March AOTM #1: Labor Days by Aesop Rock

Paul Taylor
Mar 16
2 min read

Album of the Month: Labor Days - Aesop Rock

If I'm being perfectly honest Aesop Rock is not an artist I have a long history with. I've only listened to a spare few of his projects and he isn't a consistent artist in my taste at any given time. But Labor Days is an album that every once in while clotheslines me with its quality. It's a thoughtful, highly-dynamic, and relatable record which frankly works as the best soundtrack to a dead-end job I could come up with, equally inspiring and commiscerating. As abstract as it is, it's pretty forward with the themes of self-reliance and finding worth in oneself ("Daylight" and "No Regret") or the failures of American capitalism to meet the needs of its people ("Labor" and "9-5ers Anthem"). But fully digesting Aesop's lyrics may itself be a full-time job as dense and unconventionally structured as they can be.

'And we may not hate our jobs but we hate jobs in general that don't have to do with fighting our own causes.' - "9-5ers Anthem"

Lyrics aren't necessarily what sell me on this album though. Instead, it's the pure consistency and creativity in the samples that makes each track stand fully alone. Aesop Rock and Blockhead masterfully handled the beat-making and production on most of the tracks on this record. Blockhead's "Save Yourself" has an unseating acoustic guitar riff that perfectly matches Aesop's own brand of weirdness and that works with the haunting female vocals placed near the end. The Beastie Boys sample at the beginning of "Daylight" is iconic as is the fat riff opening the record on "Labor" and the vaguely oriental sounds on "Flashflood" serve to establish some of the Asian and urban aesthetics of the record also prominent in elements of "Battery" and others.

Tonally, the album veers from softer tracks like "Daylight" to more aggressive and lyrically condemning tracks like "Shovel" which criticizes the music industry and tries to defame music criticism... oops. And Aesop's nasally, sarcastic delivery also lends to a few humorous moments like this line off "One Brick":

'You can lead a man to a city, but that don't assure civility. You can beat a man to death with Aesop Rock bootleg CD's (That's more fun anyway)'

I'd also like to note how consistently interesting the bass is across this record, which isn't something I normally feel stands out with hip hop. "One Brick", "Flashflood", "Coma", "9-5ers Anthem" and more all have memorable and prominent bass lines, all with a very clear tone. I'm not sure if it exactly counts, but maybe my favourite bass part comes from "The Yes & The Ya'll", which feels like an aesthetic mix of noir-crime jazz and a Western with sparse, echoing, and deeply resonant notes.

The thesis of this review is that I really need to listen to more Aesop Rock. His rapid flow and distinctive voice, both literally and as an artist with shit to say, feels somewhat unique and it's due to a record like Labor Days that he's been underground hip hop royalty since the early aughts.