By Jarrad Wakefield
The ever-enigmatic Earl Sweatshirt (“Whole World”) is back.
It has been two years since we have heard from Odd Future’s most introspective and introverted member with his 2020 LP “Feet of Clay.” The album somewhat mirrored the feel of his 2018 album, “Some Rap Songs.” This album is a genre-defining piece in an alternative hip-hop genre that is hard to define to begin with.
The old, obscure sampling by Sweatshirt and a few choice producers took the foundation built by the late legends J. Dilla (“Climax”) and MF DOOM (“All Caps”) into a new direction. Sweatshirt’s bars on “Some Rap Songs” are incredibly dark and representative of the trying mental state Earl was living in.
This made it somewhat surprising when 2010, the first single off “SICK!,” dropped back in Nov. 2021. A trippy, fluttery, but cohesive beat features Sweatshirt rapping with immense energy and hopefulness. It was a shock, but it is a welcome change. It is good to see an artist like Earl find some positivity, especially when considered how dark his previous work was.
“2010’s” vibrant production only seems to carry over onto the quirky and sci-fi production on another single, Titanic. Overall, the production is crisper, cleaner, and smoother compared to previous efforts. Songs like the album opening “Old Friend,” Vision” featuring the quirky rapper Zelooperz (“Battery”), “Lye,” and the album closer “Fire in the Hole” all share beats that are very reminiscent of a beat that would come off a Westside Gunn (“327”) album. However, Sweatshirt does enough to make these beats his own by mixing sci-fi sounds on top of simpler samples and sparser production compared to “Some Rap Songs.” These beats sound like someone playing a 1950’s mob movie soundtrack over the original “Star Trek“ movie.
There is only one weak point on the album for Sweatshirt, and it is “Tabula Rasa,” his collaboration with Armand Hammer (“Black Sunlight”). Armand Hammer are a solid underground hip-hop group on their own, but this collaboration falls a little flat compared to the rest of the tracks. The beat is reminiscent of a trap remix of a fancy Italian restaurant’s ambient music; it is a a weird combo at first, but it works well as a relaxing beat on its own. The energy members Billy Woods and Elucid go for on this track, however, is a rather harsh and unlistenable juxtaposition. The bars are solid, the flows are alright, but it does not work over this beat that makes me want chicken parmesan. Sweatshirt’s verse is alright as well. It feels like the artist’s energy is cancelled out by this beat. This song has high quality ingredients, that is for sure. But just like you would not marinate a filet mignon in apple cider, this beat should not have been used this way.
Otherwise, this is another fantastic album from Sweatshirt. It is by far his most accessible album as well. The slick production, upbeat bars and short runtime make this a great listen if you are new to Sweatshirt or alternative hip-hop in general. While this is a great album, it does not quite live up to “Some Rap Songs.” This album falls more in line with mainstream hip-hop compared to Sweatshirt’s other albums. But, for an innovator like Sweatshirt, he still manages to morph the mainstream into his own sound.
Image from Earl Sweatshirt via YouTube
