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
Prosperity
Aesop Rock Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
sulking a laugh crash test
figure the mixtures digging up his last breath
grief leaf thief briefly turned chieftan
the tapwaters on the waters off the waters leaking
so this is blue
my frame reportedly spotted garden variety burners and lost to normalcy
my terms the memoir obligation in the boodoir crystalize impurities to zero on the
city suppers punching (hurdling) tomorrow since I sit in consquence merging brings to
bubble up along the edges of precious child fantasy broken hi, my name is hazardous
tobaccanist I'm on the brink I'm purgin dirt and spit my lung in the sink as for the
product well its drenched in a barren backward wasteland of shimmering moral tension
and venturing the plaza pleasant i saw it all from pixie dust to crepid pins and
voodoo dolls and 99 dreams later the shooting gallery wall its like not a wave crash
similar to last or next heckle me not already doctored by regrets gray rain
beligerant fragments bomb acid ushering the pixels till the image burned classic
bliss in a barrel and motivation in a basket ima cast it out to sea and wait for my
comma to grasp it I left my crutch over the rainbow with my riches and I know the rat
race of the bad taste once his grimmace cringes an iron butterfly will float if given
good condition but I'm still fisihing the same worm from the same faulty posistion
prosperity
I'm tryin to walk alone and miss the bliss inide the accidental meeting of the pencil
and the ceiling and the censures started meeting breathing at a rappid calibur at
that a line so gray will last forever more dusting off the dreams to be an autopilot
still a silent understudy funny how the opposite will throttle and the different
stroke and model to the prison is innacurate portrayal of an addequate betrayal of a
wish gonna want to coulda shoulda woulda did it isn't it amusing choosing and a plan of
cybernating waiting till the mating means of motivation took a fine posistion dishing
only after every little kiddy has performed I just want to be a general he said I just
want to I just want to I just want to be a general he said I just want to sleep yo what a
long capitol crust gallop my charriot burning and aweful enigma sprung by the sling
of david appears gutterbug batch prior to hatch dismiss it as a soul condensing
excuse to decorate maps with thumb tacks this gold star product pushing hate boogie
themes enter the smoke screen blazing saddle remnants alive analyze pensive connect
all picket fences like chain gangs linked digging trenches to candy land image
factory sold ah I want to be an astronaut I got the merits and heart and I bought a
starship with hard earned money from one hour selling dreams to dummies when they
raise the lights ja ja ja jesus christ I've never seen so many goblins in my life (oh
my lord) vibrate through the fog and then some dragging bent circuits on a short
leash like organ grinder primates dancing for bread crumbs well did you touch that
slugger banging on the table with an old tin cup thin luck I can raise the dead when
the shark settlers fled the place brung out they bed of nails to spread the sails
racing for milk and bread but I got big big plans i ride a big boat with a big ol
motor and I ain't really that big on helping you turn your leaf over (lets sing) bring
out your dead a quarter pile sky high (lets see) what if your miserable saw the plant
fly by my name is try to deny magnificent doom craft my records so built and ima show
you why this globe tilts
take me where the air is clear I don't really know where but I know its not here and
every little step she takes makes me speak cause I know I'll never have to sleep alone again
take me where the...
The lyrics to Aesop Rock's song Prosperity are filled with abstract ideas and phrases that entwine metaphorical and allegorical words together in a non-linear fashion. The song speaks to the deep-seated feeling of discontent that lies within many people who struggle with societal pressures, feelings of inadequacy, and the constant striving for success. The lyrics explore a sense of isolation and longing for true connection, as well as the fear and anxiety that often come with pursuing one's dreams.
The song's opening lines, "Sulking and bulking a half / sulking a laugh crash test / figure the mixtures digging up his last breath," evoke a sense of being pulled in two different directions, half-heartedly searching for happiness, while still finding the ups and downs of life to be a test of one's strength. The lyrics also reference loss and theft, with lines like "grief leaf thief briefly turned chieftan," conveying a sense of vulnerability and fragility. The song also explores the idea of purging and cleansing, with phrases like "I'm on the brink I'm purgin dirt and spit my lung in the sink," speaking to a need to release and let go of negativity and toxicity.
Overall, the lyrics of Prosperity are deeply introspective, with Aesop Rock exploring themes of self-discovery, identity, and the search for meaning and purpose in an often chaotic world.
