I think from a Aesop Rock discography point of view and the evolution of his music this song requires a lot of context. You should listen to other songs off of Labor Days or his previous record, Float, and you will ironically see that his newer music has been actually simplified lyrically since 20 years ago and you have maybe picked the one song that exists from this time period that is straightforward. My favorite go-to example would be the song Big Bang off of Float to see how much more esoteric and obtuse his lyrical and rapping style used to be.
Float was my introduction to Aes back in the UGHH boom of the 00s. Still remains my favorite album of his and Big Bang is actually my favorite song. "Garbage" pulling a close second place.
Big Bang is such a great track. And if I’m being totally honest, even having listened to it hundreds of times over nearly 20 years, there are a number of bars that still just go completely over my head. So yeah, I’d say that track is a pretty good example of how dense and abstract Aesop’s lyrics were in those days. It really is so interesting to look at his development and evolution as an artist; how he gradually learned to craft his lyrics in a way that is more accessible to casual and new listeners while fully maintaining the “poetic verbosity” and abstraction that are fundamental to his artistry.
This is a track where the instrumentation very much takes a back seat in service to the vocals and the story being told. It stays steady (mostly) with some changes in layering and arrangement. It has a few interesting moments, but its not meant to take your attention from.....The story and lyrics are the real gem of this song. The wordplay, the message, the story, the placement, and the delivery are paramount. There's something inspiring (the passion and commitment) and sad (the isolation and obsession) about the story. I think that Aesop wrote much of himself into the character of Lucy. If I had to pick a previous hip hop artist this track reminds of me, it would be Slick Rick. The production is certainly of its time and also an indication of what he could basically afford at the time. It was his second full album. Aes has never been a huge commercial success unfortunately. Personally, I love the density and esoteric nature of the vast majority of his body of work, but sometimes, its extremely effective to just be simple, authentic, and pointed with the message. Sometimes a punch, is just a punch.
I love the production on this song tbh, its a product of its time and we wont ever hear production like this again. Its nostalgic. That being said this song is one of my favourite of all time, it inspires me to be myself and make music for me everytime i hear it. Still goes hard 15 years later.
Not to be confused with ASAP Rocky... I literally copied and pasted that from wikipedia. Not sure why there are 2 rappers with names that sound so similar who have nothing to do with each other. Nor do either of their names make any sense to me. But that's hip hop. This guy's pretty good though. He's fun like Wu Tang. Kind of reminds me of basically everything I remember art college kids listening to in the late 90s/ early 00s in Chicago lol. 100% heady, verbose hip hop with no hostility. I'm sure we could fill a whole record store with that specifically as a subgenre.
ASAP Mob is a hip hop collective just like Wu who you mention, it stands for Always Strive And Prosper. Members make it a part of their name to represent that mantra, and Rocky's name is Rakim (Actually named after rapper Rakim) so that's just a nickname. Complete coincidence that their names are so close actually. Aesop is the name of a legendary ancient Greek storyteller so that one is pretty straightforward lol.
Told my friend to listen and she said it was like Immortal Technique - I'd agree having gone for a listen. Enjoyed the song and your analysis made me see it so much better.
Definitely one of Aesop's most straight-forward and stripped down tracks. Makes me nostalgic, and I love it for that, but it's probably in the 25th percentile for his most interesting.
If you’re looking for more of a spoken word track, I strongly suggest Color My World Mine by Eyedea. It’s a philosophy lesson dressed up as a story, but the instrumentation is also very basic traditional hip hop. You can actually recite the song acapella and it takes people a full verse to recognize that it’s notably rhythmic
I feel like a broken record when it comes to hip-hop, but I still have the same compliments and complaints: the lyricism is dense and interesting, the production and soundscape is superb... but the music is just way too static/repetitive. I understand in hip-hop the focus is mostly on the lyrics and vocal rhythms, but I don't understand why so much hip-hop insists on riding the same idea(s) musically all the way through the track. I'm generally a guy that can stand a lot of repetition in music, and even songs that have just one change I can dig, but I think you need at least one change unless you're just going for a kind of ambient, atmospheric soundscape type thing. Even most folk music, as simple as it is, usually has at least one musical change somewhere along the way.
Oh boy Aesop is in his digestible era currently. This was a straightforward song in a morass of arcane symbology lol. If you reacted to Daylight / Nightlight you would understand what I mean.
