Love it so Fil much this reaction was awesome, galaxy brain in full force. The second verse in this song is wildly difficult haha but I think your breakdowns of all of this was really spot on. My interpretation is that all of these graphic and brutal descriptions of wartime is being a metaphor for his place in the music industry and the war against old school hip hop. I think thats where the “Choke-lore writers over boosted drums” line comes in, describing the immorality of younger artists in hip hop. Also the opening line “They did not know how long they had been there” could be referring to new artists lack of knowledge of what came before them. But the way you nailed the lines in the second verse describing him being a last man standing of sorts, that he has lost everyone on his side and fighting the good fight on his own, feels like him facing the new wave of hip hop all by himself. But I dont really know either, somehow this graphic depiction of war relates to his life in some way and I think thats my best guess. Totally with you about the “Moral compass all batshit, spinning in the shadows of immoral magnets” line. WOW. Incredible
Unsigned Hype is a regular column in hip-hop magazine The Source, spotlighting rappers who don't have record deals. Many successful rappers like Biggie, and underground legends Aesop himself, have been featured over the years. At the time Aes wrote the songs on Skelethon, his previous label Def Jux (founded by El-P) had just imploded following the death of his (and El's) best friend and fellow Def Jux rapper Camu Tao. Grieving the loss, Aesop once again found himself unsigned. Aesop then signed to Rhymesayers Entertainment, who released this album, and every subsequent Aesop Rock album to date.
I am living for this dive into Aesop Rock. Starting with some of his more palatable stuff and ending up here is how a lot of his fans discovered him I imagine. It can get really overwhelming trying to break down his pieces and discover the meaning, but its like a puzzle. Finding the solution and letting the pieces click together as it starts to make sense is a wonderfully fulfilling feeling. Truly unique music, and in my opinion one of the greatest poets alive. He's certainly inspired some of my own poetey
That said I don't think the war stuff is like wholly separate. I think he knows what kind of language he's using. I don't tend to imagine him using language like this as a glossy way of overstating or just a lazy analogy to obscure a statement into art, I think your comments on the ethics and whatnot of war are supposed to translate over into the actual theme. Like, when you hear this and sit back and reflect on if war is ever "worth it" [obviously I'm speaking tersely] or how it sounds like he's speaking down on war etc etc, I think that's the point of his use of that kind of language in this context. I think the metaphor serves to bring the ..... terse [/lazy again] alert, I think it serves to bring those questions to mind about the subject he's actually talking about without him having to say it. Like, he's not _just_ saying "it's like war out here", I think it goes back to the line "I guess it matters to me I wish it mattered to you", like it's him reflecting about the theme as if to question it like a war. He's not just saying "it's rough out here", he evokes war protest rhetoric as a way to show his borderline defeatist moments of reflection where he questions the legitimacy of "what we're all doing out here". As some people look at war and feel powerless to stop atrocity, Aes is looking at something and feeling disquieted and anxious about "what it all means" and whatnot. Roving packs of elusive young doesn't just serve to overstate people into soldiers, it serves to highlight the similar ethical complexities between soldiers and the actual subject of the line But then, again, who tf am I
Mind blowing his talent ..very cleverly done ..an yet another phenomenal elite bar catching breakdown . Thanku both so much .this was incredible much love an God bless always from Cyprus x
I'd love to see you do intuition and equilibrium. Literally no one has done a reaction to him. Finish with a kill is a great song and one of my favorite lines is in ain't the blues. "Whats the point of running faster, if you're only running laps your, so focused on staying on the track you forget the finish lines the starting point you're coming back to."
The song is about the death of real hip hop. Roving packs of elusive young become choke little writers over boosted drums. Down from a hunt able surplus to 1 cuz there used to be a bunch of good rappers but now he feels like he's the only one who actually puts in the work. Evoke lunch jumped over plunging necklines is one of my all time favorite lines. The guy can make throwing up sound dope
Verse 1/chorus Add.:two things can be true. SO, soldiers as rhymers... - lots of dead friends, collaborators, dear ones. - plunging necklines, v neck uniforms, establishing the parallel. - mothmen = biting styles, regularly refers to moths in other work - 'how to eat fried worms' ? Is a children's book about a double dare- worms chubbier- did it, and the things that came with it. Against the will, just to not back out. - Bindle on a broomstick - life on tours. Parallels w bleak imagery a regular thing for aes, leaning to the track w zavala where he's rapping about Nam as if it's become the norm of navigation through everyday life. - smoke out moles, living alongside fake faces - nest egg/death ray feels very pointed to def jux fall out, the timing of the recall of story - a backlog or a at the very least a comeuppance - flat-foot on jelly day is the stereotype of cops inhaling donuts like it's going out of style - moral compass is reading wrong under contract - BTW: we make artists out of gifted killers.
