“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?”

American rapper and producer

Aesop Rock is the stage name of Ian Matthias Bavitz, an American rapper and producer from the late 1990s and early 2000s underground and alternative hip-hop scene. He is known for being part of the wave of artists that helped define that era. He came to prominence on El-P’s Definitive Jux label, where he was signed until the label went on hiatus in 2010. In a 2010 retrospective, betterPropaganda ranked him 19th on its Top 100 Artists of the Decade list, reflecting the lasting attention his work had drawn within hip-hop.