Earl Sweatshirt - Some Rap Songs ALBUM REVIEW
One of the best lyricists in all of music, Thebe Kgositsile, better known as Earl Sweatshirt, is an enigma. Once an Odd Future teen prodigy, Earl has always been a great artist, but not an amazing album rapper. His self-titled mixtape showed off his mesmerizing skills at the age of 16, but his debut album Doris left something to be desired in me, and while his next project I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside has one of the best songs of his career in “Grief,” I honestly couldn’t name you another song off of it. Then, he disappeared. This was different than the whole #FreeEarl campaign when he was sent to a Samoan wilderness camp at the peak of his popularity. He had dropped off of the face of the Earth. Like me, everyone was stunned, waiting for Earl’s eventual return. In between that time, my music taste had grown more abstract and experimental. When it came to Earl, though, it was devastating. His father, South African poet Keorapetse Kgositsile, and his uncle, legendary musician Hugh Masekela, had both died. Along with that, Mac Miller, a close friend and collaborator, had also passed away from a drug overdose. When we thought that Earl’s hiatus would extend, he was back. He dropped a 2-minute track “Nowhere2go,” a lo-fi and glitchy track that sent his fans into a frenzy. Better yet, his next album was dropping a week from that day. It became clear that this project, titled Some Rap Songs, was going to be very different than Earl’s past projects. Was the three-year wait worth it? It’s complicated.
Some Rap Songs is an experimental hip-hop record. It’s also a near half-hour experience that needs multiple listens in order to digest. Let’s get into the sound of the record first, before the big section of it. The production of the entirety of the record feels jittery, like the embodiment of ADHD. It’s rough around the edges, with sounds of vinyl popping frequently used throughout. Earl himself handles most of the production, but jazz/R&B collective Standing On The Corner, Detroit rapper Denmark Vassey, and skateboarder/rapper Navy Blue all contribute. The longest track is “The Mint,” which is 2 minutes and 45 seconds. The rest of the tracks play out like interludes to something that never really arrives. The endlessly-looped soul samples peppered throughout Some Rap Songs are muddled and messed with so much that it feels eerie, especially on one of the best tracks of not just the record but maybe of the 2010s, “Azucar.” Nearly every instrumental is perfect, and I’ll soon explain what makes them so perfect.
Earl’s struggle with depression and drug abuse have been shoved into the public eye, mainly because of Some Rap Songs. The lyrics throughout the entire record are smart, funny, hard-hitting, and devastating all at the same time. This stands out on the penultimate track “Peanut,” which touches on the passing of Earl’s father and the depression that has been caused by it, even though Earl and his father weren’t very close. Like “Peanut,” every song is hard-hitting instrumentally, but when you pay attention to the lyrics, it hits even harder.
It’s an understatement to say that Some Rap Songs is an unsettling album. Earl Sweatshirt has found his sound in this glitchy, psychedelic, and abrasive project. This is the most unique rap album of the past decade and with the shocking and truly heartbreaking lyrics, Some Rap Songs is more than some rap songs: it’s a legacy that Earl Sweatshirt is crafting. It’s a new era of rap.
10/10
Stream Some Rap Songs here
Spotify
Apple Music
YouTube Music
Some Rap Songs is an experimental hip-hop record. It’s also a near half-hour experience that needs multiple listens in order to digest. Let’s get into the sound of the record first, before the big section of it. The production of the entirety of the record feels jittery, like the embodiment of ADHD. It’s rough around the edges, with sounds of vinyl popping frequently used throughout. Earl himself handles most of the production, but jazz/R&B collective Standing On The Corner, Detroit rapper Denmark Vassey, and skateboarder/rapper Navy Blue all contribute. The longest track is “The Mint,” which is 2 minutes and 45 seconds. The rest of the tracks play out like interludes to something that never really arrives. The endlessly-looped soul samples peppered throughout Some Rap Songs are muddled and messed with so much that it feels eerie, especially on one of the best tracks of not just the record but maybe of the 2010s, “Azucar.” Nearly every instrumental is perfect, and I’ll soon explain what makes them so perfect.
Earl’s struggle with depression and drug abuse have been shoved into the public eye, mainly because of Some Rap Songs. The lyrics throughout the entire record are smart, funny, hard-hitting, and devastating all at the same time. This stands out on the penultimate track “Peanut,” which touches on the passing of Earl’s father and the depression that has been caused by it, even though Earl and his father weren’t very close. Like “Peanut,” every song is hard-hitting instrumentally, but when you pay attention to the lyrics, it hits even harder.
It’s an understatement to say that Some Rap Songs is an unsettling album. Earl Sweatshirt has found his sound in this glitchy, psychedelic, and abrasive project. This is the most unique rap album of the past decade and with the shocking and truly heartbreaking lyrics, Some Rap Songs is more than some rap songs: it’s a legacy that Earl Sweatshirt is crafting. It’s a new era of rap.
10/10
Stream Some Rap Songs here
Spotify
Apple Music
YouTube Music
Yes, I think Doris is Earl's worst project. It's just my opinion.
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