Aesop Rock slams Black Hole Superette on the table – one of his best albums yet. It opens with a snare hit like a slap in the face (»Secret Knock«) and picks up where he left off with Integrated Tech Solutions in 2023: it’s about the invisible forces that shape our psyche. Aesop Rock wraps this in stories of the everyday that stretch into the surreal, culminating in vivid imagery, and there’s never been any doubt about his lyrical dexterity.
Take this example: Honestly, it’s getting hard to watch like paradise for parking lots / Nevermind that parking lots are paradise, the paradox – lines that nod to Canadian musician Joni Mitchell and her 1970 song »Big Yellow Taxi«: They paved paradise to put up a parking lot. Both lament the destruction of natural beauty in the name of commerce. Only, the New Yorker also happens to be a talented skateboarder – and for skateboard fans, parking lots are true love.
This example shows how Aesop Rock’s lyrics operate: layered, shifting perspectives, social critique, pop culture and a personal twist. On Black Hole Superette, he raps over fast drums and organ samples (»Movie Night«) as well as over futuristic melodies (»Checkers«). On »Charlie Horse«, Lupe Fiasco and Homeboy Sandman join in for a non-stop rap show. Aesop Rock produced the track himself – as he did the entire album. The result is psychedelic, lo-fi and maximally effective.
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