Aesop Rock’s New LP Is a Rewarding Chapter of a Singular Career » PopMatters

The legendary MC Aesop Rock delivers another masterclass in beats and rhymes with some new wrinkles.

Black Hole Superette Aesop Rock Rhymesayers 30 May 2025

While El-P found mainstream success with Run the Jewels, and many other greats of the 2000s indie hip-hop boom have hung up their hats, Aesop Rock steadily delivers another stellar release every few years. He is back with Black Hole Superette, and in many ways, it is business as usual–his inimitable voice, his dizzying, dense lyrics, and beats that sound like transmissions from another planet.

He’s not interested in pleasing anyone other than himself here, and that is excellent news for his devotees. Black Hole Superette is yet another endlessly satisfying chapter from one of the elite lyricists and producers in hip-hop. This time out, he’s crafted a seamless blend of his classic beats and more recent tweaks to his sound, attaching it to his signature mix of humor and pathos.

Over the past 25 years, Aesop Rock has amassed a devoted cult following from certified classics like Labor Days and Float, as well as later-career masterstrokes like The Impossible Kid and Skelethon. His influence extends far beyond the mainstream. At this point in his career, even his acolytes are veterans. Backwoodz Studioz artists like billy woods, who appears here as part of Armand Hammer on highlight “1010WINS”, have been around long enough to amass their own cult followings.

Aes is selective with guests, choosing talent over buzz every time. Landing a guest spot on one of his records must feel like an anointing. Another respected veteran and kindred spirit, Open Mike Eagle, appears on the banger “So Be It”. “Charlie Horse” ambles along like the best tracks on Bazooka Tooth and features Lupe Fiasco and frequent collaborator Homeboy Sandman. It is thrilling to hear these highly respected MCs bring their own unique perspectives to Aes’s world, simultaneously weaving themselves into his signature sound while retaining their own idiosyncrasies. 

Musically, Black Hole Superette harkens back to the minimalist, sample-heavy beats from Float and Labor Days. “Checkers” was the introduction to Black Hole Superette, and fan reaction was unanimously positive with good reason. It works as well as any other track in his discography as an example of what makes Aesop Rock so endlessly compelling, from the ominous sample to the spacey beat to his singular voice and flow. Add in the mention of the titular superette and his trademark dark humor, and it becomes another essential track.

Another track that seems destined to enter the canon is “Ice Sold Here”, a wordplay clinic where Aes plays around with fire and ice-based lines to flex. However, this is not just a victory lap of what has worked before. A banjo opens “Steel Wool” before it’s swallowed up by the atmosphere.

Lyrically, Black Hole Superette continues some of Aes’ more recent wrinkles, from the loose conceptual theme (his last release was loosely connected to a tech company) to the more playful tracks about pets and the passage of time. “Movie Night” continues that tradition with a light, playful beat that recalls early 1990s Beastie Boys and verses that focus on his dog and cat. Fans of The Impossible Kid’s stand-out “Kirby” will be similarly charmed.

Aes delivers another compelling story-song in “John Something”, which accounts for his experience watching the classic Rumble in the Jungle documentary, When We Were Kings. Last time out, Aes shared a delightful story of seeing Mr. T in a restaurant in the 1980s in “100 Feet Tall”, which was one of that record’s standouts. And while a near 70-minute runtime might be out of fashion, don’t miss the closing track “Unbelievable Shenanigans”, a somber, pretty coda that works in a Britpop-flavored outro and features Hanni El-Khatib, who was on Integrated Tech Solutions’ highlight “Kyanite Toothpick”.

Aesop Rock drops another excellent record every three or four years, and fans spend the time between trying to unpack every nuance of his mesmerizing wordplay and references. Just when we think we have mastered Black Hole Superette, he will return with another record ready-made to feed our obsession. He essentially delivers his own review of the record on “Bird School”: “Fuck it, I’m a say it–it’s astonishing”.