Aesop Rock – Daylight
- Album:
- Labor Days
- Year :
- 2001
- RIYL :
- Atmosphere / Das Racist / Despot
I heard this song for the first time at a college party*. It was one of those experiences that, as a music fan in high school, I would daydream about: People listening to good, thoughtful music…in a social setting…while having fun!
Strange, I know. But yes, it actually happened.
At that time, I hadn’t listened to hip-hop with any regularity since middle school. Birchwood middle school circa 1995 was an all-out culture war between hip-hop listeners and anyone else.
Lucky for me, I could pass. But, by the time high school rolled around, I thought I was done with hip-hop. It felt like the pressure of having to keep up with something was off.
You know how it is.
But, after Aesop Rock, I really realized that the hooks were in deep. It has been a long and winding road since then (you don’t find your way back to 2 Chainz from Aesop Rock over night) but this track, more or less, single-handedly revived hip-hop as a part of my adult music-listening life.
And, what a track…monumental, really—to the point that “Daylight,” for better or worse, is a career-defining track for Aesop.
It’s home to the what is, in my estimation, the single most famous lyric in all of indie hop-hop. If you don’t know, I won’t spoil. You’ll know it when you hear it.
*Ok, I’m not sure if it qualified as a real party, but there were more than four people. And at least one girl. And and some beer.
Comments are closed.