Earl Sweatshirt explores the chaos during Covid-19 and the reflections of his past with a hopeful gleam, that only gets washed away the second it ends quick.
Observing the artistic trajectory of a lot of the Odd Future collective sure was something to check out, given just how that collective rocked the socks off everybody during their beginnings and peaks as they put out records that owe their sounds to the grimier sides of hip hop with all the lo-fi raw textures with contrasts from singers and rappers that ties the rocky and detailed writing that made some controversy for a lot of listeners during that time. But separated away from that collective, seeing artists like Tyler The Creator evolve from the angst that he started and currently bloomed into a well-rounded rapper and producer, SYD that muses her talents on her solo records and The Internet, Frank Ocean who breezes through his warm and fuzzy solo albums, it showcases a growth where they’re much in a state of success and a state of some kind of pristine joy.
For Earl Sweatshirt, however, still carries that gloom ever since he was a part of Odd Future. Flowing through hollow and raw beats with his slurring delivery as he cascades through dour references and emotions, most of which took shape on his self-titled mixtape and early records like ‘Doris’ and ‘I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside’. But it completely closed in and showcased his most personal darkness on ‘Some Rap Songs’ mostly due to the complicated history that he has with some of his family members and waddling through grief, depression, and unsatisfaction with the success and the fame that he has gotten.
It’s worth noticing the shift that he had been working through on that record, where the beats have gotten more hazy and fragmented, mixes that get unkept and unwieldy, and lyrics that are more like abstract loops rather than cohesive sentences. And with some of the features and producers on that record, Earl Sweatshirt slowly sinks into the quandary of underground and abstract hip hop, viewed clearly on the ‘Feet Of Clay’ EP and his features on some abstract hip hop records from Armand Hammer and MIKE. All of these clear hints have manifested themselves on Earl’s newest record, ‘SICK!’
This direction swerves Earl Sweatshirt in his fragmented, lo-fi comfort zone that only shifts when it comes to his pen game. In the context of covid 19, Earl leans into the observation of that chaos and deepens that aspect with his introspection about himself during that storm, especially when does try to be in a state of meditative calm. The record doesn’t frame this as him being an onlooker as he does comment on the tangled situations during covid-19 and how that might still shake him to the core, but still showcases a stable control of his psyche. This puts his writing having a thoughtful and open spark that his past records somewhat lack, complimented a bit further in the cleaner and brighter production with the floaty but captivating beats and samples, as well as a good melodic core within these short tracks. Highlights come through with songs like ‘2010’ with the synth sprawling in and reversing back, ‘Tabula Rasa’ with the cleansing vocal sample and piano touches, ‘God Laughs’ with its twinkles and its reverberating vocal samples, and ‘Titanic’ with beats spiking off from left to right.
There is something that doesn’t really make the record stick long term, and it comes from the complicated aspect in the lyrics and the fragmented approach in the melodies and production that does not help expand the insight that Earl is focusing on. While he does his best encapsulating his observations of the chaos around him with the contemplations of the revealing of truth especially referencing how Covid-19 messed up the lives of people, it does not exactly hit as much. Mostly because of how his abstract and oblique language does not allow the insights to emotionally stick, even if Earl’s introspection of his life moving forward adds some hope around this chaotic skims. The fragmented shard of the record only limits how much else Earl can do with his insight, where the lack of stabilized melodies and hooks as well as the still ragged production don’t add to the emotional core of his writing and delivery. This gets apparent with songs like ‘Vision’ where the vocal mix gets a bit too close than needed, and same goes with ‘Lye’ with both instrumentation and vocals pushing itself a bit too much to the front.
Earl Sweatshirt in his thoughtful approach is a promising direction for him, but he only goes so far with his wisdom. Because as much as the insights get through a bit thanks to some solid melodies, features, and potent writing, the limitations from the fragmented lengths and production hold it from breaking out. For a record that’s called sick, it sure does make for a short but oddly feverish musing, still a thoughtful one though.
Favorite Tracks: Tabula Rasa, Fire in the Hole, God Laughs, 2010, Titanic
Least Favorite Track: Vision