My Top 100 Albums: #89 - Aesop Rock, ‘None Shall Pass’
89.
Aesop Rock, ‘None Shall Pass’
Definitive Jux, 2007
Despite his music career now spanning two decades and eight solo albums, Ian Bavitz, alter ego Aesop Rock, has never truly made that crucial breakthrough into mainstream hip-hop, though he seems content with his status as alternative hip-hop stalwart. What wider renown he has earned has been as a dense, verbose lyricist - he often finds himself at the top of rankings of rappers in regards to most diverse vocabulary, with a supposed 7,879 unique words used within his first 35,000 lyrics.[1] None Shall Pass showcases Aes’ densest, most labyrinthine, and most impenetrable work. It can take several listens to even get a grasp of what is being conveyed - take the opening lyrics of the first track Keep Off The Lawn, for example: “Most copious, rains soaked the opiates/Notice how the phobias appropriately procreate/Woke up with a ghost farm, focused on his groceries/When they aren’t telling stories, they are multiplying grossly”. What prevents Bavitz from descending into long-windedness or a lack of clarity is his appreciation for rhythm, for cadence and for tempo. His flow is almost irreplicable, the texture of his voice lending itself perfectly to the structure of his bars. His style is self-indulgent, sure, and even tortuous at times, but he manages his wordiness with extreme care and therein demonstrates a love of language that is probably unrivalled in his era. While Aesop Rock is the guiding force behind this record, what really defines None Shall Pass is the strength of its collaborative vision. The beats and production, courtesy of long-time collaborator Blockhead and El-P of later RTJ fame, are the best that have ever featured on an Aesop Rock project, the eclectic samples providing this album with a diversity of spirit as well as sound, as Bavitz finally synthesises his many influences into a cogent product. Whether it’s the heavy ‘90s vibe on Catacomb Kids or the funk groove of The Harbor is Yours, Aes wrangles his sources to fit neatly into his own definitive style. Whatever the style of the samples, he is able to maintain that signature sense of dread and uncertainty from start to finish, never more obvious than on the brilliant track Citronella, with its distressing chorus of “And when the radio stars climbed up out of the floors/To murder the medium that shot ‘em thirty years before/They said ‘Kill Television, Kill Television, Kill Television’”. The title track is probably Aesop Rock’s most recognisable song to date, with good reason, and I’m sure Aes won’t mind if that track, or indeed this album, becomes his most enduring legacy.
[1] https://pudding.cool/projects/vocabulary/index.html
Hidden Highlight: Getaway Car
Keep Off The Lawn
None Shall Pass
Catacomb Kids
Bring Back Pluto
Fumes
Getaway Car
39 Thieves
The Harbor is Yours
Citronella
Gun For The Whole Family
Five Fingers
No City
Dark Heart News
Coffee