V2/ Quartered up - 'put your quarters up' was a cypheresque track w og rhymesayers - the label he emigrated to after def jux. kill screen, video game ref. Again, your take, and following w it can many anything means its prob true. Lol - no corner cut - the conviction of his decision to make his move. Also his approach to just about everything he's done creatively. - boy/goon running w the devil. I legit think this is a little brother perspective to a cruel elder. U know the one 😉 - here's where the tale of caution: never felt at home anyway 'this is killing me' - straw to gold - heads on poles, the goriness of using creatives through manipulationn stealing souls. 'You're a good soldier' nailed it. - ccigars, laugjably comdec fate under a narcissists bannera
i made kinda same comment to slipknot95maggot who also thinks song is about hardships of being a rapper. You ARE SOOOO WRONG! I can't imagine Aesop writing a song comparing the music industry to war. I think he feels there's a complete difference between the 2. I’d say he has a greater rage towards War than he does towards the music industry. I think he titled it Zero Dark Thirty, to connect the song to war, cuz that's nme of movie bout killing Bin Laden. it's code for SEAL team's landing at 12:30am. Aesop's not gonna openly use war as metaphor for anything really, but def not to describe 'cutthroat' music industry. & MARS ATTACKS IS ABOUT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER ATTACKS
examples of his amazing lyrics that absolutely are about war... Aesop's Winners Take All has some of the COLDEST MOST HORRIFIC LYRICS ABOUT WAR EVER aes- "the widow maker also MANUFACTURES ORPHANS, manufactures ornaments, if it moves stick a fork in it. Winners take all, killers rape all coordinates..I feel so alive it don't matter which bitches litter is clipped...You all will die for the glory of... shit I can't put my finger on it but it's big. Big & legitimate, JUSTIFY WOMEN & KIDDY KILLER SHIT". & the chorus of WInners Take All is aes talking over walkie -talkie sayin, " "I have landed safely. I have not received my papers. I have zero natural enemies. I don't know my location. I have no training in reconnaissance, combat or colluding. I'm calling for my orders, over. (then another voice says)'Strap on a helmet & start shooting.'"
Sugar Skulls are from the Latino Holiday Dia de los Muertos. Sugar skull, literally a skull made of sugar, in the rain would melt, "flower eyes melting" seeing a swirl of colors of blood, sweat and tears go down the drain, aka all the hard work going into writing is being wasted for lesser talents. Quarter up and headed for the kill screen is an old arcade game reference. Quarter up being adding your coin to the machine, and the kill screen is the best possible outcome, where you progress in an older arcade game like pacman where the memory overflows and generates a "kill screen". He's basically saying he's trying his best to get through the noise of other rappers by not making mistakes and executing perfectly.
The thoughts of a rat in a tin of boiled rice the outcome of a Greek chorus sung twice, surging emotions that expand space, surging oceans that cover dire straits, baby submersible on techie Mark face, leaf on a wave, seek and be two brave, swells are unknown in the local glee club, surf the strifes at expensive yacht clubs, cup down at the local rub a dub, dub ethanol arithmetic from the seminal grub, it's the Enya phase of whispering trees, the flashing eyes on one knee freeze, harbinger of a PHD in Colonial squeeze, f*ck the honey with kickback guarantee, Boy Scout walks the plank in Bob A Job week, daily spanking blue collars up before the beak, Gabriel's sentence of a Mercy Street physique, sanctuary auctions as part of the whale breach. I'm over here I'm up here, I'm under fire, I am on fire. cavitate, cavitate, moves are microscopic, gravitate, gravitate, to apple tree logic, of a rattus in batter a Glasgow stoater, on an English boater. Crashing reefs that break and replace, renewing shells for a new time place, undertow to weapons grade lab plates, ripple the day with a wave of the pace, the erratic trace of a torpedo chase, Captain, my back spin, for an about face, start again, The thoughts of a rat in a tin of boiled rice. Fil, what a piece of work this man creates. Outstanding. He, so inspires the narrative. I'm wobbly kneed. #QcumberSquad #AesopRock - Fil, I'm off back to the study.
