Is that not just one of the greatest album covers of all time?
After releasing the bloated but very intriguing Float to the underground audience in 2000, rapper Ian Bavitz (born Aesop Rock) found himself the centre of a certain El-P's attention. After splitting with Company Flow and raising a firm middle finger to former record label Rawkus Records, El had decided that he was going to reinvent the underground scene, and began his search for like-minded artists with unique, genre-pushing music and a "fuck the industry" sort of attitude, to sign to his new label Def Jux. It's no wonder that Aes was one of the first he sided himself with - while Float certainly wasn't perfect, it showed immense promise, and with some tweaks and advice from other artists who'd had more experience in album curating, Ian's style could potentially be just what El needed to follow up the instant classic, Cannibal Ox's The Cold Vein.
On Aes' side, I guess he wanted to make a project more conceptual and focused than Float was, meaning that the album ended up being not only 6 tracks shorter, but also much more clear in its message from the title and cover alone. And so, Labor Days was born, Aesop's second album and first of three with Def Jux, although El-P didn't end up getting a word in edgeways for its creation - I'd say that's a bad thing, but given how the record turned out, I can't imagine any improvement El-P could even have given it. And yeah, I do of course love this album - you'd be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't. But just what makes it so great? And what makes this album so much better than Float before it? Well, let's find out!!
1. Labor (prod. Aesop Rock)
Aes introduces the audience to the new and improved him with a short one verse wonder that blows everything that appeared on Float out of the water. Considering how cryptic Aes' writing is, you'll be surprised at how memorable every single line here is, and with an instrumental as groovy as this you'll be feeling the music all the way too. Awesome way to start things off.
2. Daylight (prod. Blockhead)
3. Save Yourself (prod. Blockhead)
For me, this is arguably the song that feels the most out of place on Labor Days, although please don't take that as meaning I dislike anything about it. It's just that this (along with perhaps "Coma" later down the line) is the only instrumental on here that doesn't really feel like it has any emotion to it at all. It's just a slow, drawling beat that reminds me of a lot of Float, but what it does do is slow down the tempo from everything else to allow Aes to drop some of the most hilarious bars on the entire LP, and that he does. This one is dope as hell.
4. Flashflood (prod. Blockhead)
Back to another one verse wonder (hey, that sort-of rhymes), "Flashflood" features a drastic tone switch, as we get a cinematic instrumental that feels like it was sampled from the climax of an action film - it even incorporates some samples from an old Superman audio series for good measure. Lyrically, the track dives deep into the plight of the American worker as well as the conditions of the streets of New York, and the way Aes tells it you'll have to source a transcription to understand everything - the verses of weird imagery and words grabbed from the darkest depths of the thesaurus will have you still trying to work out the first line by the time the verse ends. This song is brilliant though (awkward spelling out of the title towards the end notwithstanding) - the instrumental and vocal samples are enough to evoke a feeling of despair, before the brilliant lyrics even come into play. On most albums this would be the best song, but here... its company is pretty much infallible.
5. No Regrets (prod. Blockhead)
This one is probably the only song on the album that everybody understands on first listen - and to that end I'm not sure why it didn't get single treatment. I mean, the instrumental and hook are certainly catchy enough for it. The story on here is inspiring as fuck, and the messaging that the song portrays really lays Aes' vision out clear, as if he's given up on being subtle and decided to just tell it like it is, no matter the consequences (which in the dystopian world this album exists in could be quite terrible). This song amazes me every time - it's truly beautiful.
6. One Brick (feat. Illogic) (prod. Aesop Rock)
Definitely a mood shifter on the album, "One Brick" begins a section of the album that feels much more lowkey and eerie than the more brash nature of the first five tracks, and it's a part of the album I almost prefer, even if the first section of this album is still pretty much perfect. Aes produces this one, which is odd considering how completely unlike all of his other self-productions from this time sound like (imagine this track showing up on "Bazooka Tooth"), but it's a good thing, as this jazzy concoction is relaxing yet unsettling, and one of the best musical moments on the LP. And while the chorus where both vocalists cross over is somewhat irritating, the individual verses from Aes and guest star Illogic are both very potent. This is definitely one of the best songs here.
7. The Tugboat Complex Pt. 3 (prod. Blockhead)
A diss towards an unnamed character, one that seems more of a personal attack than "We're Famous", which was pretty much rapper to rapper. "The Tugboat Complex Pt. 3" is man to man, and it's highly interesting. I'm not sure if the subject of this song has ever been officially named, but Dub-L seems to be suspected (someone who produced on Aes' underground debut Music For Earthworms). It's kind of surprising to see Aesop address issues like this on record, and it's certainly not something you'd see him do now, but hey, it does make for an entertaining and passionate track here, so I'm for it. And those female vocal samples are nice.
