Top 55 Aesop Rock Quotes

Rap lyrics are really the only thing I’ve ever written.

It’s really rare in life that a situation is as black and white as we tend to paint it.

I think I’m always surprised at how much the musicians I meet put weight on things that aren’t music.

If a song or group hits you at the right time in your life, it’s everything. It’s bigger than school or family or anything else.

I never really planned on being a rapper, I just kinda did it and then people started liking it.

I want to stay learning and hopefully allow my craft to evolve.

I love the playfulness and braggadocio that accompanies a ton of rap music – that’s basically what makes up the foundation for most rappers. But there is nothing ‘weirder’ to me than someone who has never doubted themselves.

My brother came home from college with a Mountain Goats cassette and I was like, ‘What is this?’ The lyrics were crazy to me. I’d never heard anything like it.

Really, my biggest risk was just the initial step to quit my day job to do music. I was packaging and shipping for an art gallery in Manhattan; I went to school for painting, so I always wanted to work around artwork, even though I wasn’t really contributing anything to the scene.

I guess all that I can hope for is that my songs affect the younger versions of me out there.

Finding something new that I know I’ve never done before is the best feeling I know, and when I get there it’s all worth it.

I like feeling warm inside a small home, knowing there’s a set of glowing eyes out in the woods somewhere. It’s just a vibe I enjoy writing about, and it deals simultaneously with safety and danger.

I don’t claim to be a composer, and I realize my approach is pretty dopey in comparison to the true masters of score work. That said, if someone thinks what I do specifically would work for their film, then, of course, let’s see what we can do.

I just think I want my work to represent me fully.

I remember when I was younger, I read that Jay-Z was 33 and I was just like, ‘Damn! This dudes really still goin for it?’ It’s just so rare that you see any rapper over 30 doing anything interesting.

It’s a strange position to be in. Not only the fact that I’m trying to live off work that is personal, but how you get the money for that is racing around the country and smiling for people and selling the record, you know what I mean?

My collaborative albums are always way more enjoyable to make.

People’s opinions outside of my direct group of friends means next to nothing.

Inserting my personal brand of humor is something I have at times had trouble doing – but I feel like I’ve been learning about it a little more, how to do it, and how it helps my songs.

I really like ‘Game of Thrones.

I just try to reflect the grittiness in New York. I try to protect the grit and the dirt that comes with it, which is a good thing.

Having some decent musicians around you only expands what you can do production-wise, but I make rap – I can’t really see myself doing much else.

I’ve always recorded at home. That’s been part of what it’s about to me. I’ve never been the kind of guy who rents a studio.

I went to college, got a job. Not a good job or anything but I was fully set to be an office employee for my life.

I love rap lyrics, I love hearing people rap, I love molding a thought or idea into the shape that fits on a rap beat.

Every record I do does a little better than the last, which in turn makes me more stressed out.

After much inner debate, I can safely proclaim that Mungo Jerry’s ‘In the Summertime’ may, in fact, be the best song ever recorded.

I love ‘Black Mirror.’

I don’t want to be the next face of America.

People will put me in whatever box they feel the most comfortable having me in, and nothing I can do will change that.

MCs are authors, and rock musicians who write lyrics are authors, to a degree.

You have to write about what’s inside you. If I have to get something out, I’ll do it.

I don’t really engage much in the creative community. I just kind of keep to myself and do my work.

You think of, like, Justin Timberlake. He does a three-hour performance every night, and it’s like, wow, I don’t know how that guy does it.

People can label me whatever they like. I don’t really care any more.

I believe giving pets ‘people food,’ while tempting, is generally frowned upon. As a pet owner you want to prioritize your animal’s health over the entertainment value in watching your little guy bat around a small piece of chicken.

I’d love it if one of my songs became a hit.

My brothers each reacted differently to ‘Blood Sandwich.’ It’s a very specific type of odd feeling when there’s a song written about you. People react to it differently.

I love a cool cellphone as much as the next guy, but, god, I hate when it rings.

I’m never really comfortable; I think it’s kind of natural to feel uncomfortable, and I think if people say they are comfortable, they’re just lying.

Drawing and visual arts was kinda my first passion going all the way back to when I was a kid. I always felt like it was what I was supposed to do – but in reality I don’t know that I ever had the skill to make it a profession.

Mark my words, even if I sell out a club of 15,000 with all girls, I’m not taking my shirt off. I’m sorry. I know y’all are waiting to see the pasty stomach and everything.

I think I learned very quickly after I started putting out music… you just learn that people are going to take what they want and make it fit their agenda or make it fit their interpretation. And you make peace with that or you suffer forever.

I remember thinking that ‘Earthworms’ wasn’t really an ‘album’ to me, only because it felt like a weird collection of songs more than an actual project.

I’ve traveled a lot, I’ve rapped a lot. I like to think that’s all in the toolbox to be tapped into when I need it.

Most artists – painters or writers – I think create out of stress or negative situations. Look at rock music. It’s about getting things off of your chest, and it’s a means of venting in many ways. That’s what my work is about.

I got tired of everybody repeating the same phrases in the hip-hop world.

To me, it seems more realistic to my thought process when things feel a little scattered in the lyrics. Being disjointed is not that abstract of a thing when I think about how my brain works – I feel like it’s almost more realistic. That’s how my brain works.

Artwork, films, TV – it’s always informed my work, no matter what I’m working on.

I don’t really regret much of my music life.

Honestly, I don’t feel pressure to live up to anything I’ve done because I tend to not listen to my work once a year passes.

When I record in a studio. I know that on Tuesday at 3 o’clock I’ve got to go be creative.

I don’t like to do the same songs every night for a week. I just… it’s boring and tiring and frustrating basically.

I would love for my existence as an artist to be completely about my art – not about my social media, or what I do vs what’s cool right now, or even whether or not I sound okay in an interview.

I think if the desire to improve what I do starts to plateau then what’s the point.