Aesop Rock

At 47 years old, Aesop Rock has this physical status:

Ian Matthias Bavitz (born June 5, 1976), better known by his stage name Aesop Rock, is an American hip hop recording artist and producer residing in Portland, Oregon.

He was at the forefront of the current wave of underground and alternative hip hop acts that emerged in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

He was signed to El-P's Definitive Jux brand before it went on hiatus in 2010.

He was ranked 19th in the Top 100 Artists of the Decade by BetterPropaganda; He is a member of The Weathermen, Hail Mary Mallon (with Rob Sonic & DJ Big Wiz), and Malibu Ken with electronic artist Tobacco.

It was my character's name and it kind of stuck.

The rock part came later than just throwing it in rhymes."

Early life and education

Bavitz was born at Syosset Hospital in Syosset, New York, and raised in Northport, Long Island, New York, to his father Paul and mother Jameija. Christopher T. Bavitz (born 1973), a Harvard Law School researcher and founder of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, and Graham J. Bavitz (born 1978). Ian was raised Catholic, as well as his siblings, but he later became an agnostic. Bavitz attended Northport High School in 1990 and 1994. In 2005, he married Allyson Baker, guitarist and vocalist of the rock band Dirty Ghosts; the pair lived in San Francisco but have since divorced.

Bavitz attended Boston University in Massachusetts, where he studied visual arts after graduating from high school. In 1998, he bought his bachelor's house. During Blockhead's first year at the university, he met his future collaborator, Blockhead. Blockhead decided against focusing on production after hearing Aesop Rock freestyle. During his early years, Blockhead was involved with a crew in New York named The Overground, which also included Dub-L. Aesop Rock worked in several odd jobs, including answering phones for clothing catalogs, packaging artwork in art gallery storerooms, and working with one-hour photo developers.

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Musical career

Bavitz and his family would often commute to New York City as a youth. This left a lasting impression on him and the way he approached the hip hop scene. In the early 1990s, Bavitz began rapping. Public Enemy, BDP, KMD, and Run DMC are among his early influences, according to He. Bavitz has also listened to rock acts like Dead Kennedys, Fugazi, and Ministry; he was introduced to these bands by his older brother Chris. Bavitz began playing piano and bass at an early age and later acquired a sampler.

Bavitz's Music for Earthworms (1997), a full-length starring underground artist Percee P on two tracks, began while studying college and launched two self-financed efforts. Bavitz also released a music video for "Abandon All Hope," which was one of the CD's tracks. The album's first 300 copies were sold, mainly because of a grassroots internet-based advertising campaign at his website AesopRock.com and then-popular web portal MP3.com. He released his Appleseed EP in 1999, which received critical acclaim in the underground hip-hop scene, despite the funds he earned from his previous appearance. His early records were mainly produced by his long-time associate Blockhead and underground producer Dub-L.

He was eventually discovered by the Mush label and signed his first recording contract in 1999, just a year after he graduated from college. Aesop's first major album, Float (2000), was released by the artist, Slug, and Dose One with guest appearances from Vast Aire, Slug, and Dose One. Blockhead and Aesop himself were split on production, with one track being created by Omega One. Aesop was a photographer at a photography gallery at the time. Bavitz had a nervous breakdown in August 2001. On his Daylight EP, the song "One of Four" chronicles his struggles.

Aesop Rock joined Definitive Jux (commonly reduced to Def Jux), where he introduced Labor Days (2001), an album dedicated to the study of American society and the notion of "wage slaves." This album was most well-known for its single "Daylight." Daylight was re-released in 2002 as a seven-track EP, with an "alternative" new version of the song "Night Light" whose lyrics both refer to and protest a strong contrast to the original's. In Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4's "Labor" (from Labour Days), it was also the first album in his catalog to break into the Billboard charts, peaking at number 15 on the United States Independent Charts.

In 2003, Bazooka Tooth was the first in a series of Labor Days. Production was mainly handled by Bavitz himself for the first time, with three tracks from longtime collaborator Blockhead and one from close friend and Definitive Jux label CEO El-P. (all Definitive Jux labelmates) and Camp Lo. were among the guest appearances on Party Fun Action Committee, El-P, and Mr. Lif. With this release, Aesop gained more traction by releasing "No Jumper Cables" as a single and music video, and then "Freeze" shortly after. On Tony Hawk's Underground 2, a remix of "No Jumper Cables" was included, extending Aesop's fame. Build Your Own Bazooka Tooth founder Robert Smith in 2004 organized a competition in which participants had to produce a remix of an Aesop Rock song using the a cappellas and instrumentals.

