Aesop Rock and his longtime musical ally, Blockhead, have announced a new collaborative album, Garbology, due on out November 12th via Rhymesayers Entertainment. In celebration of the announcement, Aesop Rock and Blockhead have shared a music video and audio for the album’s first single, “Jazz Hands”.
Aesop Rock and Blockhead’s relationship goes back nearly three decades, as the two began collaborating in the late ’90s. While the two have never collaborated on a full album, Blockhead is responsible for producing two of Aesop’s most popular songs, 2007’s None Shall Pass title track, and “Daylight” from 2001’s Labor Days.
Conceived during a creative lull following the death of Aesop’s close friend in January 2020, Garbology marks a return to form for the New York rapper.
“The world got really weird during those months, I knew at some point I had to get back to making something,” said Aesop in a press release. “Make a beat. Draw a picture. Write. Just go. But the idea of making a beat felt like math homework, and drawing is just so hard. Writing is hard too, but at some point I had to pick one.”
The album channels our current moment: finding a way to entertain ourselves during a time where social interactions remain infrequent. Totalling 14 tracks, including a feature of Homeboy Sandman, whom Aesop collaborated with on an MF DOOMÂ tribute song earlier this year, Garbology highlights the emotions of “cabin fever, fear, anger, and boredom,” said Rock in a press release.
He continued,
Garbology is defined as the study of the material discarded by a society to learn what it reveals about social or cultural patterns. I find a lot of parallels between that and the idea of picking up the pieces after a loss or period of intense unrest, and seeing what’s really there. It’s information that speaks to who I am, who we are, and how we move forward. Furthermore – the idea of digging through old, often neglected music from another time with an ear tuned for taking in that data in a different way than your average listener would is exactly what Block does. Go through the information and see what you find.
Check out the first Garbology single from Aesop Rock and Blockhead, “Jazz Hands”, below. Head here for additional listening options and to pre-order the album. Scroll down for a full Garbology tracklist.
Aesop Rock, Blockhead – “Jazz Hands” [Official Music Video]
Aesop Rock, Blockhead – “Jazz Hands”
[H/TÂ Brooklyn Vegan]