Bavitz was born in Syosset, New York and grew up in Northport, New York. While attending college, Bavitz initially recorded and released two self-financed efforts, Music for Earthworms (1997), a full-length featuring underground artist Percee P on two tracks. Bavitz also released a music video to "Abandon All Hope", which was one of the tracks on the CD. The album sold over 300 copies, largely from a grassroots internet-based promotion at his website AesopRock.com and then-popular web portal, MP3.Com. It was a success. With the money he made from his previous release, he then released his Appleseed EP in 1999 which received critical acclaim in the underground hip hop circuit.[citation needed] Both of his early records were produced by long-time friend Blockhead, and underground producer Dub-L. He completed these albums while also working as a waiter.
After his breakthrough success in the underground hip hop and indie rap community, he was eventually noticed by the Mush label and obtained his first record deal in 1999, just a year after he graduated from college. Aesop released his first major album, Float (2000), with guest appearances from Vast Aire, Slug, and Dose One. Production was split between Blockhead and Aesop himself, with one track by Omega One. During this time, Aesop worked at a photography gallery. In August 2001 tragedy struck when Bavitz had a nervous breakdown. The song "One of Four" on his Daylight EP documents his struggles.
Shortly after releasing Float, Aesop Rock signed to Manhattan-based label Definitive Jux (commonly shortened to Def Jux), where he released Labor Days (2001), an album dedicated to the discussion of labor in American society and the concept of "wage slaves". This album was most well known for its single "Daylight". Because of its popularity, Daylight was re-released in 2002 as a seven-track EP, including an "alternative" new version of the song "Night Light", whose paraphrased lyrics simultaneously refer back to, and stand in stark opposition to, the original's. The song "Labor" (from Labor Days) was featured in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4; it also was the first album in his catalog to break through the Billboard charts, peaking at number 15 at the United States Independent Charts, giving Aesop Rock more recognition.
Labor Days was followed by Bazooka Tooth in 2003. For the first time, production was mostly handled by Rock himself, with three tracks from longtime collaborator Blockhead and one from close friend and Definitive Jux label CEO El-P. Guest appearances include Party Fun Action Committee, El-P, and Mr. Lif (all Definitive Jux labelmates) and Camp Lo. With this release Aesop hit a higher level of recognition, releasing "No Jumper Cables" as a single and music video, then another single, "Freeze", shortly after. A remix of "No Jumper Cables" was featured on Tony Hawk's Underground 2, furthering Aesop's recognition. In 2004, He released Build Your Own Bazooka Tooth and created a contest in which you had to create a remix of an Aesop Rock song using the a cappellas and instrumentals.
In February 2005, Aesop Rock released a new EP, Fast Cars, Danger, Fire and Knives. The first pressing of the EP included an 88-page booklet with lyrics from every release from Float until this EP (the lyric booklet is titled The Living Human Curiosity Sideshow); later pressings of the album come without the booklet, but with an additional bonus track, "Facemelter". In addition, a limited number of albums were available direct from Def Jux with Aesop Rock's graffiti tag on them. In response to demands from his fans, Rock did less production on the EP: three songs are produced by Blockhead, three produced by Aesop, and one by Rob Sonic. During this time he was asked to join The Weathermen to replace Vast Aire.
Aesop Rock was commissioned to create a 45-minute instrumental track for the Nike+iPod running system, entitled All Day. It was released in February 2007. Distributed via the iTunes Music Store and featuring his wife Allyson Baker on guitar and scratches from DJ Big Wiz, Aesop has described the release as "something that evolved enough that the sound was constantly fresh and attractive, as though the runner were moving through a set of differing cities or landscapes."
All Day was followed in August of the same year by Bavitz's fifth full-length album, None Shall Pass released in 2007. The album also contained original artwork by Jeremy Fish. About Jeremy Fish, Aesop Rock said: "Man that guy is my hero. We have a friend in common who hit me up a while back saying that this guy Jeremy Fish had an opportunity to pitch a cartoon to Disney and wanted me to be involved in the music side. I flipped out cuz I was also a fan of his, and owned some of his work." Aesop Rock also teamed up with Jeremy Fish again in a project called Ghosts of the Barbary Coast. Aesop Rock made a song called "Tomorrow Morning", to go along with a slideshow of drawings that Jeremy Fish drew. This was displayed in San Francisco, but was also made available for download online. None Shall Pass had positive reviews from critics and fans, applauding Aesop for his change in sound.
