Aesop Rock Taught Me Aging Gracefully
We’re all getting older. You’ve aged a few seconds since pushing play on this podcast. By the time you finish this episode, it’s entirely probable that a new trend has started, the next big thing in tech has been discovered, and it will all leave you behind.
On “Lotta Years”, from the self-produced 2016 album The Impossible Kid, we get the rare opportunity to follow a nearly 40-year-old Aesop Rock as he confronts his own inevitable decline.
A 40-year-old rapper?
Five years ago, in 2002, who would have imagined such a thing?
Hold up a minute. 2002? That’s not five years. Do the math.
2002 was TWENTY FUCKING YEARS AGO.
Are you bitter about it? Well, that’s entirely up to you.
I’m Kris Hampton, and this is how Aesop Rock Taught Me Aging Gracefully.
Aesop Rock is an undisputed hip hop legend. Lupe Fiasco called him his favorite rapper. A data project by writer Matt Daniels named Aes as the rapper with the most diverse vocabulary - including using more unique words than the complete works of Shakespeare or Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.
Of course, being verbose doesn’t necessarily equal quality. What makes Aes an underground favorite is that within his master-level storytelling, he’s so damn relatable. And what we get in this song is a middle-aged Ian Bavitz going about his business on a regular old mundane day, but noticing the details around him that signal the thing so many of us worry constantly about: getting old.
I spent a lotta years making friends with cool artists
So when they drew me tattoos I could truly feel important
Now some 22 year-old inside a cube of brick and mortar
Got me questioning my morals and the corny pecking order
So damn relatable.
How often have you noticed something that wasn’t at all intended to say anything directly to you, only to feel like you’re being specifically targeted. LikeYOUR time has long since passed, and THEY have it all figured out. Even though THEY is just a kid working at your local ice cream shop?
Yeah, I feel you.
But Aes doesn’t leave it at observation. Talking out loud to himself, but for our benefit, he offers a solution:
I should give a shit less.
Cherry - no, whip - yes.
It doesn’t matter how old you are. Ice cream is ice cream. But I’m gonna have to go yes on the cherry, too. And while we’re at it… maybe even some sprinkles.
Let me ask you something - how old are you? Wait; don’t answer that. Just tell me this - do you remember the cartoon The Jetsons? Do you remember how ridiculously futuristic it seemed that they could call each other ON VIDEO? Every Sci-Fi show, movie, and cartoon used that same shock device: VIDEO CALLS FROM YOUR LIVING ROOM.
It was so space age. But by 2002, everybody had Skype.
Yep. Twenty years ago WAS the future. Now, you’re way behind.
My mind’s fucking blown
The future is amazing. I feel so fucking old
I bet you clone your pets and ride a hoverboard to work
I used a folding map to find the juice place in the first
These kids are running wild, I’m still recovering from church
You shoulda seen me in the 90’s I could ollie up a curb.
We all, at some point, fall victim to nostalgia. It’s impossible not to compare current you to 20-something-year-old you. You know, the 100%-positive-you-knew-everything-but-really-didn’t-have-the-first-clue you? Yeah, I feel you.
“I feel so fucking old,” doesn’t have to mean, “I feel washed up and useless.”
It can - if you let it - mean, “I feel experienced. Better. Wise. Like I know a thing or two about taking care of myself, my responsibilities, my family, my community, and - to be honest, kid? I could probably take you.” Well, let’s not go overboard.
Look - at this point, Aesop Rock is in his mid 40’s. It was only a few years ago that we considered this well past retirement age for rappers. But he’s just as prolific as ever, and has recently made some of his best music. And even if he is still using folding maps…
I happen to know for a fact that he can still ollie up a curb.
Thanks for listening to Hip Hop Taught Me Everything. This whole show - from imagery to writing to beats to the website to final mixes - is created by the two of us: Kris Hampton and Devin Dabney.
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We know that we aren’t the only ones out here who were raised by hip hop. If you’d like to tell us about a lesson you learned from your favorite song, to possibly be featured on a future episode, share it with us at My Story.