8. Coma (prod. Omega One)
9. Battery (prod. Aesop Rock)
Holy fuck the way that "Coma" transitions into this track might just be the best moment in the entire Aesop Rock discography. Seriously, find me a moment more perfect than that. Man I'm in love with this. This song meanwhile is quite possibly my favourite across this whole record, and maybe my favourite Aesop Rock song full stop. Aes' self production on here, like one "One Brick", is jazzy - and in fact, you'll notice that all his beats so far have incorporated some kind of horn solo, all of which have worked wonders might I add - and lyrically the track is poignant and brilliant, with the second verse being that shit that will make you tear up a little on the happiest of days. Everything about this is fucking fantastic. God this album is wonderful.
10. Boombox (prod. Aesop Rock)
11. Bent Life (feat. C-Rayz Walz) (prod. Blockhead)
Looks like things are getting real serious now. This instrumental is one of the most unnerving I've heard on a non-horrorcore rap album, and the addition of C-Rayz Walz's animated vocal delivery to the track helps this one to become one of the most memorable tracks on the entire project. His yells of lines such as "We've been in a cold world!! We just getting flurries now?!" feel pretty in contrast to what Aes and friends tend to deliver, but in a good way - where Illogic provided a similar style of writing to Aes, C-Rayz is a guest who really switches things up, and it's much appreciated. And of course Aesop's performance here is fantastic. This is another incredible song, but you already knew that.
12. The Yes and The Y'all (prod. Blockhead)
I remember that I used to consider this (don't shoot me) the worst song on this entire album, but I think that's probably just because I didn't listen to it enough. After Aes makes the bold decision to spend the first thirty seconds of the track rapping in acapella, we finally get a beat drop, and said beat slowly rises from a decent piece to become something fantastically dramatic and dark. This song doesn't hit you immediately with greatness, but if you stick with it it is rewarding, because this instrumental sounds great. Lyrically it's also brilliant, like everything here, so there's that too.
13. 9-5ers Anthem (prod. Blockhead)
I know I said "Daylight" was Aes' signature song, but hell if this one right here was more popular then maybe it would take over that distinction. This has to be one of the best choruses of all time. Furthermore, the instrumental here is more mainstream sounding than most of the other stuff on this album, but still contains those quirks and sound effects (like what I think is a harmonica for example) that just helps you know it's an Aes track (once again, props for Blockhead for that), and everything about this one is just so catchy, even when he's talking about such activities as throwing long Hail Mary bombs toward cookie-cutter Mother Nature bedazzled synthetic fabrics. Yep. I fucking love Aesop man. He's so good.
14. Shovel (prod. Blockhead)
Ian closes things out with a powerful track with a sung hook that sticks in the mind, and if you're not in love with the man's music by this point in the album, then maybe you should... I don't know, get into films or gardening or something. Because clearly music isn't for you. This album is a masterpiece. It's just unprecedented how good this is.
Labor Days by Aesop Rock lands comfortably inside my top 5 albums of all time, perhaps only narrowly giving way to Common's Be for the top spot. This album is meaningful and societally relevant today, what with everything it says about how the world works and perhaps how it isn't quite right, and musically it is absolutely sensational, with hip-hop being combined with a plethora of other genres to create a moody, bluesy, jazzy atmosphere that ranges from eerie to poignant to merely fun as fuck sometimes, especially on the opening track. This whole album feels incredibly emotional, and on top of the content and production, perhaps the thing that stands out most is the way Aesop himself writes and raps. It's unlike anything you'll ever hear anywhere else. Lyrically he is in another fucking multiverse, with constant metaphors, crazy rhyme schemes and a vocabulary that will beat out literally any other writer on the fucking planet. Literally! And I know some people will disagree with me calling this his best work - a lot of fans prefer Aes' newer, more in-the-pocket sound, his ever so slightly (still very abstract, mind) more concise and clear writing, his groovier, more uptempo beats. I'll frequently see Skelethon, The Impossible Kid, maybe even Malibu Ken put above this effort. But for me, this will always be the pinnacle of Aesop's sound, no matter how brilliant his discography has been since (because it is really fucking good to this day). People like to throw the word "genius" around a decent amount, but when it comes to hip-hop music, for me Aesop is the most deserving of that term. Labor Days will always be a masterpiece, and a must hear for anyone who feels like a cog in the machine. This record is inspiration, and I love it. Thanks for reading!
Best track: Battery
Worst track: hell no!
Other Aes reviews here, and more to come soon!
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