The Tape

My 20 Favorite Hip-Hop Albums EVER! #19

Written by willshoob on Tuesday, 23 of September , 2008 at 6:11 pm

As some of you may know, last week I started counting down my 20 favorite hip-hop albums ever with Kanye West’s The College Dropout. Remember, I grew up on late 90′s and early 00′s music, so my hip-hop views are probably a lot more modern than a lot of “old school” hip-hop fans.

Anyways, coming in at 19 we have Aesop Rock’s Labor Days.

For those of you who don’t know him, Aesop Rock is probably one of the more successful and popular “underground” or “indie” rappers out there today. Steadily putting out records for 11 years, the New Yorker is in my mind, the best white rapper alive. Although all of Aesop’s albums are filled with great songs, Labor Days is probably my favorite, as every song has a meaning to me. So it’s really hard to narrow it down to my 5 or 6 favorite, but I’m gonna try.

Let’s start off with the second track on this album “Daylight.” This is by far Aesop’s most popular song, although I doubt it ever reached any charts. The beat on this song is fantastic, and it gave me chills when it came blasting through the speakers a couple weeks ago at his show. Although I personally prefer the re-work of this song entitled “Night Light”, this song is still absolutely amazing. An obvious recurring theme in all of his songs, is that the lyrics are always top quality. I’ve never heard an Aesop song that lacked lyrical content.

Highlight of the song:

Life’s not a bitch life is a beautiful woman
You only call her a bitch because she won’t let you get that pussy
Maybe she didn’t feel y’all shared any similar interests
Or maybe you’re just an asshole who couldn’t sweet talk the princess

Aesop Rock- Daylight

Skip one song, and we arrive at “Flashflood.” I often overlook this song when I talk about my favorite Aesop fans, but this post actually reminded me how much I enjoy this song. I somehow find this song both calming and relaxing. This song has a sort of an angry vibe to it, but I somehow find his harsh lyrics or this intense beat calming.

Highlight of the song:

Mummified manequins with future cleanse adamant
And skeleton in cabinet
This a Malcom circus, got a ring of fire
Just big enough to shove my purpose in a circle
I’m known to dip dusk in a broken city curfew
Release the hounds and see which one can tractor trail and serve you SUCKA!
I lay the law down upon its belly
With my foot dug in between the third and fourth disc
Yelling ‘Break yourself!’

Aesop Rock- Flashflood

The next song is another favorite of mine, entitled “No Regrets.” This song tells a really personal, creative story. I’ve imagined this story in my mind every time I hear the song, and every time the story is a little bit different. The story goes from Lucy as a 7 year old, and then a 37 year old and then an 87 year old. I highly recommend this song, as the lyrical content is amazing.

Highlight of the song:

She’d never spoken once throughout the spanning of her life
Until the day she leaned forward, grinned and pulled the nurse aside
And she said:
“Look, I’ve never had a dream in my life
Because a dream is what you wanna do, but still haven’t pursued
I knew what I wanted and did it ’till it was done
So I’ve been the dream that I wanted to be since day one!”

Aesop Rock- No Regrets

Skip towards the last few songs of the album, and we arrive on “The Yes And The Ya’ll.” This song starts off on an insane note where Aesop goes acapella.  Don’t ask me what he’s saying, because me trying to translate it is absolutely useless. All I know is when that first note comes in, this song turns into an immediate favorite.

Highlight of the song:

I’ve seen alot for a blind soldier
Who tattooed the city scape up skin to blend in
Rats travel by night invite the waterbugs
I’m here to pull the three-prong
When it’s prime directive wormhole of self-sacrifice
Had a hatchet slice for camps
For that God-awful Frankenstein

Aesop Rock- The Yes And The Ya’ll

Now the second to last song on the album, and possibly my favorite Aesop song is called “9-5ers Anthem.” Live, he introduced this song by saying “who here hates their job.” As expected, a bunch of people cheered and a few douchebags screamed out “fuck yeah!” Aesop then goes “No, no who here really hates their job? Who has a scathing, dangerous hate for their job.” At that point, he came in with this song, and the crowd went crazy. The message in this song is amazing. He not only has a reason for hating 9-5s, but he makes the listener hate 9-5 employers by the end of the song.

We the American working population
Hate the fact that eight hours a day
Is wasted on chasing the dream of someone that isn’t us
And we may not hate our jobs,
But we hate jobs in general
That don’t have to do with fighting our own causes.
We the American working population
Hate the nine-to-five day-in/day-out
When we’d rather be supporting ourselves
By being paid to perfect the pasttimes
That we have harbored based solely on the fact
That it makes us smile if it sounds dope…

Aesop Rock- 9-5ers Anthem

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Category: Miscellaneous

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