The Wake

I’ve heard it said that one’s inner world is only as large as one’s ability to articulate it; meaning the depth of our thoughts are limited by the breadth of our vocabulary when trying to relate an experience or even an anecdote to anyone else other than our own self. And language, the means of such conveyance, is an almost constantly shifting collective agreement of naming and encoding the world inside and around us. It is an ever-changing organic and metaphysical mixture of inner sensations at odds with outer manifestations. Shit – with all that going on how can one ever communicate anything with anyone? One solution would be to grab a pen, a mic, and some weed and stop giving a shit about all that. With that being said, I would like to quote my favorite line from any human mouth ever mic’d: “Took a heart pledge early on, bled onto the drum dozer, low in the metronome, home, lone caddy corner to cock-eyed sound booster, sensation’ll leave seismograph stabbin’ away on stone tablets to sketch up out your future.” The voice that said it: Aesop Rock; the album, Daylight. He’s got a new one out now. Here is what else he has to say:

Below is the email conversation that took place with Aesop. As you’re reading, you’ll notice that we did not format it in any kind AP, or formal English style. Words are lowercase, some are misspelled, and the vibe is what your failed novelist-turned-academic of an English professor may deem “informal.” But in lieu of the attention given Aesop’s lingual ascension – and his existence as the truth incarnate – we thought it’d be real nice to let his words present themselves. There is no bullshit here – this is Aesop, real and uncut. And that’s how it should be.

The Wake: So what is going on with you right now? You have got an album coming out soon, but in the time leading up to that, meaning now, what is your life like?

AR: let’s see. right now i’m doing this a lot of the time. promoting, doing shows here and there to let people know i got something coming out, interviews, blah blah. i been on the road a little, with dj big wiz and lif mostly.other than that i been trying to just relax for a while when i have the time cuz it’ll be hectic once the record drops with touring and all that. my girlfriend lives in cali so i go back and forth a lot. when i’m home i’m wither with my crew or home playing video games. though i’ve also been crankin out some new music. i always keep working on music even in what the public sees as my downtime.

The Wake: Tell me about the album. What went into it that we should listen for?

AR: ok. well. its 7 songs. the stats read: beats by blockhead, me, and rob sonic, guest vocals by camu tao (s.a. smash) and el-p. i always try to keep busy so right after bazooka tooth was done i kept making songs, but was touring a lot too. i always seem to get a creative burst directly after the writer’s block that occurs every time toward the end of making a record. so i kept making joints and after awhile jux said hey lets do another ep for now. it sounded good to me. so the stuff ranges from being made to directly after b.t. up til basically 2 weeks before we wrapped up the projects. I just picked the ones i liked. for instance, food clothes medicine, the last song on the ep was actually the first joint i made after finishing bazooka tooth. winners take all is the most recent. its hard to deliver what’s in my brain as the overall concept of the record, but i hope it just shows me continuing to evolve as a rapper. there are slight style eveolutions between all of my records, and this is another step. i tried some new things writing-wise, flow wise mostly, just letting things change as i felt them. I welcome change as long as its not forced. musically its a way less claustrophobic project than b.t. and that’s good, cuz they were made at different times to reflect diffeent things. thats what i try to do. i also had a lot of fun with these songs for some reason, probably the most fun ive had. it just feels like i’m settling into myself a bit more each time.

The Wake: How does your life change when you’re writing and when you’re in the studio? Are you hypersensitive to sounds and the language around you which might flip a switch for some lyrics?

AR: that’s pretty much me all the time. i consistently (like at least once a day) write down something i hear. or i write a phrase in my phone and write it down later. i end up with a mess of phrases, words, sentences, etc. that clutter up the margin. just shit i want to apply to something somehow cuz i like how they sound. sometimes they work sometimes not. but for some reason when i hear somethhing that interests me my brain immediately goes ding ding ding. and i know it’ll make for a good pattern or idea later. i also tend to write for a couple weeks, than work on beats for a couple weeks. back and forth. i dunno why, it just happens like that. but i dont really havev studio time vs. off time. my studio is in my house so i just sit down when i walk by it. i probably sit down at least 3 or 4 times a day, do something for a few minutes, then get up, unless i really hit on something then i am locked down.

