Portland-based rapper Aesop Rock and TOBACCO (Tom Fec of Black Moth Super Rainbow) have announced a new collaborative project under the name Malibu Ken. The duo will release their debut self-titled album on Jan. 18 via Rhymesayers and have shared the first single “Acid King” via a fairly disgusting animated video by Rob Shaw that sees Ken of 'Barbie and Ken' fame slowly disintegrate from a beautiful man to a puss-spewing corpse.
“TOBACCO and I have thrown around the idea of doing a project together since we first toured over a decade ago,” Aes said 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.”
Aesop Rock released The Impossible Kid in 2016, his first studio album in four years. TOBACCO released a compilation called Ripe & Majestic last year. Watch the video for “Acid King” and TOBACCO’s 2016 KEXP in-studio performance below.
Born and raised in New York, Aesop Rock originally emerged from the city's indie hip-hop world, releasing his breakthrough album Labor Days in 2001 on Definitive Jux, the label ran by El-P (Run the Jewels). But, Aes (real name: Ian Matthias Bavitz) moved to Portland in 2008, so after nearly a decad…
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