Mac Foley

4y

Below The Heavens hate ITT It's a underground classic

Goo

4y

Be musically, BTH lyrically

Teal_

4y

blu spazzed on every track

Goo

4y

Yeah

Meanwhile Common's lyrical peak was Resurrection

JR

4y

The leak version of Flowers >

TweedDiadoras

4y

Backpack got room for both

JR

4y

The leak version of Flowers >

Teal_

4y

I remember my older bro saying he was lyricism for dummies, which was harsh, but I get what he meant. Common knew how to break it down in a simple way that usually connected.

Yeezus2019

4y

Be may have the GOAT Intro

Yevin

4y

Yall gass up below the heavens too much

Goo

4y

Aesop Rock wishes

TweedDiadoras

4y

Backpack got room for both

weneedabigman

4y

god damn I hate spastic ass posters like you

just cant wait to say stupid s*** to fill the air

pick up a hobby or sum

Teal_

4y

the type of rapper that prides himself on over-complicating bullshit lol

Goo

4y

Guernica: But why is there such a divide between the people who hear your material? How is that some say what you’ve been able to do is genius while others think your wordplay is completely random and nonsensical. Why is your style met with such mixed reactions?

Aesop Rock: It’s probably because it’s not the most accessible music in the world. It may pose a slight challenge to the listener beyond your average pop song. I'm no genius by a long shot, but these songs are not nonsensical, that's pretty preposterous. I'd have to be a genius to pull this many nonsensical records over people's eyes. It's not exactly fast food but when people pretend I'm just spewing non-sequiturs and gibberish I can’t help but think they simply haven’t listened and are regurgitating some rumor they’ve heard about me. Even if it's not laid out in perfect sentences—is any rap?—you’d have to be an idiot to not at least grasp a few things from these songs. Or have had no interest in pulling anything from them in the first place.

Guernica: So who do you think your audience is? Is it the youth of the underprivileged communities, as once was the case with rap, or is it more the art school intelligentsia? A combination of both?

Aesop Rock: I don't necessarily aim for one group, though if those are my choices then I'd have to say it's most likely more of the latter. … I would love for my fan base to include all types, and it definitely does, but there's always room for more diversity. I guess I always sort of picture myself telling stories to a younger me, probably because I know how that guy thinks, I can warn him of traps I fell into, I can applaud his stubbornness, etc. It makes me feel good if I can turn around and give back to the cultures that I felt were responsible for shaping me. So when those art school kids show up at my shows I know exactly why they are there. My entire approach to writing lyrics these days is based around a vision of being the old man who eats beans out of a can and tells folk tales around a fire to the wide-eyed youth, tall tale style. So my target audience is that youth, and old people with similar stories.

Goo

4y

Guernica: But why is there such a divide between the people who hear your material? How is that some say what you’ve been able to do is genius while others think your wordplay is completely random and nonsensical. Why is your style met with such mixed reactions?

Aesop Rock: It’s probably because it’s not the most accessible music in the world. It may pose a slight challenge to the listener beyond your average pop song. I'm no genius by a long shot, but these songs are not nonsensical, that's pretty preposterous. I'd have to be a genius to pull this many nonsensical records over people's eyes. It's not exactly fast food but when people pretend I'm just spewing non-sequiturs and gibberish I can’t help but think they simply haven’t listened and are regurgitating some rumor they’ve heard about me. Even if it's not laid out in perfect sentences—is any rap?—you’d have to be an idiot to not at least grasp a few things from these songs. Or have had no interest in pulling anything from them in the first place.

Guernica: So who do you think your audience is? Is it the youth of the underprivileged communities, as once was the case with rap, or is it more the art school intelligentsia? A combination of both?

Aesop Rock: I don't necessarily aim for one group, though if those are my choices then I'd have to say it's most likely more of the latter. … I would love for my fan base to include all types, and it definitely does, but there's always room for more diversity. I guess I always sort of picture myself telling stories to a younger me, probably because I know how that guy thinks, I can warn him of traps I fell into, I can applaud his stubbornness, etc. It makes me feel good if I can turn around and give back to the cultures that I felt were responsible for shaping me. So when those art school kids show up at my shows I know exactly why they are there. My entire approach to writing lyrics these days is based around a vision of being the old man who eats beans out of a can and tells folk tales around a fire to the wide-eyed youth, tall tale style. So my target audience is that youth, and old people with similar stories.