Aesop Rock

Aesop Rock is a semi-underground hip hop artist that approaches his music in a very creative and sincere way. There have always been things that I've loved about hip hop- it was actually the first kind of music I seriously listened to- but obviously things have become so hideous when it comes to popular genres that there's hardly anything worth listening to anymore. I've never been immersed in the true hip hop music scene, so when I find an artist like this, I basically always stumble on it. I found Aesop Rock on some late night MTV show.

His lyrics are SO clever, so unbelievable, and you can tell that they stem from raw talent. He writes as if it's semi-stream of consciousness; some of the words don't really rhyme, and his vocal rhythms will occasionally leave the beat, as if he's free-styling. If that was all, I wouldn't care to much, but the music is BADASS. All of his beats have a vintage, lo-fi sound, immediately setting his sound apart from all of the no-talent shit on the radio. On top of that, he layers the craziest samples I've ever heard, from a man giving some scientific dissertation to a toddler trying to speak. All are broken up, scratched, chopped, screwed, slowed, fucked, etc. Just listen to it.