Aesop Rock | Artist

Aesop Rock is the stage name of American hip hop artist Ian Matthias Bavitz, born 1976 in Syosset, New York. Bavitz was at the forefront of the new wave of underground and alternative hip hop acts that emerged during the late 1990s and early 2000s. He met his future collaborator, Blockhead, in 1994 when they were both attending Boston University. After hearing Aesop Rock freestyle, Blockhead decided to forgo his own dreams of rapping in favor of focusing on production. Aesop’s style blends a varying tone and delivery with lyrics that contain intricate sequences of widely varying imagery, metaphors, puns, absurdism, and pop culture references, while including the occasional touchstones of traditional hip hop storytelling and self-promotion. As well as his solo work, Bavis is a member of many other collectives including Malibu Ken and The Weatherman. Outstanding albums include Labor Days (2001), None Shall Pass (2007), Skelethon (2012), The Impossible Kid (2016), the 2021 collaboration with Blockhead, Garbology, and Integrated Tech Solutions from 2024. Known for the breadth and complexity of his lyrics, Bavitz is hailed has having the largest vocabulary in hip hop. To build up his vocabulary, he reads a lot of news and science articles and writes down all the words he finds interesting. In 2005, Bavitz married Allyson Baker, guitarist and vocalist of rock band Dirty Ghosts; they resided in San Francisco, but have since divorced.

Artist Website: rhymesayers.com

Featured Albums: Aesop Rock

Related Artists: Ian Mathias Bavitz, The Weathermen, Malibu Ken, Blockhead