The Wake: There’s always been an argument about differentiating between rap and hip-hop-how do you feel about this argument? What is your definition of rap vs. hip-hop?

AR: eh, i dont care. i rap. i make rap music or hiphop music. i mean you know i guess hiphop is bigger than rap, but rapping is the part i do most these days. there is of “elements of hiphop” that complete the culture, but if i dont really argue about the two. i know people make a big deal as to weather or not some pop-rap is hiphop truly and i dunno. i think it is, it’s just that hiphop is so big write now that it forgets it does more than rap. but at some level, it’s all hiphop… possibly bad and occasionally unimformed, but i think its all rooted in hiphop, while some strict purists may disagree.

The Wake: What do you think of the recent British rappers making headway in the US scene like Dizzie Rascal and The Streets?

AR: i am not exposed to much british rap music, but yeah those are the names that make there way through. i cant say much on either as i unfortunately havent heard all that much from either. i remember thinking dizzie rascal had a real bugged out style that was pretty cool, but i havent heard his record.

The Wake: If you could quote yourself, what would it be? Meaning, what is something you just want to say, want to let the world see in print?

AR: *vomits on shoes

The Wake: How do you hate to be described?

AR: man, i’ve been described so many different ways at this point i cant even be mad at anything anymore. when i ‘m dead i hope someone says he was a cool cat with a good heart and mind. that would be dope.

The Wake: What bothers you?

AR: belligerent drunkiness, overuse-age of coke, crowded places, no weed on a writing night, paris hilton, the lack of quality time i spend with angelina jolie, my girl living in cali, dryspell’s in the creative world, dryspells in the video game world, people who like movies that suck, people who only watch independent movies cuz “the hollywood ones suck”. people who only watch action flicks cuz “the indy ones suck”, dudes that freestyle always at every second directly in your ear in crowded places, etc.

The Wake: What bothers you about the state of the world today?

AR: i dont understand a lot of it. a lot of things that seem like no-brainers to me go in the direction i dont understand. i know things are way more complicated than i make them, but when i think of politics today with everything that has happened especially in the last 4 years i turn into a really primitive mind state, on some why cant we just chill shit. i just dont get ehy everyone is mad at everyone else when there are other problems that should be way more important to our country, state, city, etc. I dont understand, so baffled that i think i’m dumbstruck at this point and pretty speechless. no words.

The Wake: The inevitable question, What is your take on the Iraq situation?

AR: i’ll just say it so it’s in print here somewhere: with a massive office really really really fucked up, and i feel that because of it we will be hearing about this situation for many years to come. in all different forms.

The Wake: Your vocabulary and diction is pretty amazing, who do you read? What have you read? Anything you want to read?

AR: not really. just magazines. national geographic and celeb gossip mags. thats it. i just pick up shit hear and there and make a mixture of different things. like one sentence uses terms an old man might say, while the next is some soldier shit, then some slang, etc. it’s just a big mix of different ways of talking all brought under a wing of 28 years of rap slang. All those margin phrases i mentioned earlier mesh up to form sentences, and sometimes they are so ugly it makes it work better.

The Wake: What do you think of spoken word?

AR: not my thing.

The Wake: What does the world need?

AR: hm. i mean jesus where does one start with this. so many ways to approach. right now we need to all relax a bit. then we all need to agree everywhere on the basic principals of good and evil and what’s morally right and wrong. then we can have a party. with games and weed and girls.

The Wake: What is the meaning of life?

AR: i’ll send out a memo

The Wake: What do you think of the Midwest scene? Musically or otherwise?

AR: midwest scene? shit. every scene is equally up and crackin at this point. the midwest is dope. they got a lot of dope styles, talent. all of it. shit s.a. smash are two of my best friends and they rep colombus. i got love for everywhere. ny first though. haha.