89
Earl Sweatshirt
Earl Sweatshirt
Earl Sweatshirt
Earl Sweatshirt
A provocateur with a dry wit and an outrageously dexterous
gift for wordplay, Earl Sweatshirt is one of the most consistently great and
ever-promising rappers of the new school; a clear inheritor of Eminem’s macabre
humor and Lil Wayne’s dyspeptic logorrhea, he’s a savvy, schooled rapper: gross,
entrancing and thrilling. When Odd Future tumbled out of L.A. in 2010, the
skilled-beyond-his-years Earl Sweatshirt tipped them into the spotlight, but
just as the collective took off he vanished. He was sent to Coral Reef Academy,
a therapeutic retreat for at-risk boys. Anyone who has seen the video for “Earl”
would understand why Earl’s mother was a bit concerned and sent him there. In a
band as magnanimous as Odd Future (Tyler, Syd, Frank, come-on- what a fuckin’
group) it was hard for Earl to shine. So after two albums with Odd and the
unofficial break-up of the band Earl went solo. To date, Earl has released five
solo albums: his debut mixtape, 2010’s darkly determined Earl. Three years later and back
from exile he gave us his major label [Columbia Records] debut with 2013’s Doris. . It was
followed in 2015 by I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside. Earl Sweatshirt has retained the cult status
and mystifying mystique that got him started, casting an acerbic but witty eye
on contemporary life. His music reached new levels of abstraction on his 2018
comeback, Some Rap Songs, which blurred the
line between avant-garde jazz and hip-hop to examine a rash of recent losses in
his life. If George Harrison is the quiet Beatle, then Earl is the quiet Odd
Future member. Earl had a mystic aurora around him that continues to this day.
He’s as original as they come. Other than his amazing solo albums, he also has
appeared on multiple Tyler the Creator’s solo albums. In short: he’s the
fuckin’ man. Relatable. Rhymer. Realist. Earl has a distinct flow like no one
else. The dude is younger than me but by the analysis of his rhymes, he’s lived
multiple more lives than I have. The dude is so popular and recognizable that
he’s even got Eminem wrapping about him (“Get Earl, the hooded sweater,
whatever his name is” [lyrics from Eminem’s “Fall”]). In early 2019 he released
a short film, Nowhere Nobody and in late 2019, Earl released the Feet of Clay E.P., which he produced
largely by himself, so yeah- not just an amazing lyricist and rapper but
producer as well! Just like George.
It’s…
Earl Sweatshirt
Comments
Post a Comment