Rating:
  Review Date: September 4, 2007
  Website: Aesop Rock Website
  Label: Def Jux

Aesop Rock “None Shall Pass” Album Review
In my opinion, Aesop Rock has two big challenges that could affect the longevity of his illustrious rap career. The first challenge is copycats. I get a lot of independent stuff in the mail, and a large amount of it was obviously influenced by Aesop Rock. It seems that Aes’ fans, attracted to him because he created a style unlike the repetitive stuff they were tired of, have now become just like the rappers they were running from by making hip-hop that is basically slight variations of Aesop’s sound. And if everybody sounds like you, then you aren’t that special anymore – end of career.  

The second challenge Aesop must face is critics. As I mentioned in the review for C-Rayz Walz’ “Chorus Rhyme,” hip-hop critics often possess a hyper-masculine know-it-all braggadocio attitude that forces them to diss anything they are not deep enough or intelligent enough to understand. This applies to Aesop because no one you know can decipher the all of what he is talking about, especially without studying or researching his lyrical content – something most critics are too lazy to do. And if critics diss you, and enough people listen, the masses might think you’re wack – end of career.

I think Aesop Rock was aware of these challenges when he created the album “None Shall Pass.” The opening tracks Keep Off The Lawn and None Shall Pass both had verses that I interpreted as being aimed at copycats, people Aes likened to uninvited birds soaking in a birdbath that “snuck around the art police … to infiltrate a human lung.” In the first verse of None Shall Pass, Aesop seems to be speaking to those who lack artistic innovation and refuse to expand:

Flash that buttery gold jittery zeitgeist/ Wither by the watering hole water patrol/ What are we to heart Huckabee – art fuckery suddenly?/ Not enough young in his lung for the water wing/ Colorfully vulgar poacher at a mulch like/ ‘I’ma pull the pulse out a soldier and bolt’/ Sign of the time we elapsed/ When a primate climb up a spine and attach/ Eye for an eye by the bog life swamps and vines/ They get a rise out of frogs and flies/ So when a dogfight’s hog-tied prize sorta costs a life/ The mouths water on a fork and knife/ And the allure isn’t right/ It’s gore on a war-torn beach/ Where the cash cows actually beef/ Blood turns wine when I leak for police/ Like ‘That’s not a riot, it’s a feast, let’s eat’

Likewise in Coffee, Aesop throws a verse out to his critics who aren’t “going to ever really get it”:

Just ‘cause I don’t want to war with you/ It don’t mean go warm up the barbecue/ I’m like ‘pardon you’ sawed off limit/ My high noon is a quick little minute/ I don’t wanna spend it sitting with a critic/ Who simply isn’t going to ever really get it/ This HQ is alive and alone/ No driveway no sign of a home/ No dial tone, no line for the phone/ No world’s tiniest violin song/ And I might just lie to them all/ Lie in the morgue with a deep breath hiding and bored/ Fighting a smile – highly annoyed/ When the timing is right I will rise and record/ Call for the monster beats / And Blockhead got Animal drums like he’s Dr. Teeth/ It goes red light green light – one, two, three/ One large coffee – fuck you – peace

None Shall Pass
From there, Aesop Rock basically goes on to show that despite his awareness of these challenges, they don’t really apply to him because he’s coming with that new shit anyway. “None Shall Pass” is another great trend-setting album by hip-hop’s master of innovation.

From a production standpoint, we all knew Blockhead would come correct – with an added gem or two from reliable beat makers such as El-P or Rob Sonic. But what impressed me the most was Aesop’s self-produced tracks on this one. While I was looking forward to hearing the other producers, it was Aesop’s own Keep Off The Lawn, Catacomb Kids, and 39 Thieves that really caught my ear in terms of quality of production. And Citronella just might be the banger of the album with a hard-hitting baseline, horns and well-laid cuts that literally forces your head to nod.

And lyrically, Aesop Rock is on point as usual. He definitely puts his incomparable baritone flow to good use in this one, spitting bar after bar of ridiculous shit. As I mentioned in the review for Common’s “Finding Forever,” the ability to use hip-hop to tell stories fully equipped with morals, themes or lessons is not an easy thing to do. But Aesop makes the art of expert hip-hop storytelling look easy.

Aesop’s Fables
In Fumes, Aes tells the story of a meth addict who falls in love only to have his heart crushed by an unconcerned junkie. The girl then goes on to overdose on drugs he supplied. The following verse gives an amazing depiction of the relationship the two really shared – which the protagonist was unable to accurately perceive:

Between tweeks he sweeps at Home Depot and reads/ Mostly biblical but not ‘cause he believes/ But by the lexicon of Jesus heavy literature fly/ Feverishly sponged up the information high/ Faded to the cradle of a same neck train wreak/ She pet him with a mechanical tape deck playback/ Plus the depressive summit of two combined paychecks/ Unless 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 interests him/ This is where the vision of a shiny happy Christmas end/ Tipsy little princess wasn’t listening just yessin’ him/ The more she fed him yes, the more he fed her fresh barbiturates/ Assuming it was them against the world until oblivion/ But he was just a stupid simian that let her live with him

In The Harbor is Yours, Aes tells the story of a 17th century buccaneer that has an overabundance of wealth from his obsession of pirating ships. After being laughed at for claiming to have seen a mermaid, the pirate embarks on a treasure hunt to assert his dominance. The following verse explains how the story ends and how greed can cause one’s demise.

Youth weans old age holler wisdom and disease/ Like the scurvy made his yellow gums bleed / And he was achy from his boots to the feather in his hat/ ‘Til his quartermaster showed up with a stolen treasure map/ One look down and leapt off the dock/ See if you could guess where X marked the spot/ The capital was buried at sea in a cursed cave/ Only one mile from where he’d seen the mermaid/ Anchors up hoist the Jolly Rodger bank too much/ Laying there with his hook hands raised and clutched/ But see the vitamin deficiency was strong/ So by the time they bumped into the island he could barely lift his brawn/ Crawled off the boat, collapsed in the sand/ Prayers in the air, seashells in his hand/ An area high tide so grand/ It’s the one that put the lady in the lake on dry land/ And I wish I could tell you that it ended happy/ Pretend like his bones weren’t practically snapping/ Pretend like her gills didn’t dry up and suffer/ But there’s a half dead pirate and a fish out of water/ No lie scout sire got a million more/ From the burgundy lighting above the shores of hores/ Before your visions of grandeur go to slow those sails/ Remember dead men tell no tales

Before your visions of grandeur go to slow those sails, remember dead men tell no tales? I would say that’s some good advice – especially considering hip-hop’s bling-happy attitude these days. Knock ‘em out the box Aes!

Aesop Rock’s “None Shall Pass” is an easy contender for album of the year, and will definitely be among the best hip-hop of 2007. Every track is simply hot. High quality production, lyrics and topics, including a great dose of Aes’ brilliant signature storytelling, make this album a must have that was well worth the two year wait. I highly recommend picking up a copy. And for you copycats and critics, find another route – none of y’all can touch Aesop Rock. Peace.

Album Track Listing:

1. Keep Off the Lawn
2. None Shall Pass
3. Catacomb Kids
4. Bring Back Pluto
5. Fumes
6. Getaway Car
7. 39 Thieves
8. The Harbor Is Yours
9. Citronella
10. Gun for the Whole Family
11. Five Fingers
12. No City
13. Dark Heart News
14. Coffee