Sorry to break it to y'all, but AES is a genius and knows everything he meant 💪💫💯

Aes has stated many times that he doesn't just put words together. A lot of the time stuff is personal to him and the area he experienced it but he's very visual, after listening to him for 20 years I can pretty much follow most of his stuff on the first listen. Still needs a few play throughs to digest though. It def sounds like that though if you don't listen to him a lot.

He definitely knows what he is talking about, its not just words.

Y’all disrespecting Aesop really bad here saying he has no idea what he’s saying. It’s purposefully obtuse, but painstakingly crafted and definitely has meaning. It’s not gibberish (his rap couldn’t be further); his word choices and lyrical combinations just throw us off because they seem entirely novel. We’re not used to hearing words combined the way he does. His word play is unreal, and his double entendres and metaphors are so layered that, yes! People can glean many meanings from what he’s saying even if it’s not what he intended. That’s great writing!

"He's just fuckin around with some words" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

This Aes Rock x billy woods combo goes hard

Aes is...a phenomenon. His command of the english language and storytelling ability is such a beautiful combination. This is the epitome of the art of music. He also makes all his own beats which is rare for rappers.

Abstract hip hop is tha bomb....AS and Billy are the kings!

Natural smoke = mist. Nature's cables = tree roots & plants.

Whole project is incredible.🔥🔥🔥 It gets better every listen

billy woods been around since the early 2000s when he was working with Vordul Mega of Cannibal Ox. Dude been super dope for a hot minute! Check out his joint with Aes from early this year, Waiting Around. Aes had verse of the year on that joint imo

He's a poet. Listened to him since I was 18 years old. I'm 39 now 😂

Aes doesn't strike me as aimless, this is demonstrated by the way those words become bars that weave to a larger themes. Future bars redefine previous bars. You don't get that by sprinkling words across a canvas.

Even his name has Lyrical meaning...Like Aesop's Fables, but for hip hop. He's a storyteller

Love this song, definitely need to listen to these songs more than once

I know its a thing alot of Aesop fans say. "Hes not just putting words together." I know to some new listeners, it sounds like a cop out answer. But this is one case where its true. And once you make the connection, every single thing makes sense if you actually willing to try to understand. Sadly, alot of people dont. And thats fare. Aesop isn't for everyone. But ill admit, sometimes it takes too much work. Especially if you dont share anything in commom with him in real life. As a skateboarding, film nerd, whos loves obscure pop culture reference and literature. Im not saying its always easy, but when you do understand it. Its next level. As Lupe says. The only man in rap who can do a one word punchline. Hell, the video Lupe has on KZfaq thats 45 minutes talking about Aesop, really does a good job explaining all this.

Aww u guys paused it at the best part and completely missed the beat switch 😭

This song is much much simpler to understand compared to his early career. Its just a song about walking around the city at night. Its hard to make sense of on first listen, but after a reading it becomes clear.

This is what you get when 3 dudes who aint ever read a book host a podcast that involves the breakdown of the english language

"And Bodega spangled in a merе thirty five Octillion lumens at a low angle Through incense smoke from a folding table It's basically nature's stolen cable" Just my interpretation, but sounds like he's talking about how you can't usually see rays of light in normal conditions, but when they're coming through the dirty windows of a dimly lit room (bodega) that has dust or in this case incense smoke floating in the air, you can see the rays of light reflecting off the smoke and dust particles. You're seeing something you wouldn't normally see, basically natures stolen cable.

You might want to listen to some of his songs based on true stories - they are much easier to understand. Ruby '81 Agressive Steven Walk Like Thunder (Uncluded) - his verse describes the illness of Camu who is referenced in this song. Nice reaction!

I remember a Ghost Face Killah interview. He was saying, people will decode his lyrics and think they have found the meaning and he be like nah it has no meaning he just liked the way the words sound together

Every single bar has meaning. I've often had to write them down to make better sense. None of it is gibberish

i get people putting meaning to his words when they dont really know but to say he doesnt even know is wild....

Two Clones and a Beard just said Aesop Rock doesn't know what he's talking about?! He's the only one who really knows and it'll take us a lyric sheet to follow along with his parable.

You gotta be on the right wavelength to get the meaning to Aesop Rock’s lyrics. I don’t always understand what he’s talking about, but I do enough to know it’s all intentional. The thing about his lyrics is, he’s more of a lyrical painter than a poet. He uses some off-the-wall metaphors to give you mental pictures. Try listening to the story raps on this album, like 100 Feet Tall, Aggressive Steven, Vetitus, and Pigeonometry. When you’re following a story, you can get a better idea of how his crazy analogies give you a more powerful understanding of the story than if he’d just plainly told you what was going on.

