pourmeanother

Aesop Rock and Sage Francis. I've tried Aesop dozens of times, and only gotten into "Daylight" and "None Shall Pass". As for Sage, every time I pop in on him I fail to find a track that stands out. I know both have a decent following here.

__________________
Life is just blah, blah, blah
You hope for blah
And sometimes you find it, but mostly it's blah
And waiting for blah
And hoping you were right about the blahs you made
And then, just when you think you've got the whole blah'd damn thing figured out
And you're surrounded by the ones you blah
Death shows up... anddd blah, blah, blah.

Kirby

I dislike Sage Francis. As for Aesop, though...

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SATCHMO

I'm with you on Sage. With Aesop you just have to accept that a lot of what he spits doesn't make sense and that he's really going for alliteration and the texture of sounds in words and phrases. It's not meant to make sense all the time. It's supposed to be cryptic and make you think. It's like Reading Thoreau, you got to be confused for a bit before you stumble onto that profound bit that moves you. He has a style that is very unconventional, albeit somewhat inaccessible in a genre that's flooded with cookie cutter rappers.



Listen to how Aesop's goes into triple time at 2:43 in the track:


In addition to this, He's an amazing storyteller:

pourmeanother

Kirby, I'm with you on Sage. Plus, doesn't he not drink? I don't trust anyone who hasn't formerly been an alcoholic and can't enjoy alcohol...

As for Aesop, I think what I've figured out the two things that bother me: first is I don't like Aesop's production all that much, and also that little "accent" or whatever you want to call it. I've come to respect his flow, and the depth of his lyrics is amazing. Incredible writer. I just am not sure he'll ever click for me. I will give you props though- I've heard 'No Jumper Cables' and that's a decent song, but I hadn't heard 'Five Fingers' and that track was sick. Maybe there's hope after all...

You were right about 'Save Yourself', Satch, when he picked it up to that next level that blew me away. 'No Regrets' is a classic I remember my friend had the album in high school and we'd roll around in his jeep playing that track.

Which album, as a whole, do you guys think is the best (and would recommend picking up)? I bought 'Bazooka Tooth' and chalk that up as a wasted investment now...

__________________
Life is just blah, blah, blah
You hope for blah
And sometimes you find it, but mostly it's blah
And waiting for blah
And hoping you were right about the blahs you made
And then, just when you think you've got the whole blah'd damn thing figured out
And you're surrounded by the ones you blah
Death shows up... anddd blah, blah, blah.

Jester

Start with None Shall Pass, it's not his best one, but it has the catchiest and most accessible beats. Don't listen to people telling you his lyrics aren't as good on it, he's incredibly consistent. After None Shall Pass, try Labor Days, then Float. Anything after that is really up to you. Take time with each record, that's important; Aesop's lyrics can't be taken up in one listen, and the more you listen, you'll find new things. He has the most dense lyrical content in hip hop.

Do not miss the fact that Aesop Rock is probably the most emotional rapper ever. Don't listen to people who say he doesn't make sense - he does. He paints pictures that exceed the norm. When you listen for details, you'll be amazed at what you find - yes, the textural alliteration, the images, the rhymes, the references, the creative flow.

If you're really interested in Aesop Rock and you have trouble getting into him, then you can try getting into Illogic first. Illogic is like Aesop Rock, but more straightforwardly emotional. Learn to love him first, and getting into Aesop Rock will be a lot easier.

I'm going to give you some tracks that he's featured in, so he only has a verse or two, and it'll be easier to digest one verse.

As I know you're a fan of Slug, I think you'll enjoy this:



More









As far as Sage Francis goes... I dunno, I don't like him much. He seems like a broke man's Aesop Rock to me, but I still recommend him to people and stuff like that. Personal Journals is probably the album of his that I liked most.

Jester

Well, you got that in before my previous post.

Labor Days is his best album, but None Shall Pass might have favorable production. Float is just as good as Labor Days, probably, but sometimes the production is so minimal it's tough to get into.

His voice is something you come to appreciate after listening to him a lot. I don't think his production is fantastic, but he doesn't produce on his albums (for the most part.) Blockhead is his main producer.

Kirby

I really recommend Float. I still plan on buying Bazooka Tooth, but it is one of his less-then-stellar albums.

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pourmeanother

Appreciate all the effort making very well thought out posts and digging up videos. Good shit guys! Thank you. I will definitely look into everything you all have suggested, and let you know what I find. Sometimes all I need is that moment for things to "click", and it's like the last drop in the bucket that makes it spill out and overflow.

On a related note, I totally forgot... I think I was going to send you my copy of 'Bazooka Tooth' a while back when I first joined. If you still want the physical CD (remember, CD case is cracked though) I can do that- or I can up it.

__________________
Life is just blah, blah, blah
You hope for blah
And sometimes you find it, but mostly it's blah
And waiting for blah
And hoping you were right about the blahs you made
And then, just when you think you've got the whole blah'd damn thing figured out
And you're surrounded by the ones you blah
Death shows up... anddd blah, blah, blah.

Captain Awesome

to the person who mentioned sage francis. Here is some tracks of his that i enjoy. I have to admit sage isn't for everyone. He's definitley one of those rappers you are either going to hate or love. Personally i don't find him to be amazing but he does have a few songs that i like. I enjoy listening to his music for its poetic value more than anything else. His songs seem to be very cryptic, working out what message he's trying to convey is half the battle lol.









to the person who mentioned tupac. He is definitley overrated and is very far from being one of our greatest lyricists. But personally i like him for his rhythm/flow and his topics (at least for the deep stuff). For me, it's incredibly important that rap tracks carry some sort of message or story (either that or they have to be full of awesome punchlines, wordplay, metas ect). Here's some of the stuff by him i enjoy, like i said his deep stuff or his poltical stuff tends to be his best...







as far as lyricism goes, this is probably one of his best tracks lyrically (still nothing spectacular) i have to admit i like the use of alliteration in this track...



personally i will always love tupac, at the time he was groundbreaking and even now i still regard him as one of my favourites. He's the only rapper i truely love who doesn't have much skill with lyricism.

__________________

"If we're all merely players in a play on this great stage,
the problem is the script writers ain't on the same page,
I echo through the mountain when I'm singing in the air,
from my lab a lad with lavish lyrics living in his lair."


"Wake up and listen, hear what's not for the public's ears
Pinocchio poets played by profiting puppeteers"

Jester

He wasn't groundbreaking at all.