“This was 1996
He was there to show some photos that would demonstrate his gift
I think his name was John Something…”
-”John Something” by Aesop Rock

I love Aesop Rock. He’s another one of my favorite lyricists.

Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of 2025’s Black Hole Superette. One song that’s been on my mind a lot is “John Something.” In the song, Aes talks about a time he attended an artist lecture given by an artist whose name he can’t exactly remember. The artist changes plans and spends most of the lecture discussing When We Were Kings, a documentary about the Rumble in the Jungle, the 1974 fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in what was then known as Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo).

There is so much to love about this song. The track is understated, prominently featuring a lounge-type piano riff, hand drums, and finger snaps where you’d typically expect a snare. There’s also the chipmunked backup vocal repeating “John Something” after Aes says the name, which put me in mind of the theme from Shaft, even though they don’t sound similar.

I am also a sucker for interesting lyrics. Sometimes I love the lyrics for their depth, sometimes I love them for the craft. In this case, I am amazed at Aes’s ability to tell a story about an art lecture that is at all interesting, not to mention insightful and funny. I love how well lines flow. For example, “He go, ‘Last night, I saw this new documentary / And I can not understate the extent to which it’s affected me…’” In the middle of a song. And the delivery on that line, which is slowed at the end for emphasis, adds to the whole thing.

It’s a lovely and funny tribute to an unknown artist who introduced him to a movie that riveted him and that he still watches occasionally. It’s also fun that he’s another artist passing on the movie recommendation through his art. The recommendation:

I’m at the movie theater, this was Boston, 1996
20 years of age, I’m an ’80s Mike Tyson kid
We heard about that legendary clashing of the titans
But could never have contextualized the metrics or environment

Until, 90 minutes of history
And images and music, I was riveted, infinity
That walk out different than you slithered in
Every atom in you shifting, christened in the river shit

I did what you naturally do after hearing this song: I watched the movie, and I highly recommend it.

To be continued…