Aesop Rock

Hip-hop performer/producer Aesop Rock was a hero in the genre's underground scene, thanks to the complex wordplay and dark, often abstract soundscapes on such critical favorites as Bazooka Tooth (2003), None Shall Pass (2006) and Skelethon (2012). Born Ian Mathias Bavitz on June 5, 1976 on Long Island, New York, his proximity to New York City influenced his musical interests, which leaned towards the city's storied hip-hop scene; his older brother, future Harvard Law professor Christopher T. Bavitz, also introduced him to punk acts like Fugazi and Dead Kennedys. Aesop Rock began his own musical path by learning to play various instruments and then purchasing a sampler before trying his hand at rapping while a student at Boston University. There, he met Tony Simon, who rapped under the stage name Blockhead, and who would become Aesop's producer and collaborator. Together, the pair issued Music for Earthworms (1997), Aesop's self-financed debut album, which drew critical praise from the hip-hop community for his verbal dexterity and voluminous vocabulary. The sales of Earthworms helped to finance a follow-up, the 1999 Appleseed EP, which drew the attention of the indie label Mush Records. Aesop signed a contract with the imprint shortly after graduating from college, and issued Float (2000), which solidified his status as an up-and-coming talent in the underground hip-hop scene. Positive press helped to forge a contract with rapper/producer El-P's label Def Jux (later Definitive Jux), through which Aesop issued Labor Days (2001), a concept album anchored on the impact of labor and fair pay on American society. Another critical and artistic success, it reached No. 15 on the U.S. Independent charts and also yielded a seven-song EP built around its lead single, "Daylight." Aesop took over production for his next release, 2003's Bazooka Tooth, which landed at the top of the Billboard Heatseekers chart; its success marked the beginning of a remarkably prolific period for the artist, who released, in rapid succession, a collection of instrumentals and a capella vocals culled from Tooth called Build Your Own Bazooka Tooth (2003), which provided aspiring producers with the tools to build their own remixes; the EP Fast Cars, Danger, Fire and Knives (2005), which was packaged with an 88-page booklet containing all of Aesop Rock's lyrics to date; a 45-minute instrumental track titled "All Day" (2007), which was composed for the Nike+Pod running system; and a full-length album, None Shall Pass, which peaked at No. 50 on the Billboard albums chart. In the midst of this flurry of activity, Aesop Rock also joined the Weathermen, a Def Jux "supergroup" that included El-P and rappers Cage and Camu Tao. Even a hiatus imposed on Def Jux releases by El-P in 2010 couldn't put a crimp in his production; Aesop Rock simply moved on to other projects, which included Hail Mary Mallon, a hip-hop group that included Rob Sonic and DJ Big Wiz, collaborations with the Moldy Peaches' Kimya Dawson (as the Uncluded) and Felt, and a new album, Skelethon, issued through Rhymesayers Entertainment, which included a guest turn by his then-wife, Allyson Baker, with whom he had also briefly teamed in the rock band Dirty Ghosts. The album was another sizable hit, reaching No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 200, but its success was dampened by the loss of his touring equipment to theft in 2013, which Aesop Rock replaced by selling limited edition artwork. He then resumed his tireless schedule of recording in 2016 with his second Rhymesayers album, The Impossible Kid (2016) and his first film soundtrack, which he provided for the indie thriller "Bushwick" (2017). The following year, he forged a duo with Tobacco of Black Moth Super Rainbow called Malibu Ken, which resulted in a self-titled debut album in 2019.