Stanisland Magazine

Review: The rapper flexes a mighty hip-hop muscle, proving why he is a top lyricist

Last updated: 6th August 2025

Aesop Rock (born Ian Matthias Bavitz) returns with a fresh album that peers into the everyday and overlooked happenings.

His stylistic integrity remains intact, as he continues to dispatch feats of vocabulary and simile-heavy notes in both flow and verse using metaphors to spin new yarns.

What Black Hole Superrette Sounds Like

It’s not a hark back to a better era — it’s a continued and refined mass of exploratory, friendly tirades on the unraveling of life. It’s a first class example of how inspiration can truly come from anywhere. Rather than follow the current, Bavitz unleashes a delectable cache of rhyme schemes that are a naturally occurring part of his personality.

READ MORE: Aesop Rock Drops Surprise New Track ‘Roadside Rappin’

From Movie Night, where he recounts a daily routine to the bouncy vibes of EWR – Terminal A, Gate 20, which reflects on the passage of time, Aesop is slamming the breaks hard for us to hear this one — but he just can’t slow down.

Hip-hop supergroup Armand Hammer makes an appearance, flourishing alongside Rock on a signature production from their habitat, where Elucid and Billy Woods stir a mixture of impressive rhyming constructs.

“Plate-spinner off a late dinner
One fallen plate away from a date with the plague bringer” – Aesop Rock on So Be It

Each track is wildly different from the last, offering a podium for varying tastes while tending to the lyrical provisions Bavitz is known for. Traversing a bloom of subject matter, he touches almost every facet of his lifespan — including growing older, as heard on Black Plums.

The Verdict

Black Hole Superette is classic Aesop Rock, melding an infinite canvas of impossible bars against a soundtrack-style motif. Whether he discusses the “good boy dog” or other portents of daily life in the style of Knausgard, he strips back his blend of classic artistry to rebuild his vision and talon for catching new listeners. This is a definite listen; though it can lose its spark, more often than not, it’s a highly charged melody of rap goodness.

How to Stream

You can stream the new album on all major platforms including Apple Music and Spotify. The rapper has also made both explicit and clean versions available. It’s distributed by the artist’s record label, Rhymesayers Entertainment.

Where to Buy Vinyl

You can buy vinyl copies of the fresh project directly from Rock’s website, and also, HMV, and Norman Records.