In 2011, Rhymesayers released "Are You Going to Eat That?", the debut album from Hail Mary Mallon, a collaboration between Aesop Rock, Rob Sonic, and DJ Big Wiz.
On July 10, 2012, Rhymesayers released Aesop Rock's sixth studio album, "Skelethon". Its first single, "Zero Dark Thirty", was released four months earlier on April 10. A second single, "ZZZ Top", was released on June 29.
In 2011, Aesop Rock and Kimya Dawson of The Moldy Peaches formed the duo The Uncluded. The duo's debut album, "Hokey Fright" was released on May 7, 2013.
In 2018, Aesop Rock teamed up with TOBACCO to form Malibu Ken
Fumes
Aesop Rock Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Your story's a joke
You should package it with a last smoke and six feet of rope
Stay awake little misfit,
Her lips wet a very particular mischief,
Sis' wiggle an index if your limbs let,
Or settle for a warm burgundy bubble out of her beak instead,
Hey,
Tequila to free the worm,
Had his liver scuba suit up on the sabbath. his personal pale rabbit,
At the hole's end her delicate mitten tipped,
For sticking pissy liquor in him every day at 6,
Silly, predictability is a bitch,
Fully, pattern had her awkwardly christening the small talk chalk board,
She said "this is less of a 'fixer-upper' than my last bar".
Funny, you're less of a 'fixer-upper' than my last whore.
Crass is similak to the milky wit of todays youths, both chuckle out.
Next couple on the house,
Next couple on the couch, swapping social coma rants,
Phobias and soldier doubts,
Jokes and corporate mogul bans,
Motor-mouths,
The key to open his closure:
Pussy plus yay she hid is a broken toaster, and later wake neighbors over chemical flavor to fuck sickly,
Tooth/nail beauty through the skin deep.
An object at rest, tends to remain at rest
And an object in motion, tends to remain in motion
With the same speed
(slow down)
With the same speed
(slow down)
With the same speed
(slow down)
And in the same direction
(slow down)
Now the dizziness is similar to whimsy with a pretty twist,
If pretty is a bidding war for meteors of iffy sniff,
And cigarettes and pills on the speaker silhouetted by the muted television and the rickety Venetians,
Between tweaks he sweeps at home depot and reads,
Mostly biblical but not cuz he believed, but found the lexicon of Jesus-heavy literature fly,
Feverishly sponged up the information high,
Fade into the cradle of his same deck train wreck,
She pet him with a mechanical tape deck play back,
Plus the depressing sum of the 2 combined pay checks,
Stung less when little Debbie d-cup put her legs back,
Drunk, put her on the business end of his favorite couplet from Corinthians,
Sunk into the comforts of a kid again,
Enough to share the stuff that truly interest him,
This is where the vision of a shiny happy Christmas end,
Tipsy little princess wasn't listening, just yes-ing him,
The more she fed him "yes", the more he fed her fresh barbiturates,
Assuming it was them against the world into oblivion,
But he was just a stupid simian that let her live with him
An object at rest, tends to remain at rest
And an object in motion, tends to remain in motion
With the same speed
(slow down)
With the same speed
(slow down)
With the same speed
(slow down)
And in the same direction
(slow down)
Pirouetting madly on a mirror full of baggies
In the valley of the irritable Aggie,
Any sincerity, miracles,or memory buried in the back-seat by the hazardous material was seriously gasping,
Here he is in action
Trying to patch up the attraction,
Figured he would win her back if he act in a common passion,
Penned a couple chapters about a sassy pair of magnets with a cottage on a hill and a picket fence and a marriage,
Never having gathered her rabid enthusiasm over language was fashioned around the aspirin his cabinets,
Asked her to read it expecting flattery after the fact,
This is an exact imitation of how she react:
"you ain't shit man, your story's a joke,
You should package it with a last smoke and 6 feet of rope",
And she know 5 chores, more coke and all fours,
Said "leave me on the floor and leave the dope by the door".
