Literature Network » Aesop

Aesop Rock takes a pass on mainstream.(Time Out!)(Album Reviews)(Sound recording review)

Content courtesy of

From: Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL)
Date: 20070907
Author:

Aesop Rock, "None Shall Pass" (Definitive Jux) * * *

Aesop Rock's rhymes, dense with wordplay and seeming lyrical tangents, are for language lovers and juxtaposition aficionados. The typical hip-hop audience, right? Nope, the mainstream still favors lame sex and money fantasies, and Aes Rock would give those folks a headache.

"None Shall Pass," his fifth LP, is as cynical and immediately impenetrable as his 2003's "Bazooka Tooth," although warmer, not as tense or mechanical.

For example, take lip trickery like, "I was a dark, dumb student/No hooky rookie daytrippin' ...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Other Articles on Aesop

About Our Articles: We've partnered with Highbeam Research to provide these article excerpts for your research needs. However, due to copyright laws, we cannot publish the whole article. To view these articles in full length you'll need to use the link above to access the free trial at Highbeam.