Lemme not be overconfident about basically anything Aes, but I think all the war stuff is metaphor. I don't think the theme is actually war I think it just sounds like war 'cuz as they say "it's war out here" ....does anybody say that.? Anyway. Personally, starting off with "unsigned hype" def signals to me either 1. musical underground etc etc and/or 2. a general "outlook" or w/e of standing apart
so i hope you know i love & respect your comments! seek em out even BUT U B WRONNNGGGG LOL he's got as many war songs as songs bout the industry. Most popular, None SHall Pass & 9-5er's Anthem, Mars Attacks was written about World Trade Center attacks. BUT Winners Take All has some of the COLDEST MOST HORRIFIC LYRICS ABOUT WAR EVER aes- "the widow maker also MANUFACTURES ORPHANS, manufactures ornaments, if it moves stick a fork in it. Winners take all, killers rape all coordinates..I feel so alive it don't matter which bitches litter is clipped...You all will die for the glory of... shit I can't put my finger on it but it's big. Big & legitimate, JUSTIFY WOMEN & KIDDY KILLER SHIT" The chorus of WInners Take All is aes talking over walkie -talkie sayin, " "I have landed safely. I have not received my papers. I have zero natural enemies. I don't know my location. I have no training in reconnaissance, combat or colluding. I'm calling for my orders, over. (then another voice says)'Strap on a helmet & start shooting.'"
9-5ERS ANTHEM W/ ""damn get these men some water. They're out there being slaughtered In meaningless wars so you don't have to bother & can sit & soak the idiotbox trying to fuck their daughters Man it's the year of the Orphan. Seated adjacent to the firefly circling the torches on your porches Trying to guard the fortress of a king they've never seen or met But all are trained to murder at the first sign of a threat"
my fave of his about war is 'Numb to da Guns' where he's got the attitude of someone who's numb to the violence of war, like w/ this bar, "WHEN THEY ASK WHAT'S MY OPINION ON THE WAR, I TELL EM WAR SUCKS DONKEY DICK, WHAT'S THE KNICKS SCORE?? he also says, 'TELL WOLF BLITZER TO HOLLA AT HIS BOY WHEN HE HOSTS BLIND DATE' Wolf BLitzer is CNN reporter & Blind Date was old 'game show' w/ people going on blind dates & the producers would add thought bubbles as to how the person truly felt. CHORUS OF NUMB TO GUNS "He's numb to the guns (right) thanks to the tank cam Glued to the box like the opposites'll shake hands (put 'em up!) Enough Hell for the world's hand baskets Enough cells for the world's hand captured (come on)"
ooohhhh we gotta let @jake-iz6kd know!!! he's asked so many people to break oxygen down & I think @thefablesphere could do it such justice... I did breakdown of Oxygen's 1st 8 bars, but, as a 20+ year daily listener of aesop @thefablesphere in his aes breakdowns has expanded the way i take in aesop more than anyone BUT aesop himself. THANK YOU
@@_Jake.From.Statefarm_ Shane just did a listen to/breakdown of Oxygen & he did have takes on lines that i hadn't thought of b4 th-cam.com/video/UR2QQji2ePo/w-d-xo.html
Love it so Fil much this reaction was awesome, galaxy brain in full force. The second verse in this song is wildly difficult haha but I think your breakdowns of all of this was really spot on. My interpretation is that all of these graphic and brutal descriptions of wartime is being a metaphor for his place in the music industry and the war against old school hip hop. I think thats where the “Choke-lore writers over boosted drums” line comes in, describing the immorality of younger artists in hip hop.
Also the opening line “They did not know how long they had been there” could be referring to new artists lack of knowledge of what came before them. But the way you nailed the lines in the second verse describing him being a last man standing of sorts, that he has lost everyone on his side and fighting the good fight on his own, feels like him facing the new wave of hip hop all by himself. But I dont really know either, somehow this graphic depiction of war relates to his life in some way and I think thats my best guess.
