Throughout his career, Aesop Rock has frequently collaborated with producer Blockhead, but now, for the first time, the two have created an entire album together. At midnight, the artists dropped Garbology, a 14-track project that sees Aesop rap over some of his friend’s finest beats.
In the past, Blockhead has produced some of the recording artist’s most popular songs, including “None Shall Pass” and “Daylight,” and over the course of the pandemic, they had the chance to work together again. Aesop was processing the loss of a friend back in January of 2020, and felt stuck in a creative block, but once he was inspired to write again, he knew exactly who to go to for beats.
“The world got real weird during those months. I knew at some point I had to get back to making something. Make a beat. Draw a picture. Write. Just go. But the idea of making a beat felt like math homework, and drawing is just so hard. Writing is hard too, but at some point I had to pick one,” the 45-year-old explained.
The album sees just one feature from Homeboy Sandman on “All Day Breakfast.” The remainder of the release is carried solely by Aesop’s larger-than-life persona that comes through in his lyrics, and Blockhead’s unique production.
Check out Garbology below and drop your first impressions in the comments.
Tracklist:
- Only Picture
- Jazz Hands
- Wolf Piss
- Legerdemain
- Difficult
- All the Smartest People
- Oh Fudge
- More Cycles
- Flamingo Pink
- All Day Breakfast (feat. Homeboy Sandman)
- Fizz
- That is Not a Wizard
- The Sea
- Abandoned Malls
