Aaron Cohen knew he wasn’t going anywhere in Seattle. “I just needed to get out. I wasn’t doing anything productive,” said the Jewish rapper of his hometown. Three years ago, he moved to New York, fell in with a nascent collective called Inner City Kids, and was soon producing music, doing shows and shooting videos.
Cohen has forged relationships with many young New York MCs, including members of A$AP Mob. He performs regularly with A$AP Ant, and A$AP Ty produced a single, “Feminist,” that appeared on a mixtape Cohen dropped last year via the record label arm of fashion powerhouse Mishka NYC. “Murk” also features tracks produced by Infinite Jeanius, Black Noi$e and Ryan Hemsworth.
Cohen lives in Queens, but he got his start at venues like the Bowery Poetry Club. He also spends a lot of time working out of a Bushwick studio owned by percussionist/rapper Kassa Overall, who, for this episode of Play Room, joined Cohen at SoHo’s Serious Business Records for a run-through of “Potential Fans.”
When you’re done watching that (audio is NSFW, natch), check out his new music video, “Stanley Kubrick,” out today. And mark your calendar for his show at The Flat in Williamsburg on Sept. 27.