Natures cable roots of a tree

This is a cool analysis and it's good to hear your takes, thanks for the video. But ultimately, not to be a dickhead online, but y'all need to listen a little closer. Like other commenters are saying, it's not random, it's intentional poetry. There's a lot of meaning to latch onto but it requires really digging into the whole lexicon. Lots of his slang, references and pet words appear bizarre upon first listen but when seeing these terms being employed on many tracks over many years, they take on more specific meanings. It's a lot to follow, a lot to digest, but it's definitely not crunchy words for crunchy word's sake. Also billy woods rules and as a hip hop fan it's so cool seeing all these super bad*ss musicians coming together over time. I remember back in the day first discovering Aesop, MF DOOM, Busdriver, etc. and being like "wow can you imagine if these dudes were on the same track?!?" And in following years all that came to happen, multiple times. But yeah woods is outrageous with the way he explains things so simply and directly yet so nuanced. Both extremely thoughtful rappers, Aesop with the super dense wordplay, woods with the searing direct imagery, great song, fills me with energy. "Time is a pick to the ice, right when you chillin it be chipping at the vibe" That line's pretty straight forward and meaningful for someone getting a little older and thinking about aging.

Gotta love the newschool boys who think Aes is just "fucking around with words" like he didnt think of a few meanings off of every sentence

Oh noooooo, they can't catch the bars :( A good idea for reacting to Aesop (especially for a first listen) is to pull up the lyrics while you listen. Easier to follow. It also takes a lot of listens to actually catch everything he's saying so it's no foul on your part for not really getting it. An easier song to follow from the same album is probably "Vititus". It's about his grandmother and you'd probably be able to catch that on a first listen. Good to see you guys having fun with em though lol

LOOOOOL NO. Aes is publicly on record saying have meaning. "I feel like if people aren’t pulling anything from the songs, then they’re not really trying to, or didn’t have an interest in the first place." -Aesop Rock in Rolling Stone Magazine. Not gonna Lie this "live reaction" seems like one part not really trying and three parts commenting on talent beyond your ability to comprehend.

Way over your heads it is.

Stopping to talk during the beat change is a tragedy

Naw, yall are dead wrong , i am from ny since a kid, spoke that ny language since a kid, and been listening 20 years or so now since i heard Basic Cable, back in the days he used to even bmore cryptic and I thought maybe it was all just good sounding syllables strung together, the whole ficking world said what yall just said at some point, it's just a bunch of non sequitors, that's when aesop wrote a whole big ass book with every word he ever wrote in songs in it , to debunk that, then he changed labels to Rhymesayers, and rhymesayers started adding full lyrics in the drop dowm menu of every one of his songs, between the book, and fan made lyric videos, the lyrics in his rhymesayers videos , it's actually pretty hard not to find something you can read or just follow along with as it goes on screen , the second is better, once you watch a few lyrics on screen videos , you realize he put more thought into every letter of every word than most musicians, he has learned to bend sound and language. He is the true. Example of a world class poet aspiring to be a rapper.

I don’t see Aes’ work this way at all. To me, it seems that he has a story or idea he is expressing that is the foundation of his songs. Then he uses his deep vocabulary and expert use of metaphor and simile to embellish or even convolute how he expresses that message or story. Kind of similar to any other artist who learns basics before applying individualized technique. Aesop is a trained visual artist and I feel he is attempting to apply a lot of those visual art techniques sonically in his music. As he quoted in Facemelter: But fuck it, it's Ace Rock six records of gibberish right? He's trying to hard to be weird and different right? (Riiiiight) Or could it possibly just maybe be his lessons Can't be summed up in a linear set of pop culture references?

Y'all should change the name. You make it sound like you're Hip-Hop heads, but you're in the clouds.😶‍🌫️😶‍🌫️😶‍🌫️

Hot take crew lol

i WILL GIVE U $50 EACH IF U CAN FIND ONE AES LINE THAT IS GIBBERISH, THAT I CAN'T FIND A MEANING iN IT THAT BLOWS UR MINDS & i haven't memorized every word & researched every meaning but i know that i can find one if i look & not cuz i'm some genius, it's bc aesop is a genius that creates his art sooooo thoroughly that he wouldn't allow himself to use words just for rhyme sake. at this point in his artistic journey, billy woods isn't getting on a track w/ an mc that just says words that don't mean anything but hey they rhyme. & for him to create art that speaks of things only known to him while knowingly creating ways anyone can get something from his personal fever dreams is EFFFFFOOORRRRRRTTTTT not just him googling cool unique words that rhyme.

how y'all think you can speak on music when you review Aesop's and think he's just playing around lmao