Malibu Ken (Aesop Rock & TOBACCO) – “Acid King” Video

Malibu Ken (Aesop Rock & TOBACCO) – “Acid King” Video

Aesop Rock toured with psychedelic synth-sludge weirdos Black Moth Super Rainbow way back in 2007. A year later, the underground rap veteran teamed up with BMSR’s mysterious leader Tobacco on “Dirt,” a song from the latter’s first solo album Fucked Up Friends. And now, a decade later, Aesop and Tobacco have a full-length collaborative project coming out.

“TOBACCO and I have thrown around the idea of doing a project together since we first toured over a decade ago,” says Aesop in a statement. “I find his production to be something special, and always wanted to see what I could bring to it. We recently found time to record some songs, and Malibu Ken was born. I brought a few stories to the table, but also did my best to let the production dictate the subject matter throughout. We hope you like the soup.”

The duo of Aesop Rock and Tobacco is called Malibu Ken, and their debut self-titled album will be out in January on Rhymesayers. Today, they’ve shared first single “Acid King,” which gives you a taste of how Aesop’s dexterous wordplay sounds over Tobacco’s mutated synthpop. The animated video, from longtime Aesop collaborator Rob Shaw, shows a blonde guy — Malibu Ken? — rapping as his face slowly decays and melts off. It’s pretty gross! Watch and listen below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Corn Maze”
02 “Tuesday”
03 “Save Our Ship”
04 “Sword Box”
05 “Dog Years”
06 “Acid King”
07 “Suicide Big Gulp”
08 “1+1=13″
09 “Churro”
10 “Purple Moss”

Malibu Ken is out 1/18 via Rhymesayers.

more from New Music