Hail Mary Mallon – Are You Gonna Eat That?
Hail Mary Mallon is the collaborative work of hip-hop MCs Aesop Rock and Rob Sonic with DJ Big Wiz on the decks. These fellas have been making music and backing each other up for years, so an official album seemed almost unavoidable.
The group gets its name from Mary Mallon, a New York soup kitchen worker, and the first American identified with the deadly typhoid fever.
At this stage in their game together, Aesop Rock and Rob Sonic sound cohesive, playing off each other’s lines with seamless precision. Aesop’s word-wizardry hasn’t skipped a beat. The underground veteran can still spit out his confusing tongue-twisting metaphors at rapid-fire speed, never running out of gas.
Aesop can’t receive all the credit, though. Rob Sonic plays an equal role on every cut, spinning just as many complex rhymes for the listener to try and wrap their mind around.
DJ Big Wiz’s production gives the album a much darker and deeper sound than one might be used to coming from an Aesop fan base, but the change of pace works.
Track highlights include “Meter Feeder,” “Table Talk” and “Plagues and Bacon,” although nearly every track is worthwhile. The only song track that strikes a nerve is” Breakdance Beach,” thanks to the very repetitive and slightly annoying constant shout-out of the track’s name. Other than that, this album is golden.
Are You Gonna Eat That? officially drops June 7 on the Rhymesayers label, both on CD and a very tempting green double vinyl. You may already have it though, the digital release has been available for about a month.
Check out the video for “D-Up,” the exclusive bonus track on the digital release.
