Appleseed was
Aesop Rock's second self-issued release, following his sought-after 1997 debut
Music for Earthworms. Like 2000's
Float, his first album with proper distribution, the EP's tracks were produced by
Aesop himself as well as frequent early collaborators
Blockhead and
Omega One, although they only handled one track each. Even at this early stage, he'd pretty much established his signature style of ultra-dense, acutely descriptive rhyming, requiring numerous attentive listens to decipher his multidimensional brain barf. Easily a step up from the demo-like
Earthworms, this is a much tighter, more focused set of tracks, even as it seems like
Aesop is going off on a thousand tangents, following every strand of a thought that crosses his mind. The EP begins with a brief intro in which
Aesop describes challenging his previous viewpoints, as well as those of people who blindly follow religious leaders. The
Ornette Coleman sample used throughout "Dryspell" is relatively calm compared to
Aesop's whirlwind rhymes about self-doubt, clashing emotions, and whether his drive for success is worth it. The sinister "Hold the Cup" details his frustration at not gaining recognition for his hard work (at least not yet), while alluding to a drinking problem. "1,000 Deaths" has one of the EP's more upbeat backing tracks, but the lyrics vent exasperation about
Aesop's day job as a waiter while subverting several biblical references. "Odessa" finds him trading lines with (and sometimes overlapping) the even more abstract
Doseone of the
Anticon collective, with both emcees sticking up for fellow underground rap weirdos, in their own roundabout ways.
Appleseed's lyrics are more introspective than they might seem at first, even if they're not quite as autobiographical as later
Aesop albums like
Skelethon and
The Impossible Kid, and he hadn't developed his knack for storytelling yet, so the songs are less narrative and closer to aggravated bursts. Musically, the tracks are relatively laid-back and uncomplicated, barely hinting at the grand leap
Aesop would take with the more polished production of his 2001 breakthrough
Labor Days, but they serve as a neat time capsule of the late-'90s backpacker rap era. [After
Appleseed was initially released as a CD-R in 1999,
Aesop Rock re-pressed the EP and made it available during some of his subsequent tours.
Rhymesayers officially reissued
Appleseed in 2021.] ~ Paul Simpson
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