5 takeaways from Earl Sweatshirt's new album, Some Rap Songs

With a name like Some rap songsEarl Sweatshirt is obviously an artifice of rap. It's authentic, no gadget, but in a way that does not try to draw attention to its authenticity. Earl called his latest album, 2015 I do not like shit, I do not go to the outside, his thesis on himself, but he clearly does not try to place a similar burden on this record. The wording in the simplest terms protects against the hype surrounding it without compromising its seriousness. In simple terms, he is in his bag.

In the three years since I do not like shit, I do not go to the outsideEarl's life has suffered greatly: his father died earlier this year, prompting him to travel to Johannesburg and reconnect with his family; he lost his colleague and long-time friend, Mac Miller, and forged links with a new MC community. The album reflects not only an ongoing maturation, but also a recalibration: a new commitment to discover personal and universal truths and a reaffirmation of his joy for songs in search of comfort. The disc is by far the densest earl to date, but it contains fast, hard-loop samples that make it short. Here are five things to listen to during your first laps of Some rap songs.

"I am with MIKE and Med"

As a collective member, Earl Sweatshirt forged collaborative relationships and meaningful friendships with a new class of like-minded musicians. He names many of these players throughout Some rap songsand it's not a coincidence. Rubbing shoulders and making waves with these guys – New Yorkers for the most part – made a noticeable impact on his music. The cast of characters includes both genre lovers and classics.

Navy Blue (or Sage Elsesser), a professional skater turned rapper and credited with the art direction on I do not like shit, I do not go to the outside, who was formerly Earl's roommate (Sage has a verse on this record); MIKE, the Bronx's introspective teenager, who became in a way a mentee of Earl after OF's alum had purchased one of his first online mixtapes and received a personal thank you; Medhane, the Brooklyn rapper who is part of the Medslaus duo with producer Slauson Malone, aka Jasper Marsalis; Mach-Hommy, the enigmatic rapper from Jersey for whom Earl produced rhythms; Gio Escobar, who, as leader of Standing on the Corner, creates music that covers all black and brown diasporas. Some are guests, others were just in their thoughts or all around when they were created, but these artists all had a profound influence on Some rap songs. You can hear it in its disposition: in certain songs, it is as cold and calculating as Mach, with an almost analytical precision; in others, he is as emotional and oblivious as MIKE. This gives his singular perspective a new dimension.

Earl pushes towards a new sound

To this end, the sound palette on Some rap songs is also very indebted to those whom Earl has surrounded in recent years: Danish Vessey, Standing on the Corner, Black Noi $ e, Booliemane and Ade Hakim all contributed to the music of the album. Part of the production is not far from what Earl did for Mach. Overall, the record seems to borrow its musical cues from SoTC's post-genre Red burns project, fragmentation of MIKE May God bless your haste, and the glitchy and earthy catalog of Knxwledge. The beats are tightly curled, which Earl described to Vulture as "the snake eating its tail". Most evoke a vintage hip-hop feel. Unlike the wet soundscapes of IDLS, IDGO, which sometimes seemed almost without light, Some rap songs This variety of bursts is an experience that is reminiscent of clicking on different images in a View-Master. The kind of snippet-like structure and jerky movement, gathering snapshots in a long piece of play, was born from the links.

Cut to the hunt

The short songs have stormed many rap albums this year, mainly due to lazy writing and a streaming economy that rewards long albums. But Earl is no stranger to brevity: brevity and conciseness were the highlights of 2015. I do not like shit, I do not go to the outside. He once said, "Flexing is about being able to say as many words as possible with as few words as possible." He applies his efficiency philosophy to this 15-track, 25-minute album while maintaining a lot of tracks under the bar of two minutes. It is the product of an album-oriented musician who always keeps to the time of his listeners. The minute, aptly named "Loosie", is packed back and forth with raps, apparently leaving Earl half-way. At the end of "The Veins", he almost unraveled the whole myth of Earl Sweatshirt.

Family ties

Most cuts on Some rap songs Keorapetse Kgositsile, father of the count, were written before his death, but even those who do not live in mourning are reminiscent of his family. In "Playing Possum", clips of his two parents speaking in public are superimposed. His mother is present throughout the disc, often with a support capacity. "I'm only getting better with time, that's what my mother says," he says on "Azucar," adding later: "My mother said that she had Used to see my father in me. "

The few songs that refer to Kgositsile largely avoid revealing his complicated relationship with his son. The exception is "Peanut", on which Earl reconciles the loss of his father before they had the chance to solve their problems. The song is one of the most poignant moments of the album, written with striking clarity. "Choosing his grave, I could not stop myself from feeling at my place / Bless my soft drinks, we expelled him with no less than an hour late / Still in shock, it even hit my heart somewhere in the shooting range. " month, Earl opened about the closure. "Not having that time has left me a lot to understand with my fucking self," he said. There is still a lot to discover.

Notable Earl-isms

• "Bad apple, daily clashes with my surroundings / Bad Acid has damaged my mind / Of course, you're right, it took a few passes to become big / They've treated me wild from the start" (Starting from "December 24")
• "I do not know what I'm going to say because I do not label the bags, I stay in the corner / I see you shoot but your angles are rubbish, do not play with us" (From "On the way! ")
• "It's true when you seal letters with wax, shit has changed. The checks we see are beautiful. Really Mike Willie, shit, we went to the gorilla, they really gave up the ransom. the dashes and pulling the rapids "(From" The Bends ")
• "To alleviate my pain and muzzle my brain" (From "Cold Summers")
• "Peace to my dirty water drinkers / Nobody tells me to clean it / Nobody tells me I'm sinking / Nobody tells me I could leave" (excerpt from "Shattered Dreams")
• "Every nigga tripping around reminds us that / I have to watch my steps / I keep it quiet / I think I spent most of my life in depression / the only thing in my mind was death / did not know not if my time was up / Tryna refines this shit, I redefined myself / I had to find her first "(From" Nowhere2go ")