Totally with you about the “Moral compass all batshit, spinning in the shadows of immoral magnets” line. WOW. Incredible
Unsigned Hype is a regular column in hip-hop magazine The Source, spotlighting rappers who don't have record deals. Many successful rappers like Biggie, and underground legends Aesop himself, have been featured over the years.
At the time Aes wrote the songs on Skelethon, his previous label Def Jux (founded by El-P) had just imploded following the death of his (and El's) best friend and fellow Def Jux rapper Camu Tao. Grieving the loss, Aesop once again found himself unsigned.
Aesop then signed to Rhymesayers Entertainment, who released this album, and every subsequent Aesop Rock album to date.
I am living for this dive into Aesop Rock. Starting with some of his more palatable stuff and ending up here is how a lot of his fans discovered him I imagine. It can get really overwhelming trying to break down his pieces and discover the meaning, but its like a puzzle. Finding the solution and letting the pieces click together as it starts to make sense is a wonderfully fulfilling feeling. Truly unique music, and in my opinion one of the greatest poets alive. He's certainly inspired some of my own poetey
Love ya for the reactions.. aesop for president
That said I don't think the war stuff is like wholly separate. I think he knows what kind of language he's using. I don't tend to imagine him using language like this as a glossy way of overstating or just a lazy analogy to obscure a statement into art, I think your comments on the ethics and whatnot of war are supposed to translate over into the actual theme. Like, when you hear this and sit back and reflect on if war is ever "worth it" [obviously I'm speaking tersely] or how it sounds like he's speaking down on war etc etc, I think that's the point of his use of that kind of language in this context. I think the metaphor serves to bring the ..... terse [/lazy again] alert, I think it serves to bring those questions to mind about the subject he's actually talking about without him having to say it. Like, he's not _just_ saying "it's like war out here", I think it goes back to the line "I guess it matters to me I wish it mattered to you", like it's him reflecting about the theme as if to question it like a war. He's not just saying "it's rough out here", he evokes war protest rhetoric as a way to show his borderline defeatist moments of reflection where he questions the legitimacy of "what we're all doing out here". As some people look at war and feel powerless to stop atrocity, Aes is looking at something and feeling disquieted and anxious about "what it all means" and whatnot. Roving packs of elusive young doesn't just serve to overstate people into soldiers, it serves to highlight the similar ethical complexities between soldiers and the actual subject of the line
But then, again, who tf am I
Thanks so much for the Aesop run of reactions!
Mind blowing his talent ..very cleverly done ..an yet another phenomenal elite bar catching breakdown . Thanku both so much .this was incredible much love an God bless always from Cyprus x
I'd love to see you do intuition and equilibrium. Literally no one has done a reaction to him. Finish with a kill is a great song and one of my favorite lines is in ain't the blues. "Whats the point of running faster, if you're only running laps your, so focused on staying on the track you forget the finish lines the starting point you're coming back to."
The song is about the death of real hip hop. Roving packs of elusive young become choke little writers over boosted drums. Down from a hunt able surplus to 1 cuz there used to be a bunch of good rappers but now he feels like he's the only one who actually puts in the work. Evoke lunch jumped over plunging necklines is one of my all time favorite lines. The guy can make throwing up sound dope
ah should have read this before I wrote my comment, looks like we are on the same page here then. Good call about the huntable surplus to 1 line
Verse 1/chorus Add.:two things can be true. SO, soldiers as rhymers...
- lots of dead friends, collaborators, dear ones.
- plunging necklines, v neck uniforms, establishing the parallel.
- mothmen = biting styles, regularly refers to moths in other work
- 'how to eat fried worms' ? Is a children's book about a double dare- worms chubbier- did it, and the things that came with it. Against the will, just to not back out.
- Bindle on a broomstick - life on tours. Parallels w bleak imagery a regular thing for aes, leaning to the track w zavala where he's rapping about Nam as if it's become the norm of navigation through everyday life.
- smoke out moles, living alongside fake faces
- nest egg/death ray feels very pointed to def jux fall out, the timing of the recall of story - a backlog or a at the very least a comeuppance
- flat-foot on jelly day is the stereotype of cops inhaling donuts like it's going out of style
- moral compass is reading wrong under contract
- BTW: we make artists out of gifted killers.