Bounced all shook up, she cook up aluminum,
Consuming every skull and crossbones in the room in under 2 minutes,
He fuming with a flipped lid,
Storm into the crib
And found her body on the tiles,
Like no she didn't.
Yes she did.
Stay awake little misfit
Her lips wet a very particular mischief
Sis' wiggle an index, if your limbs let
Or settle for a warm burgundy bubble out of her beak instead
An object at rest, tends to remain at rest
And an object in motion, tends to remain in motion
With the same speed
(slow down)
With the same speed
(slow down)
With the same speed
(slow down)
And in the same direction
(down) (about eight million similar ??)
The lyrics to Aesop Rock's song, 'Fumes', are rife with metaphors and abstract references. The song's opening line, 'You ain't shit man, your story's a joke, you should package it with a last smoke and six feet of rope', is a vitriolic commentary on someone's life and story, suggesting that they should end their life. The following lines, 'Stay awake little misfit, her lips wet a very particular mischief, sis' wiggle an index if your limbs let, or settle for a warm burgundy bubble out of her beak instead' are metaphorical, possibly referencing a drug addiction, as the warm burgundy bubble could represent the high associated with taking drugs like heroin.
The song continues with an exploration of drug use and addiction, with lines like 'tequila to free the worm', where tequila is used as a way to cope with the gruesome reality of addiction. The song delves into themes of despair, isolation, and hopelessness, with references to 'motor-mouths' and 'corporate mogul bans'. The lyrics talk about finding comfort in drugs and the company of others, like 'little Debbie d-cup', who may represent a prostitute, and the 'tipsy little princess', who is portrayed as someone who feeds fresh barbiturates to the singer.
The song's chorus, with variations on the phrase 'an object at rest, tends to remain at rest, and an object in motion, tends to remain in motion, with the same speed and in the same direction', is a metaphor for the vicious cycle of addiction, hopelessness, and despair. Overall, 'Fumes' is a deeply metaphorical and abstract commentary on the dark underbelly of addiction and its associated issues.
Line by Line Meaning
You ain't shit man
You have no worth or value as a person
Your story's a joke
Your life and experiences are laughable and ridiculous
You should package it with a last smoke and six feet of rope
You should end your life along with your worthless story
Stay awake little misfit,
Don't fall asleep, outcast
Her lips wet a very particular mischief,
She has a devious and specific intent with her mouth
Sis' wiggle an index if your limbs let,
She'll move her finger seductively only if you're physically able to respond
Or settle for a warm burgundy bubble out of her beak instead,
Or just drink a glass of wine from her mouth instead
Tequila to free the worm,
Drinking tequila to get drunk and forget your problems
Had his liver scuba suit up on the sabbath. his personal pale rabbit,
He was drinking so much he needed to protect his liver like a diver and the person giving him alcohol was like his own personal danger
At the hole's end her delicate mitten tipped,
At the end of his drinking, her gentle touch was the only thing that could stop him
For sticking pissy liquor in him every day at 6,
She gave him bad liquor every day at 6pm
Silly, predictability is a bitch,
It's stupid to be predictable, since it leads to trouble
Fully, pattern had her awkwardly christening the small talk chalk board,
Followed by an explanation of how she was bad at small talk
She said "this is less of a 'fixer-upper' than my last bar".
She said that this bar requires less work than the last one she owned
Funny, you're less of a 'fixer-upper' than my last whore.
She said that he requires less work than her previous prostitute
Crass is similak to the milky wit of todays youths, both chuckle out.
Being vulgar is similar to the humor of today's youth, and they both enjoy it
Next couple on the house,
The next couple will get free drinks
Next couple on the couch, swapping social coma rants,
The next couple will sit on the couch, talking about their boring lives
Phobias and soldier doubts, jokes and corporate mogul bans,
They'll talk about their fears, anxieties, jokes, and their hatred of big companies
Motor-mouths,
They'll be really talkative
The key to open his closure:
The thing that will help him get past his problems:
Pussy plus yay she hid is a broken toaster,
Mixing sex and drugs is a recipe for disaster
And later wake neighbors over chemical flavor to fuck sickly,
It leads to them having loud and disturbing sex and waking up their neighbors
Tooth/nail beauty through the skin deep.