I absolutely love this song. I think "Dog at the Door" is more of a spoken-word track, but this is still the first song I usually recommend to people. The story is just this simple tragedy; a woman who lives her life without the typical trappings of a "successful" American life (no career, few friends, little romance/intimacy, etc), but it ends with this message that she was fulfilled and never felt like her life was lacking, as she did exactly what she wanted to do from the beginning to the end. It's comparing success to fulfillment in a way that's shockingly concise and potent for a 4-minute rap song. Labor Days is all about that dichotomy between what we're told justifies our existence versus what makes us happy.
There are a few songs on the most recent Aesop album that could also be considered digestible. I'm specifically speaking Aggressive Steven or Mindful Solutionism.
I think the simplicity and straightforward story-telling nature of this particular track is why it was pointed to you as “spoken word” more so than “hip hop”…. If you really want to sit down with Aes and get into interesting beats and complex wordplay and storytelling, go grab the The Impossible Kid and give that a spin. You may like it more than SWFG, and it’s one of his more “accessible” and definitely more personal albums
I have mixed feelings with this one, Aesop is awesome but to me this is pretty clearly just rapping besides I guess the chorus and doesn't really suit the spoken word theme at all. I was kind of expecting a more direct recognition of that rather than dancing around euphemizing with the "melodic rap" phrasing lol. In regards to the reaction itself, personal taste aside I think you're being a bit unfair to hip hop in general by having such high expectations from the instrumental. It's WAY less common than most other styles for the instrumental to be specifically written with the vocals in mind, especially as you go further back in the history of it. Even when it's guys that regularly work together like Aesop and Blockhead, on any given song it could just be the case that the rapper has an idea and flips through spare beats and picks one they like. Having the vibe of the instrumental closely match the themes of the lyrics and shifting alongside them is definitely more of a modern hip hop thing. When listening to rap like this, to me the instrumentals job isn't to keep me interested the whole way through I just need it to set the tone. Either I like it or I don't, it will impact my overall enjoyment of a song of course but the lyrics and the rap delivery are what are going to have me captivated or not. There was a comparison that I thought was unintentionally dismissive, comparing his rapping to a black metal riff because of the rhythmic consistency when the intentions are entirely different. I get that you were coming at it from a personal musical enjoyment perspective and not just being negative but I think approaching this style of hip hop that way downplays that the effort and focus that other genres put into the rhythmic/dynamic aspects of composition are instead directed to the wordplay and storytelling rather than just being something that the writing lacks entirely. Maybe it's just never going to be the case that the old school rapping works for you and that's obviously fine, but I wonder if your usual approach to analyzing music might be getting in your own way a bit if that makes sense and you could find more to enjoy about it with a different approach. I've rambled enough, Aesop especially can be tough for those unfamiliar with the genre but it's always interesting to here alternative perspectives too, that's what reactions are all about in the end!
This comment comes to me at a good time. Last night I finished Little Simz newest EP and found it to be overall lackluster compared to "Introvert". And the reason for that 100% lies with the less dense instrumentation. I haven't read the lyrics yet for anything on that EP, and wasn't planning on it since the music didn't catch me, but you've provided a good reminder that this kind of hip hop puts a lot of weight on the lyrics themselves -- both the direct meaning and the poetic approach to language as a whole. I don't know that I'll ever come around to this traditional type of hip hop but you're completely correct in calling me out for treating it unfairly.
I find it relatively common on this channel that he will “miss the music for the composition”. I enjoy the content and deep dives, but I often feel as if he loses messages, emotion, vibe, etc because he’s too busy worrying about production, time signatures, complexity, etc. But that’s his background and people digest this stuff differently I suppose…I just sometimes get frustrated watching because I feel like he misses out on a lot of what should be positive experiences because of technical nitpicking
@@CriticalReactions Little Simz' producer Inflo sets a VERY high bar for that type of instrumentation, to my knowledge among the best currently if not of all time in terms of that dynamic even cinematic production. You've definitely been spoiled in that sense by having her music be one of your earlier deeper dives into the genre, that's definitely a factor. And I would like to clarify just in case, it didn't come across as a lack of respect for the artists or anything that far. You put a lot more care and effort into the breakdown than plenty of reactors who are huge fans of the style just by doing your thing. So even if shift in approach would help with appreciating this more bare bones style, I certainly wouldn't accuse you of not giving it an honest shot in that respect.
YES, best story in all of HipHop. An actual masterpiece. I cried more listening to it than from all the sht life threw my way. Also, for the channel owner, the music is really something else.