V2/
Quartered up - 'put your quarters up' was a cypheresque track w og rhymesayers - the label he emigrated to after def jux. kill screen, video game ref. Again, your take, and following w it can many anything means its prob true. Lol
- no corner cut - the conviction of his decision to make his move. Also his approach to just about everything he's done creatively.
- boy/goon running w the devil. I legit think this is a little brother perspective to a cruel elder. U know the one 😉
- here's where the tale of caution: never felt at home anyway 'this is killing me'
- straw to gold - heads on poles, the goriness of using creatives through manipulationn stealing souls. 'You're a good soldier' nailed it.
- ccigars, laugjably comdec fate under a narcissists bannera
i made kinda same comment to slipknot95maggot who also thinks song is about hardships of being a rapper. You ARE SOOOO WRONG! I can't imagine Aesop writing a song comparing the music industry to war. I think he feels there's a complete difference between the 2. I’d say he has a greater rage towards War than he does towards the music industry. I think he titled it Zero Dark Thirty, to connect the song to war, cuz that's nme of movie bout killing Bin Laden. it's code for SEAL team's landing at 12:30am. Aesop's not gonna openly use war as metaphor for anything really, but def not to describe 'cutthroat' music industry. & MARS ATTACKS IS ABOUT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER ATTACKS
examples of his amazing lyrics that absolutely are about war... Aesop's Winners Take All has some of the COLDEST MOST HORRIFIC LYRICS ABOUT WAR EVER
aes- "the widow maker also MANUFACTURES ORPHANS, manufactures ornaments, if it moves stick a fork in it. Winners take all, killers rape all coordinates..I feel so alive it don't matter which bitches litter is clipped...You all will die for the glory of... shit I can't put my finger on it but it's big. Big & legitimate, JUSTIFY WOMEN & KIDDY KILLER SHIT". & the chorus of WInners Take All is aes talking over walkie -talkie sayin, " "I have landed safely. I have not received my papers. I have zero natural enemies. I don't know my location. I have no training in reconnaissance, combat or colluding. I'm calling for my orders, over. (then another voice says)'Strap on a helmet & start shooting.'"
You can also join the Fable Community by becoming a site member, this is completely FREE: www.thefablesphere.com/fablecommunity
Sugar Skulls are from the Latino Holiday Dia de los Muertos. Sugar skull, literally a skull made of sugar, in the rain would melt, "flower eyes melting" seeing a swirl of colors of blood, sweat and tears go down the drain, aka all the hard work going into writing is being wasted for lesser talents.
Quarter up and headed for the kill screen is an old arcade game reference. Quarter up being adding your coin to the machine, and the kill screen is the best possible outcome, where you progress in an older arcade game like pacman where the memory overflows and generates a "kill screen". He's basically saying he's trying his best to get through the noise of other rappers by not making mistakes and executing perfectly.
I think "Zero Friends" is the name of an arcade by where he lives
Zero Friends was also like an art collective in pdx with Alex Pardee and others.
War isn't the theme, it's the scheme
Quarter up headed for the kill screen... Is a video game reference. You put your quarter up, when you wanted to fight the champ
The thoughts of a rat in a tin of boiled rice
the outcome of a Greek chorus sung twice,
surging emotions that expand space,
surging oceans that cover dire straits,
baby submersible on techie Mark face,
leaf on a wave, seek and be two brave,
swells are unknown in the local glee club,
surf the strifes at expensive yacht clubs,
cup down at the local rub a dub, dub
ethanol arithmetic from the seminal grub,
it's the Enya phase of whispering trees,
the flashing eyes on one knee freeze,
harbinger of a PHD in Colonial squeeze,
f*ck the honey with kickback guarantee,
Boy Scout walks the plank in Bob A Job week,
daily spanking blue collars up before the beak,
Gabriel's sentence of a Mercy Street physique,
sanctuary auctions as part of the whale breach.
I'm over here
I'm up here,
I'm under fire,
I am on fire.
cavitate, cavitate,
moves are microscopic,
gravitate, gravitate,
to apple tree logic,
of a rattus
in batter
a Glasgow stoater,
on an English boater.
