I know that music is all about content, and I’m all for that. However, I do believe that a good music video can add so much “oomph” to a song. It’s one thing to listen to a track and picture it in your head, but having it all laid out in a video is a bonus. So with that being said, one thing I love to see is when as much effort and creativity is put into a music video as was the track itself.
Aesop Rock is what I would call a well known artist. Having over two and a half million views on one of his previous music videos (with over 19,000 thumbs up) means that he has already built himself quite the fan base. If you have never heard of him before, though chances are very high that you have, this indie hip hop artist also known as Ian Bavitz was born in New York, raised on Long Island, and currently calls Portland, Oregon his home.
Aesop Rock Continues to Impress
It was during his college years, earning his bachelors degree in visual arts in Boston, that Aesop Rock met his future collaborator Blockhead. Working on music was definitely a passion of his, and from there he decided to pursue a musical career (quite a successful one, might I add). His latest album, The Impossible Kid, just released on the 29th of last month, and his corresponding YouTube videos are already gaining views into the hundreds of thousands.
“Rings” is one of his latest tracks from the new album, and the accompanying music video is just about as interesting as the song itself. While the song starts off with a very ’90s video game sound and quickly spins into a heavy drum beat, the music video depicts a missing persons flyer with Aesop Rock on it and pans to him walking to pick up the paper. Then he gets hit by a car and things get really real, really fast.
As the lyrics kick in, he’s laying on a table while the doctor pulls his face apart to find wooden doors filled with paint and things inside. It’s very bizarre and at this point I’m really just trying to figure out what’s going on. The animation in the video is really impressive though, and the rapping is even more impressive.
The beat is going really heavy in this one, and the vocals are deep and correlate well with the tempo of the track. I’m going to go on a limb here but Aesop Rock’s flow here reminds me of the cadence of the rapping in Linkin Park, but measurably better. (Feel free to quote me on that!)
I’m really getting into this track as it goes on, and the music video is really capturing my attention. The beat is steady but not repetitive, really make sure that it sticks in your head. It never gets boring, and the lyrics change in tempo enough to keep your attention. There’s enough going on with this song/video combo to make you want to hit the replay button a few times.
You can check out all of Aesop Rock’s new album The Impossible Kid now on YouTube (featuring a very interesting animated version of “The Shining”).