I think from a Aesop Rock discography point of view and the evolution of his music this song requires a lot of context. You should listen to other songs off of Labor Days or his previous record, Float, and you will ironically see that his newer music has been actually simplified lyrically since 20 years ago and you have maybe picked the one song that exists from this time period that is straightforward. My favorite go-to example would be the song Big Bang off of Float to see how much more esoteric and obtuse his lyrical and rapping style used to be.
Float was my introduction to Aes back in the UGHH boom of the 00s. Still remains my favorite album of his and Big Bang is actually my favorite song. "Garbage" pulling a close second place.
Big Bang is such a great track. And if I’m being totally honest, even having listened to it hundreds of times over nearly 20 years, there are a number of bars that still just go completely over my head. So yeah, I’d say that track is a pretty good example of how dense and abstract Aesop’s lyrics were in those days.
It really is so interesting to look at his development and evolution as an artist; how he gradually learned to craft his lyrics in a way that is more accessible to casual and new listeners while fully maintaining the “poetic verbosity” and abstraction that are fundamental to his artistry.
This is a track where the instrumentation very much takes a back seat in service to the vocals and the story being told. It stays steady (mostly) with some changes in layering and arrangement. It has a few interesting moments, but its not meant to take your attention from.....The story and lyrics are the real gem of this song. The wordplay, the message, the story, the placement, and the delivery are paramount. There's something inspiring (the passion and commitment) and sad (the isolation and obsession) about the story. I think that Aesop wrote much of himself into the character of Lucy. If I had to pick a previous hip hop artist this track reminds of me, it would be Slick Rick. The production is certainly of its time and also an indication of what he could basically afford at the time. It was his second full album. Aes has never been a huge commercial success unfortunately. Personally, I love the density and esoteric nature of the vast majority of his body of work, but sometimes, its extremely effective to just be simple, authentic, and pointed with the message. Sometimes a punch, is just a punch.
Yes! More from Labor Days, also from Daylight, please! The textures and timbers are so different from album to album.
I love the production on this song tbh, its a product of its time and we wont ever hear production like this again. Its nostalgic. That being said this song is one of my favourite of all time, it inspires me to be myself and make music for me everytime i hear it. Still goes hard 15 years later.
This is probably my favorite Aesop Rock song. Blew my mind first time i heard it.
Not to be confused with ASAP Rocky... I literally copied and pasted that from wikipedia.
Not sure why there are 2 rappers with names that sound so similar who have nothing to do with each other. Nor do either of their names make any sense to me. But that's hip hop.
This guy's pretty good though. He's fun like Wu Tang. Kind of reminds me of basically everything I remember art college kids listening to in the late 90s/ early 00s in Chicago lol. 100% heady, verbose hip hop with no hostility. I'm sure we could fill a whole record store with that specifically as a subgenre.
ASAP Mob is a hip hop collective just like Wu who you mention, it stands for Always Strive And Prosper. Members make it a part of their name to represent that mantra, and Rocky's name is Rakim (Actually named after rapper Rakim) so that's just a nickname. Complete coincidence that their names are so close actually.
Aesop is the name of a legendary ancient Greek storyteller so that one is pretty straightforward lol.
Told my friend to listen and she said it was like Immortal Technique - I'd agree having gone for a listen. Enjoyed the song and your analysis made me see it so much better.
Holy Shit B! This track is about to make you a hip-hop fan.
Enjoy!
Definitely one of Aesop's most straight-forward and stripped down tracks. Makes me nostalgic, and I love it for that, but it's probably in the 25th percentile for his most interesting.
If you’re looking for more of a spoken word track, I strongly suggest Color My World Mine by Eyedea. It’s a philosophy lesson dressed up as a story, but the instrumentation is also very basic traditional hip hop. You can actually recite the song acapella and it takes people a full verse to recognize that it’s notably rhythmic
I feel like a broken record when it comes to hip-hop, but I still have the same compliments and complaints: the lyricism is dense and interesting, the production and soundscape is superb... but the music is just way too static/repetitive. I understand in hip-hop the focus is mostly on the lyrics and vocal rhythms, but I don't understand why so much hip-hop insists on riding the same idea(s) musically all the way through the track. I'm generally a guy that can stand a lot of repetition in music, and even songs that have just one change I can dig, but I think you need at least one change unless you're just going for a kind of ambient, atmospheric soundscape type thing. Even most folk music, as simple as it is, usually has at least one musical change somewhere along the way.
Oh boy Aesop is in his digestible era currently. This was a straightforward song in a morass of arcane symbology lol. If you reacted to Daylight / Nightlight you would understand what I mean.
