ Aesop Rock: New “Original Run” Mix This Tuesday
2. Aesop Rock x Tomer Hanuka - Bazooka Tooth

External links

★ Definitive Jux biography

★ Mush biography

★

★ Official Homepage (Under Construction)

★ Aesop Rocks "None Shall Pass" released on Definitive Jux/Worlds-Fair

★ SuicideGirls Interview with Aesop Rock

★ Caught In The Crossfire Interview with Aesop Rock