Aesop Rock

Bavitz has two brothers: Christopher T. Bavitz (born 1973), a clinical professor at Harvard Law School and director of Cyberlaw Clinic at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, and Graham J. Bavitz (born 1978).

Along with his siblings, Ian was raised Catholic, but he later became agnostic.

Ian Matthias Bavitz (born June 5, 1976), better known by his stage name Aesop Rock, is an American rapper and producer from Long Island, New York.

He was at the forefront of the new wave of underground and alternative hip hop acts that emerged during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Bavitz attended Northport High School in 1990 and graduated in 1994.

Bavitz began rapping in the early 1990s.

He cites Public Enemy, BDP, KMD, and Run DMC as early influences.

Bavitz also listened to rock acts such as Dead Kennedys, Fugazi, and Ministry; he was introduced to these groups by his older brother Chris.

Bavitz started to play the piano and bass at an early age and eventually acquired a sampler.

He met his future collaborator, Blockhead, in 1994 during the latter's only year at the school.

After hearing Aesop Rock freestyle, Blockhead decided to forgo his own dreams of rapping in favor of focusing on production.

Blockhead was involved with a crew in New York called The Overground that included Dub-L.

During his early adulthood, Aesop Rock held various odd jobs including positions answering phones for clothing catalogs, packaging artwork in art gallery storerooms and working for one-hour photo developers.

As a youth, Bavitz and his family would usually commute to New York City.

This had a great impact on him and the way he viewed the hip hop culture.

He released his first album, Music for Earthworms, in 1997, with Float following three years later.

While attending college, Bavitz initially recorded and released two self-financed efforts, Music for Earthworms (1997), a full-length featuring underground artist Percee P on two tracks.

Bavitz also released a music video for "Abandon All Hope", which was one of the tracks on the CD.

The album sold over 300 copies, largely from a grassroots internet-based promotion at his website AesopRock.com and then-popular web portal, MP3.com.

He acquired his bachelor's in 1998.

With the money he made from his previous release, he then released his Appleseed EP in 1999 which received critical acclaim in the underground hip-hop circuit.

His early records were mostly produced by his long-time friend Blockhead and underground producer Dub-L.

After his breakthrough success in the underground hip hop and indie rap community, he was eventually noticed by the Mush label and obtained his first record deal in 1999, just a year after he graduated from college.

Aesop released his first major album, Float (2000), with guest appearances from Vast Aire, Slug, and Dose One.

Production was split between Blockhead and Aesop himself, with one track by Omega One.

Labor Days, his third studio album, was released in September 2001.

His next release came two years later, titled Bazooka Tooth, released in September 2003.

In 2005, he married Allyson Baker, guitarist and vocalist of rock band Dirty Ghosts; they resided in San Francisco, but have since divorced.

After graduating from high school, Bavitz attended Boston University in Massachusetts where he studied visual arts.

His fourth studio album, None Shall Pass, was released in August 2007.

Its titular song became one of Ian's most popular and well-known songs.

He was signed to El-P's Definitive Jux label until it went on hiatus in 2010.

In a 2010 retrospective, betterPropaganda ranked him at number 19 at the Top 100 Artists of the Decade.

His sixth record, Skelethon, was released in July 2012.

His seventh release, The Impossible Kid, came out in April 2016.

His eighth album, Spirit World Field Guide, came out in November 2020, with his ninth album, Garbology, released in November 2021.

Integrated Tech Solutions, his tenth album, was released in November 2023.

He was a member of the groups The Weathermen, Hail Mary Mallon, and the Uncluded, and is currently the vocalist of duo Malibu Ken.

Regarding his name, he said: "I acquired the name Aesop from a movie I had acted in with some friends. It was my character's name and it sort of stuck. The rock part came later just from throwing it in rhymes."

Bavitz was born at Syosset Hospital in Syosset, New York, and raised in Northport, Long Island, New York to his father Paul and mother Jameija.