They have to fight and work hard to keep up their physical appearance
An object at rest, tends to remain at rest
Things that are stationary often stay stationary
And an object in motion, tends to remain in motion
Things that are moving often stay moving
With the same speed (slow down)
They will move or stop at the same speed unless acted upon by an outside force
And in the same direction (slow down)
They will continue moving in the same direction unless acted upon by an outside force
Pirouetting madly on a mirror full of baggies
Spinning crazily while surrounded by bags of drugs
In the valley of the irritable Aggie,
In a place where people are easily annoyed
Any sincerity, miracles,or memory buried in the back-seat by the hazardous material was seriously gasping,
Any true emotions, miracles, or memories are being choked and slowly suffocating because of the drugs and dangerous substances around them
Here he is in action
Here he is, doing his destructive behavior
Trying to patch up the attraction,
Trying to fix their relationship
Figured he would win her back if he act in a common passion,
He thought that if he pretended to have similar interests as her, he could win her back
Penned a couple chapters about a sassy pair of magnets with a cottage on a hill and a picket fence and a marriage,
He wrote a story about a couple with a cottage and picket fence who were a good match, hoping it would impress her
Never having gathered her rabid enthusiasm over language was fashioned around the aspirin his cabinets,
He failed to notice that she was obsessed with language, and that it was connected to the painkillers he had in his cabinets
Asked her to read it expecting flattery after the fact,
He expected her to praise his writing after she read it
This is an exact imitation of how she react:
This is how she reacted:
"you ain't shit man, your story's a joke,
She insulted him and his story
You should package it with a last smoke and 6 feet of rope",
She told him to kill himself and take his story with him
And she know 5 chores, more coke and all fours,
She knows what she wants: chores, drugs, and sex
Said "leave me on the floor and leave the dope by the door".
She told him to leave her alone and leave the drugs on the floor
Bounced all shook up, she cook up aluminum,
He was very upset, and she heated up some foil to do drugs
Consuming every skull and crossbones in the room in under 2 minutes,
She consumed all of the drugs in the room in under two minutes
He fuming with a flipped lid, Storm into the crib
He was very angry and stormed into their home
And found her body on the tiles,
He found her dead on the floor
Like no she didn't.
He couldn't believe that she was really gone
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: IAN BAVITZ, JAMES ANTHONY SIMON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Justin Drentlaw
Definitely one of my all time favorite Aesop Rock tracks. He kills it on this song.
F Howl
I think this is Aesop's most underatted track. Never see it on any lists of faves. Lyrically at his best. Great narrative, clever wordplay, and such a poetic exposition/reprise:
"Stay awake little misfit,
Her lips wet a very particular mischief,
wiggle an idex if your limbs let,
Settle for a warm burgandy bubble out her beak instead."
F Howl
@Whatsinmypocket I've always heard it as:
"....mischief,
Sis' wiggle your limbs..." he just moves the "sis" a beat early.
The mischief being the residue of drugs mixed with the blood and saliva she'd be drooling during an overdose.
laneypuss
1:43 Dat bass line...
George Sturges
right after 3:01 ... that whole verse; such alliteration
Pharaoh on LFS
Came here to say this. Strung the entire verse with the same rhyme basically. I could listen to that verse all day. He just kept goin haha
Steve Smith
That's what amazes me about Aes, he has rhyme schemes like this that match rappers known for crazy schemes such as Eminem and DOOM, but doesn't sacrifice any of his signiture writing style and complexity. I love Em and DOOM but Aes has been consistantly on another level for years.
Aly Marie
feel old when I realize the music I listen to is quite old lol oh well good music never goes out of style! ❤✌🦄
TigeltoN
10 years is old, now i really feel old
lowlowseesee
ten years old and still 70 years ahead of most emcees in any sub genre of hip hop