Line by Line Meaning
Sulking and bulking a half
Feeling sad and angry at the same time
sulking a laugh crash test
Putting on a fake smile despite feeling unhappy
figure the mixtures digging up his last breath
Feeling overwhelmed and near death due to life's struggles
grief leaf thief briefly turned chieftan
Suffering enough hardships to become a different person in charge of his own life
the tapwaters on the waters off the waters leaking
Can't seem to keep life together and everything is falling apart
so this is blue
Feeling sadness and melancholy
my frame reportedly spotted garden variety burners and lost to normalcy
Tried to be unique and different, but ended up blending in with everyone else
my terms the memoir obligation in the boodoir crystalize impurities to zero on the autograph dirty characters sponges hunches hurling murder abundant lunches with the city suppers punching (hurdling) tomorrow since I sit in consquence merging brings to bubble up along the edges of precious child fantasy broken hi,
My words, written at home, help filter out the negative aspects of life and put everything in perspective. I throw myself into the wild and crazy city, trying to escape reality at times, but the consequences of my actions always catch up to me. Sometimes my childhood and dreams are the only things that bring me any sense of comfort, but even those seem broken and unattainable.
my name is hazardous tobaccanist I'm on the brink I'm purgin dirt and spit my lung in the sink
Identifying as someone who has lived a dangerous lifestyle and is close to the edge, coughing up phlegm and toxins from years of smoking
as for the product well its drenched in a barren backward wasteland of shimmering moral tension and venturing the plaza pleasant i saw it all from pixie dust to crepid pins and voodoo dolls and 99 dreams later the shooting gallery wall its like not a wave crash similar to last or next heckle me not already doctored by regrets gray rain beligerant fragments bomb acid ushering the pixels till the image burned classic bliss in a barrel and motivation in a basket ima cast it out to sea and wait for my comma to grasp it
The things we make and produce in society are tinged with moral ambiguity and the hardships of life. Despite all odds, I've seen everything there is to see and done everything I've wanted to do. Even when things seem bleak and lifeless, there is still a chance for hope and happiness
I left my crutch over the rainbow with my riches and I know the rat race of the bad taste once his grimmace cringes an iron butterfly will float if given good condition but I'm still fisihing the same worm from the same faulty posistion prosperity
I've left my old habits behind and reached success, but the struggles of life and trying to succeed still make me feel like I'm in the same place. Despite this, I still strive for happiness and success.
I'm tryin to walk alone and miss the bliss inide the accidental meeting of the pencil and the ceiling and the censures started meeting breathing at a rappid calibur at that a line so gray will last forever more dusting off the dreams to be an autopilot still a silent understudy funny how the opposite will throttle and the different stroke and model to the prison is innacurate portrayal of an addequate betrayal of a wish gonna want to coulda shoulda woulda did it isn't it amusing choosing and a plan of cybernating waiting till the mating means of motivation took a fine posistion dishing only after every little kiddy has performed I just want to be a general he said I just want to I just want to I just want to be a general he said I just want to sleep yo what a long capitol crust gallop my charriot burning and aweful enigma sprung by the sling of david appears gutterbug batch prior to hatch dismiss it as a soul condensing excuse to decorate maps with thumb tacks this gold star product pushing hate boogie themes enter the smoke screen blazing saddle remnants alive analyze pensive connect all picket fences like chain gangs linked digging trenches to candy land image factory sold ah I want to be an astronaut I got the merits and heart and I bought a starship with hard earned money from one hour selling dreams to dummies when they raise the lights ja ja ja jesus christ I've never seen so many goblins in my life (oh my lord) vibrate through the fog and then some dragging bent circuits on a short leash like organ grinder primates dancing for bread crumbs well did you touch that slugger banging on the table with an old tin cup thin luck I can raise the dead when the shark settlers fled the place brung out they bed of nails to spread the sails racing for milk and bread but I got big big plans i ride a big boat with a big ol motor and I ain't really that big on helping you turn your leaf over (lets sing) bring out your dead a quarter pile sky high (lets see) what if your miserable saw the plant fly by my name is try to deny magnificent doom craft my records so built and ima show you why this globe tilts
I'm trying to find peace and happiness in the simple things in life, but it seems like everything is moving quickly and out of my control. Life's choices are confusing and it's hard to know what to do with oneself. I've been selling dreams to others to make money, but I've got bigger dreams of my own. I realize that there are many negative aspects to society and the world we live in, but I choose to create something positive in spite of them. Even though life seems chaotic and unpredictable, I'm confident in my own abilities to steer my life in the right direction.
take me where the air is clear I don't really know where but I know its not here and every little step she takes makes me speak cause I know I'll never have to sleep alone again
Yearning for a new life and new surroundings, free from the things that make life difficult. Finding comfort in having someone beside oneself and knowing that they will always be there.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind