In a certain dark corner of the music universe, Aesop Rock was a very, very big deal. As arguably the biggest name on the Definitive Jux roster, Aesop made for an unlikely star, but I can vividly remember the hordes of hoodied, stubble-headed, tough-looking suburban and outer-borough kids who'd cram into clubs and roar along with his bent, cluttered, wriggling lyrical abstractions. Aesop was and is a born cult figure, his sleepy stoner charisma intersecting just right with his berserk linguistic flights. And in the Def Jux world of clattering psych-rap production and elaborate sci-fi packaging, he did more than fit in; he stood above.
The Aesop era seems like it's been over for a few years, and there are a few reasons for that. Rap moves fast, and we're seeing a whole new wave of Internet-borne young rap iconoclasts; old cults give way to new ones. Definitive Jux, a label built at least partly on gorgeous packaging and object fetishization, wasn't built for today's world; it effectively closed up shop last year. But mostly, Aesop just hasn't been around. He released his last album, None Shall Pass, in 2007, and where he once guested on virtually every album that his scene produced, his verses have become less and less frequent. So it's truly refreshing to see Aesop return in pleasantly low-stakes form, as one of three guys in the new group Hail Mary Mallon. On Are You Gonna Eat That?, Aesop and co-conspirators Rob Sonic and DJ Big Wiz don't exactly let up on the brain-addling lyrical and musical density. But the album isn't some grand statement. They sound exactly like what they are: three guys off in a room somewhere, making rap music and having fun doing it.
Rob Sonic is an old Def Jux labelmate of Aesop's, and to say they've got chemistry might be understating things a bit. For stretches of the album, they practically sound like the same person. Rob's been getting Aesop comparisons for years, and his style is truly similar; like Aesop, he raps in tumbling nasal syllable-clumps, blasting us with one obscure image and then moving onto another before our brains have caught up. His delivery is a bit less guttural and more straightforwardly laid back, but he's got the same commitment to fucking with our collective head. (The first line of Rob's first verse on the album: "Leopard print Speedo on the FDR, saying 'Follow that car!'.") Rob and Aesop jointly produced the album, and their combined style is a psychedelic knock familiar to anyone who ever paid attention to Def Jux: fuzzed-out guitars fighting for space with sputtering cluster-bombs of drums. But there's also a variation to it; the album's over in 41 minutes, and the tracks jump restlessly from one idea to the next. Choruses are rare; Big Wiz's precise, musical scratches usually play that role. And there's not a single rapping guest on the album; this is strictly a family affair.
At times, they sound like they're having too much fun; the absurdist 808 thud of "Grubstake" and the intentionally annoying chipmunk voices of "Breakdance Beach" were probably more enjoyable to record than they are to hear. But there's real joy in hearing Aesop and Rob compete to see who can come up with the most inscrutably memorable turn of phrase. (Aesop wins on "Garfield": "Document the war of the department-store Santas from the POV of cameras hid in the dog's antlers.") About a decade after the Def Jux boom, it's almost comfort food to hear these guys slip-sliding over bent beats like these, but it's still a heady, potent experience. And it reaches a peak on final track "Plagues and Bacon", on which Aesop tries out a double-time flow over a twisting speedball of a psych-dance beat. These guys may not be back in their ambition-heavy fighting form on Are You Gonna Eat That?, but they're back to rapping just for the fuck of it, and that can be a beautiful thing to hear. And hearing the album, it's immediately apparent that Aesop is still a major talent, someone who can do whatever the hell he wants and get away with it.
Aesop's next album might be a collaborative thing with Moldy Peaches member Kimya Dawson, and that's a confounding prospect but also an intriguing one. Are You Gonna Eat That? is a retrenchment move, but that's OK. But once Aesop returns to full-on bent-experimentalist mode, that's when he could really become a force again.
