Aesop Rock Releases “Rogue Wave” Illustrated Video & 7-inch

Last year, when my son, Ronin, was 7 years old, he heard Aesop Rock‘s “Rings” and instantly took a shine to it. This led to him wanting to try learning the lyrics and how to rap the song in its entirety. I’ve clearly proven successful at instilling enough confidence in him as a person for him to believe that he could actually do that, regardless of the fact that, when he initially expressed his interest, it didn’t seem very realistic to me. A first grader wanted to take on the work of an artist who is consistently placed in the number one position for having, far and away, the largest vocabulary in the game.  This track features some particularly complex word play, cadences, and tempo switches.  “We can try, Bub, but it might be difficult.”  The warning didn’t seem to phase him.

The fact that “Rings” appears on an album titled The Impossible Kid — presumably, named after the 1982 Filipino exploitation film starring primordial dwarf action star, Weng Weng — seemed all too apt, considering that Ronin didn’t seem to recognize or accept the idea that him learning this entire song might be… impossible, on any level. In the process, I had to figure it out myself, just to help him. It’s kind of remarkable when your own child shows you what can be accomplished as a result of you simply trying to hide your cynicism to avoid discouraging them. The fact that the subject matter of the song is about the ability of others to discourage you from pursuing your passions makes the whole thing even more poignant.

More specifically, “Rings” references Aesop‘s history with art, the first section addressing illustration, with the second making more references to painting.  “They will chop you down just to count your rings.”  The idea of holding onto your passions despite the outside world encouraging you to second guess yourself is a tremendous message to build a rap song around, let alone for a child to learn early on in life.  Having those lyrics for context, it’s been great to see Aesop‘s instagram account begin to fill up with his illustration work more and more over time.  His skills with a pencil extend far beyond his writing prowess.  Showcasing a tremendous grasp of shadowing, angles, and anatomy, his drawings posses not only realism, but an emotional, surrealist, and dreamlike quality.  Although he’s posting still images, they have a life and breath to them, reminiscent of the rotoscopic animation used in the Richard Linklater films, “Waking Life” and “A Scanner Darkly.”  More recently, Aesop posted clips of a collaboration with artist, Travis Millard, that involved his music being combined with Millard‘s animation.  Just yesterday, the emcee dropped a brand new music video that finally brings his talents together.  This time, it’s him spitting over his own production with visuals consisting of his own animated artwork.

The song “Rogue Wave” displays one of Aesop Rock‘s strongest traits, his ability to lock the listener into his mindset, allowing them to feel his emotions, as much as see through his eyes, as he maneuvers through an often claustrophobic and chaotic world where his needs, desires, and perspectives rarely seem to align with those around him.  To be in his head is to be observant, yet undercover, susceptible to being detected if you weren’t so seasoned in feigning assimilation.  Drawing connection to a pair of standalone releases from 2017 and 2018, the rapper/producer states, “Rogue Wave feels like a long journal entry to me – perhaps in the vein of ‘Hot Dogs’ and ‘Klutz.’”  Adding, “I really enjoy skipping the hook entirely. It doesn’t always work – but when it does it just feels right. To me, this song is a small boat lost at sea, rowing for hours, days, losing all track of time and direction – 360 degrees of nothing but ocean.”  Speaking about its music video, he explains.  “I’ve been a little timid over the years to showcase my own drawings, probably because I’ve been out of practice, and also because people know me for my music. That said – I’ve been drawing a fair amount in recent years, and finally decided to collect a lot of the images together for a music video. My long time collaborator and friend Rob Shaw pieced them together in a way that feels similar to the song – an uninterrupted stream of information.”

Check out the “Rogue Wave” video below.

Focusing on art and staying busy can often be a cathartic experience in the aftermath of tragedy.  This sketch above is of well-known skate videographer, Kurt Hayashi.  He was an incredibly close friend of Aesop‘s who also shot the music video for his single, “Hot Dogs.”  The most recent posts on Aesop‘s instagram account have been about Kurt, who suffered a stroke earlier this month.  At first, they were to encourage fans to donate to his gofundme page to assist with medical bills, and later to update people about his progress.  Unfortunately, Hayashi, ultimately passed away, only a few days ago.  The release of this new track not only features an image of his lost friend in the video, but also seeks to relieve some of the financial burden facing his loved ones.  As the press release states, “a portion of the proceeds from all “Rogue Wave” sales will be donated to the Hayashi family in Kurt’s honor.”

Aesop Rock is currently in the process of producing his first proper solo full-length studio album, since 2016.