Almost twenty years have passed since Aesop Rock’s debut album, and he continues to approach rapping with the same voracity that propelled his artistry on day one.
The Impossible Kid fills all the notches of what’s expected from an Aesop Rock album. It’s laced with gripping rhymes and deep metaphors. The song topics range from your usual “I’m a better emcee than you are”, to zany concepts and ideas that few emcees could pull off without sounding lame. Take “Kirby” for example. Aes spends a full song totally focused on his cat Kirby, giving us vignettes from her life that, because of wild wordplay, has your interest on a leash.
Then you have tracks like the leading single “Rings” which interestingly, in a similar fashion to the one from Skelethon, has rap veteran Aes observing the vitality of up and coming artists, and contemplating their intentions as challengers. The hook comes across like a proverb packed with harsh truth: “They will cut you down just to count your rings”. Speaking on the topic of those rings, one that’s been etched in recently is Aes’s skill as a producer. If Skelethon solidified Aesop’s skill behind the boards, then The Impossible Kid has him relaxing comfortably in his abilities, while still showing an intent to experiment. While nicely varied, the record’s production sticks to this eclectic, hard hitting, and murky steez. That consistent sound is probably thanks to the mixture of muddled drums and synths that are off the fritz.
Aesop Rock is giving fans a little bit of what they expect (and hunger for) while still making decent steps out the border of his ever-extending comfort zone. The lyrics are on point, and Aes switches up flows more than enough to keep listeners hooked. The Impossible Kid is definitely worth a pick up from fans, and I think it’s a good accessible start for people interested in Aesop Rock. You can find the record on iTunes, or directly support Rhymesayers, and get it on Fifth Element.
art by your homie, Arthur Banach
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