Crashing reefs that break and replace,
renewing shells for a new time place,
undertow to weapons grade lab plates,
ripple the day with a wave of the pace,
the erratic trace of a torpedo chase,
Captain, my back spin, for an about face,
start again,
The thoughts of a rat in a tin of boiled rice.
Fil, what a piece of work this man creates. Outstanding. He, so inspires the narrative. I'm wobbly kneed.
#QcumberSquad #AesopRock - Fil, I'm off back to the study.
Also took immoral magnets as "immoral magnates" or the rich and powerful who wage war.
Lemme not be overconfident about basically anything Aes, but I think all the war stuff is metaphor. I don't think the theme is actually war I think it just sounds like war 'cuz as they say "it's war out here" ....does anybody say that.? Anyway. Personally, starting off with "unsigned hype" def signals to me either 1. musical underground etc etc and/or 2. a general "outlook" or w/e of standing apart
so i hope you know i love & respect your comments! seek em out even BUT U B WRONNNGGGG LOL he's got as many war songs as songs bout the industry. Most popular, None SHall Pass & 9-5er's Anthem, Mars Attacks was written about World Trade Center attacks. BUT Winners Take All has some of the COLDEST MOST HORRIFIC LYRICS ABOUT WAR EVER
aes-
"the widow maker also MANUFACTURES ORPHANS, manufactures ornaments, if it moves stick a fork in it. Winners take all, killers rape all coordinates..I feel so alive it don't matter which bitches litter is clipped...You all will die for the glory of... shit I can't put my finger on it but it's big. Big & legitimate, JUSTIFY WOMEN & KIDDY KILLER SHIT"
The chorus of WInners Take All is aes talking over walkie -talkie sayin, " "I have landed safely. I have not received my papers. I have zero natural enemies. I don't know my location. I have no training in reconnaissance, combat or colluding. I'm calling for my orders, over. (then another voice says)'Strap on a helmet & start shooting.'"
9-5ERS ANTHEM W/ ""damn get these men some water. They're out there being slaughtered
In meaningless wars so you don't have to bother & can sit & soak the idiotbox trying to fuck their daughters
Man it's the year of the Orphan. Seated adjacent to the firefly circling the torches on your porches
Trying to guard the fortress of a king they've never seen or met
But all are trained to murder at the first sign of a threat"
my fave of his about war is 'Numb to da Guns' where he's got the attitude of someone who's numb to the violence of war, like w/ this bar, "WHEN THEY ASK WHAT'S MY OPINION ON THE WAR, I TELL EM WAR SUCKS DONKEY DICK, WHAT'S THE KNICKS SCORE?? he also says, 'TELL WOLF BLITZER TO HOLLA AT HIS BOY WHEN HE HOSTS BLIND DATE' Wolf BLitzer is CNN reporter & Blind Date was old 'game show' w/ people going on blind dates & the producers would add thought bubbles as to how the person truly felt. CHORUS OF NUMB TO GUNS "He's numb to the guns (right) thanks to the tank cam
Glued to the box like the opposites'll shake hands (put 'em up!) Enough Hell for the world's hand baskets
Enough cells for the world's hand captured (come on)"
You didn´t reacted to the line "arm in the maw", any scope on this please?
Music industry
AES to me has to be the greatest rapper ever. I know music is subjective and all but if it were objective, it would have to be Aesop Rock.
When all you can do is cover your mouth 😊
Do Aesop - Oxygen please =)
Sure... Gladly
@@traktician Looking forward to this one =)
ooohhhh we gotta let @jake-iz6kd know!!! he's asked so many people to break oxygen down & I think @thefablesphere could do it such justice... I did breakdown of Oxygen's 1st 8 bars, but, as a 20+ year daily listener of aesop @thefablesphere in his aes breakdowns has expanded the way i take in aesop more than anyone BUT aesop himself. THANK YOU
@@RavenousCatalyst594 Thanks for the reply! I def have requested it quite a bit. I feel like people might start it and give up on it. Lol!
@@_Jake.From.Statefarm_ Shane just did a listen to/breakdown of Oxygen & he did have takes on lines that i hadn't thought of b4 th-cam.com/video/UR2QQji2ePo/w-d-xo.html