Mellow Monday 18: Aesop Rock, Glue, and Milo

     Alright folks, I'm back and to start off this week (a little late) I'm going to attempt the longest post for a while. Three artists three albums, all underground, all amazing lyrically and musically, so read on.

     Aesop Rock, is an american hip hop artist from New York, (currently based out of Cali) and surprise surprise I've know about him for some time. I first heard a verse or two of his in a mashup somewhere... (may update this if I ever find the song) all I remember is the word Blue was in the title and Aesop's amazing surrealist game. These days its tough to find an artist that stays true to themselves, and interpret it how you want it, Aesop does just that. Take a peek at this verse...

"If you've never had a day a snow cone couldn't fix then you wouldn't relate to the rogue vocoder blitz. How he spoke through a no-doz motor on the fritz cause he wouldn't play roll over fetch like a bitch. And express no regrets, though he isn't worth a home owners piss to the jokers who pose by the glitz..."

     Tell me what that means, half the comments on the lyric page were claiming that he spoke nothing but nonsense, the other half where fans proclaiming that he is the god of surrealist poetry, personally I'm leaning more towards the latter. That being said you shouldn't take my opinion for anything more than what it is, an opinion, so if you to take a try at interpreting the enigma code then be my guest and download his 2007 album None Shall Pass. And before you think that all this tape has is lyrics you should know that its been a long time since I've actually had a noise complaint, the bass on these tracks screams to be boosted, and the samples are old school, I mean old, the golden type of old. So whether you think that this album is a left sided propaganda scam, nonsense, or a surrealist gem to rival Dali, give it a chance and bump it.

     Alright second on the roster today is Glue, a hip hop trio consisting of Adeem, Maker and DJDQ. These guys managed to completely mess my shit up last week, fresh from a funeral and I stumble onto a track that roundhouse kicks my heart, Early Morning Silence. Even the name has a foreboding feel to it, as I understand it the track is about Adeem waking up next to his dead girlfriend, then reminiscing about all the time he should have spent with her. Its not very often that hip hop artists let their feelings show for other than hoes and all that shiny stuff, and I respect that, and I think theres nothing more they could have done to make the Sunset Lodge EP any more superb. Its a perfect blend of hip hop stylings, classic samples, expert vocals, and most importantly soul. So grab it up and fade away.

     You folks may remember way back when I wrote up (in my opinion) a pretty decent post about Milo, who is less of a rapper more of a spoken word warrior. I've heard a lot of classifications for Milo, from Nerd hop to spoken word, to computerized soul funk and self help hop, to me its just a smarter of way of rapping. Before you get too scared by something that isn't generic rap I should tell you that surprisingly he actually sings once in this album, and even if the vocal rhythm isn't hip hop the beats aren't far off and any self respecting geek will feel right at home mapping the web of video game and classic lit references. If you aren't a nerd you should be just fine with the track "Prince Abakakliki of Nigeria Needs Your Help" which for lack of a better description is a love song... or at least it fringes on it, on second thought if you aren't a geek none of it will make sense, thats what makes this album such a gift, I will never hear it blaring from a lowered civic. So grab up Milo Takes Baths, and don't explain it to anyone, you shouldn't have to.

     Thanks again for sticking by us through all this mess, hopefully this post and the one I will write a bit later for today will make it all better, also 12000 views!!! Thats immense, if you had anything to do with it head on over to our Facebook page and stay up to date, and hey you already know the numbers make me happy. Sorry for the grammar...