Aesop Rock

El-P’s Definitive Jux, arguably one of the most vital labels from the hip-hop underground, may be on the way out (a 2010 announcement puts it on indefinite hiatus), but flagship artist Aesop Rock is definitely not. None Shall Pass, his 2007 effort, is a record of warp-speed rhymes and a Shakespearean jester’s mix of self-deprecation and incisive urgency. Fans waited long for its full-length follow-up while Rock was busy working on other people’s projects, including lending verses to nearly half of Kimya Dawson’s Thunder Thighs and teaming with Rob Sonic and DJ Big Wiz (who join Rock here) for Hail Mary Mallon. Patient fans were rewarded this month with Rock’s first solo output in more than half a decade, Skelethon, which finds him spitting out verses like they’ve been trapped in his head this whole time.

Updated 07/19/2012