None Shall Pass

None Shall Pass is the fifth studio album by American hip hop artist Aesop Rock. It was released on Definitive Jux on August 28, 2007.^[12]

None Shall Pass
Studio album by Aesop Rock
Released	August 28, 2007 (2007-08-28)
Genre	Hip hop
Length	63:45
Label	Definitive Jux
Producer	Aesop Rock Blockhead El-P Rob Sonic
Aesop Rock chronology
Fast Cars, Danger, Fire and Knives (2005) None Shall Pass (2007) Skelethon (2012)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	74/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The A.V. Club	B−[3]
BBC	favorable[4]
Entertainment Weekly	A−[5]
HipHopDX	4.0/5[6]
Pitchfork Media	7.5/10[7]
PopMatters	[8]
Slant Magazine	[9]
Spin	favorable[10]
Tiny Mix Tapes	[11]

Music

The album features production by Blockhead, El-P, Rob Sonic, and Aesop Rock himself.^[13] The album features more live instrumentation than Aesop's previous work, including guitars by his then-wife Allyson Baker of the Dirty Ghosts; other instruments used on the album include bass and drums.^[14] Guest appearances include DJ Big Wiz, Cage, Breeze Brewin, El-P, Rob Sonic, and John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats.^[13] The album's artwork was done by Jeremy Fish.^[15]

In the leadup to the release of None Shall Pass, Aesop stated that his goal with the album was to increase his focus on storytelling: "I wanted to capture certain parts of my life, like when I used to skateboard a lot or when I was at junior high or when I was a kid. I want to almost take myself out of the equation, I didn't want to rap about 'me me me', I wanted it [to be] more visual and paint pictures of things."^[14]

Release

Following its release, None Shall Pass debuted at number 50 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling about 13,000 copies in its first week through independent hip hop label Definitive Jux.^[16]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Keep Off the Lawn"	Ian Bavitz	Aesop Rock	3:45
2.	"None Shall Pass"	Bavitz	Blockhead	4:03
3.	"Catacomb Kids"	Bavitz	Aesop Rock	4:07
4.	"Bring Back Pluto"	Bavitz	Blockhead Aesop Rock[a]	4:29
5.	"Fumes"	Bavitz	Blockhead	5:00
6.	"Getaway Car" (with Cage and Breeze Brewin)	Bavitz Christian Palko Paul Smith	Blockhead Aesop Rock[a]	3:15
7.	"39 Thieves"	Bavitz	Aesop Rock	4:15
8.	"The Harbor Is Yours"	Bavitz	Blockhead Aesop Rock[a]	3:58
9.	"Citronella"	Bavitz	Aesop Rock	4:53
10.	"Gun for the Whole Family" (with El-P)	Bavitz Jaime Meline	El-P	3:53
11.	"Five Fingers"	Bavitz	Aesop Rock Blockhead[a]	4:06
12.	"No City"	Bavitz	Blockhead El-P[a]	4:28
13.	"Dark Heart News" (with Rob Sonic)	Bavitz Robert Smith	Rob Sonic	3:59
14.	"Coffee" (with John Darnielle)	Bavitz John Darnielle	Blockhead[b]	9:34
Total length:				63:45

Bonus Edition

No.	Title	Producer(s)	Length
15.	"None Shall Pass - DJ Big Wiz Megablast Mix"	DJ Big Wiz	23:34
Total length:			87:19

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies an additional producer
• ^{^[b]} Blockhead is credited for producing "Coffee", but Aesop Rock produced the hidden track "Pigs", which starts at 5:15.

Personnel

Contributing artists

• Allyson Baker – guitar (tracks 1, 3, 8, 12 and 14)
• Carson Binks – bass guitar (tracks 3 and 8)
• Derek Layes – bass guitar (track 4)
• Big Hollis – additional vocals (track 1)
• Camu Tao – additional vocals (track 1)
• Rob Sonic – additional vocals (tracks 1 and 8)
• El-P – additional vocals (track 7)
• DJ Big Wiz – scratching (all tracks except 10)

Production

• Ken Heitmueller – mastering
• Joey Raia – mixing
• Jeremy Fish – artwork, layout, design

Charts

Chart (2007)	Peak position
US Billboard 200[17]	50
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[18]	35