I absolutely love this song. I think "Dog at the Door" is more of a spoken-word track, but this is still the first song I usually recommend to people. The story is just this simple tragedy; a woman who lives her life without the typical trappings of a "successful" American life (no career, few friends, little romance/intimacy, etc), but it ends with this message that she was fulfilled and never felt like her life was lacking, as she did exactly what she wanted to do from the beginning to the end. It's comparing success to fulfillment in a way that's shockingly concise and potent for a 4-minute rap song. Labor Days is all about that dichotomy between what we're told justifies our existence versus what makes us happy.
There are a few songs on the most recent Aesop album that could also be considered digestible. I'm specifically speaking Aggressive Steven or Mindful Solutionism.
I think the simplicity and straightforward story-telling nature of this particular track is why it was pointed to you as “spoken word” more so than “hip hop”…. If you really want to sit down with Aes and get into interesting beats and complex wordplay and storytelling, go grab the The Impossible Kid and give that a spin. You may like it more than SWFG, and it’s one of his more “accessible” and definitely more personal albums
I have mixed feelings with this one, Aesop is awesome but to me this is pretty clearly just rapping besides I guess the chorus and doesn't really suit the spoken word theme at all. I was kind of expecting a more direct recognition of that rather than dancing around euphemizing with the "melodic rap" phrasing lol.
In regards to the reaction itself, personal taste aside I think you're being a bit unfair to hip hop in general by having such high expectations from the instrumental. It's WAY less common than most other styles for the instrumental to be specifically written with the vocals in mind, especially as you go further back in the history of it. Even when it's guys that regularly work together like Aesop and Blockhead, on any given song it could just be the case that the rapper has an idea and flips through spare beats and picks one they like. Having the vibe of the instrumental closely match the themes of the lyrics and shifting alongside them is definitely more of a modern hip hop thing.
When listening to rap like this, to me the instrumentals job isn't to keep me interested the whole way through I just need it to set the tone. Either I like it or I don't, it will impact my overall enjoyment of a song of course but the lyrics and the rap delivery are what are going to have me captivated or not. There was a comparison that I thought was unintentionally dismissive, comparing his rapping to a black metal riff because of the rhythmic consistency when the intentions are entirely different. I get that you were coming at it from a personal musical enjoyment perspective and not just being negative but I think approaching this style of hip hop that way downplays that the effort and focus that other genres put into the rhythmic/dynamic aspects of composition are instead directed to the wordplay and storytelling rather than just being something that the writing lacks entirely.
Maybe it's just never going to be the case that the old school rapping works for you and that's obviously fine, but I wonder if your usual approach to analyzing music might be getting in your own way a bit if that makes sense and you could find more to enjoy about it with a different approach.
I've rambled enough, Aesop especially can be tough for those unfamiliar with the genre but it's always interesting to here alternative perspectives too, that's what reactions are all about in the end!
This comment comes to me at a good time. Last night I finished Little Simz newest EP and found it to be overall lackluster compared to "Introvert". And the reason for that 100% lies with the less dense instrumentation. I haven't read the lyrics yet for anything on that EP, and wasn't planning on it since the music didn't catch me, but you've provided a good reminder that this kind of hip hop puts a lot of weight on the lyrics themselves -- both the direct meaning and the poetic approach to language as a whole.
I don't know that I'll ever come around to this traditional type of hip hop but you're completely correct in calling me out for treating it unfairly.
I find it relatively common on this channel that he will “miss the music for the composition”. I enjoy the content and deep dives, but I often feel as if he loses messages, emotion, vibe, etc because he’s too busy worrying about production, time signatures, complexity, etc. But that’s his background and people digest this stuff differently I suppose…I just sometimes get frustrated watching because I feel like he misses out on a lot of what should be positive experiences because of technical nitpicking
@@CriticalReactions Little Simz' producer Inflo sets a VERY high bar for that type of instrumentation, to my knowledge among the best currently if not of all time in terms of that dynamic even cinematic production. You've definitely been spoiled in that sense by having her music be one of your earlier deeper dives into the genre, that's definitely a factor.
And I would like to clarify just in case, it didn't come across as a lack of respect for the artists or anything that far. You put a lot more care and effort into the breakdown than plenty of reactors who are huge fans of the style just by doing your thing. So even if shift in approach would help with appreciating this more bare bones style, I certainly wouldn't accuse you of not giving it an honest shot in that respect.
RUBY 81,please!!
YES, best story in all of HipHop. An actual masterpiece. I cried more listening to it than from all the sht life threw my way.
Also, for the channel owner, the music is really something else.