Aesop Rock's latest EP, Fast Cars, Danger, Fire and Knives, was released in February 2005. The first printing of the EP included an 88-page booklet with lyrics from every Float release up to this point (the lyric booklet is titled The Living Human Curiosity Sideshow), but later pressings of the album included "Facemelter" as an extra bonus track. In addition, a select number of albums were only available from Def Jux with Aesop Rock's graffiti tag on them. Bavitz did less work on the EP as a result of criticism from his fans; three songs were released by Blockhead, three by Aesop, and one by Rob Sonic. During this period, he was asked to join the Weathermen to replace Vast Aire.

All Day was hired to produce a 45-minute instrumental track for the Nike+iPod running system. In February 2007, it was announced. The product, which was released by the iTunes Music Store and starring Allyson Baker on guitar and scratches from DJ Big Wiz, is "something that evolved enough that the music was always fresh and attractive, as though the runners were traveling through a series of differing cities or territories."

All Day was preceded by Bavitz's fifth full-length album, None Shall Pass, which was released in 2007. Original art by Jeremy Fish, whose contribution to a slideshow supported by a song titled "Tomorrow Morning." It was on display in San Francisco and was available for download online. None Shall Pass received glowing reviews from critics and fans alike, applauding Aesop's for his change in sound.

El-P announced in February 2010 that the brand would be put "on holdout" in lieu of selling its catalog and merchandise. Bavitz was not active on any new albums or EPs during this period, despite being featured on other artists' albums and producing.

Bavitz released Felt 3: A Tribute to Rosie Perez, Bavitz's third album in 2009.

Rhymesayers Entertainment would debut Hail Mary Mallon's debut album "I Am Going To Eat That?" on April 20, 2011. On the same day, Smock's first single from the album Smock was announced in a music video.

Bavitz revealed on Reddit that he was working on his next solo album and that the majority of it was complete.

Aesop Rock was first discovered to be on an album with anti-folk singer Kimya Dawson, who is well-known for being one half of the Moldy Peaches. Hokey Fright was the project's working title. The company has since been identified as The Unknown.

Aesop Rock's upcoming solo album Skelethon, which was supposed to be released on July 10, 2012 through Rhymesayers Entertainment, was announced on January 17, 2012.

Both SoundCloud and YouTube announced "Zero Dark Thirty," the first official single from Aesop Rock's debut album Skelethon, "Zero Dark Thirty," on April 10, 2012. The song had already received combined plays/views of 86,434 as of April 20, 2012. Skelethon was born on July 10, 2012.

The first music video from The Unincluded was posted on YouTube on February 11, 2013, and the pair's first album Hokey Fright was released on May 7, 2013. There will be 16 tracks on the album. The celebrity cat Lil Bub appears in the video for their third single "Delicate Cycle" from which they were shot.

Aesop Rock toured the United States to promote Skelethon. He has also been touring with Kimya Dawson and performing as The Unconcluded. The Unincluded appeared at a variety of individual performances, as part of the Rhymesayers lineup at Summerfest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A majority of his touring equipment was stolen on the Skelethon tour, prompting Aesop to raise funds by releasing limited edition artwork. On the first day of Coachella 2013, it was announced that he would be performing.

In February 2016, Aesop Rock unveiled a music video for his song "Rings" and revealed his seventh studio album, The Impossible Kid, which was released on April 29, 2016. In the Madden NFL 17 video game, "rings" was included.

Aesop Rock composed his first film soundtrack for Bushwick in 2017. Aesop Rock collaborated with electronic musician Tobacco under the name Malibu Ken in January 2019. In the same month, the two bands unveiled a self-titled album. Aesop's eighth solo album, Spirit World Field Guide, was announced in late 2020, along with the debut of the album's first single, "The Gates." Aesop's former producer Blockhead will reunite in October 2021 with his new album titled Garbology. The album was released on November 12 of the same year.

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