the best lyricist of the odd future wolf gang crew… presenting:

Earl Sweatshirt - Earl
(released 31/03/10)

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Spanning only 26 minutes, with tracks averaging around 3 mins, Earl won't take up too much of your time.

However, it will take up residence in your head. It is a physical manifestation of adolescent rage and rebellion, a place where boundaries, mores, taboos and paradigms exist only to be tested and broken. Where something, anything, everything needs to be said or done - just to see what will happen. It is also perhaps the best hiphop / rap album I've heard in a long long time.

It's protagonist, Earl Sweatshirt (Thebe Kgositsileat, just 16 y.o. at the time of the album's online release), is the most mysterious of the Odd Future crew - perhaps because no one is exactly sure where he is…

The youngest of the OFWGKTA collective, Earl disappeared just before the group began garnering major attention outside of the cult following from bloggers, Tumblots and webizens - a group that had already fallen in love with an act that tries its hardest to make itself unlovable to anyone (anyone, that is, except 11 y.o. boys addicted to shock for shock's sake). It is thought he is in a reform school in Samoa, sent by his mother. Kelefa Sanneh (NY Times) writes a complete recent accounting of the search for Earl.

Sure, Earl can be hard to listen to at times. Yes, the lyrics include graphic rants about rape, torture and just about anything Earl and long-time friend Tyler, The Creator ( extroverted OFWGKTA frontman, Tyler Okonma) can come up with. Yes, they use various homophobic epithets frequently - the word faggot is used so often it almost becomes part of the beat. Tyler and the group claim that their use of these words is not anti-gay, but simply their way of identifying things they hate, dislike or oppose. Syd tha Kid (Sydney Bennett), producer and sole female member of OF openly identifies as lesbian and has echoed these views.

But in perspective, OF are really no different to any other average western teenagers. School, homework, that TV show, uncool clothes, strict parents, no parents - it is all simply gay. They actually often look surprised when told that the comment could be offensive. They are instinctually claiming and redefining their language, and like it or not - gay is surely and not so slowly evolving to mean undesirable and uncool, not homosexual. Anyway, isn't it, maybe… hypocritical to criticise a redefining of the word gay ?

The truth is that most teenagers aren't homophobic: they're just etymologically challenged.

Within the first few lines that spill over a deep, pounding kick intro, Earl takes any questions over his vocabulary and rhyming prowess, places them in a sack and stabs them consistently and repeatedly . Over the short journey through our host's twisted and inventive imagination, he spits, slurs and strings together a set aural paintings that draw you into a uniquely horrifying, yet entrancing world. And he does it with such inventive syllabic rhythm, timing, imagery and word-play that often you find yourself forgetting the content and losing yourself the pure aesthetics of the words.


                                             Earl Sweatshirt - Earl (Earl, 2010)

                                                                            Earl puts the "ass" in "assassin"

                                                                            Puts the pieces of decomposin' bodies in plastic

                                                                            Puts 'em in a pan and mixes it up with scat

                                                                            Then gobbles it like fat black bitches and catfish

                                                                            It so happens that I'm so haphazardous

                                                                            I'll puke a piece and put it on a hook and fuckin' cast the shit


The rhymes are parasitic - they burrow into your head and quietly feed there till you find yourself rapping them to yourself semi-constantly (and of course… under your breath).

Tyler, the Creator's production is what lifts Earl to another level. His lo-fi homeproduced beats exude a tangible sense of menace through a combination of dirty, dark filtered synth, jazz influence piano and kick heavy break-beats. These loop and intermingle, concertedly excluding any chance of an accessible hook for the mass market.

Whatever it is, OF have seen critical acclaim many would strive for over the course of their careers - and none of the group has yet reached the age of 20. Pitchfork gives high praise to Earl and several other OF releases. Complex rated the release in its top 25 albums of 2010.

The truth is that Earl may discomfit you, but it won't do so unexpectedly or unwillingly - it is hard to discover OF and Earl without hearing the controversy that has already surrounded them, and you are not likely to unwittingly hear any of Earl Sweatshirt's tracks on the radio anytime soon. Listening to Earl Sweatshirt is a conscious (and consenting) choice. Pitchfork contributor Nitsuh Abebe outlines beautifully in her blog the required duality of an intelligent and mature listener and fan - the dichotomy and paradox of loving OF (while simultaneously finding much of their content abhorrent).

Hey… if you don't think you'll like Earl, Tyler and their Wolf Gang compatriots, then don't. They make a point of not caring if you do. And the truth is, not-downloading something is much quicker, easier and involves much less effort that downloading it. There really shouldn't be any surprises.

Except… there are. But the real surprise and shock here isn't a group of young men rhyming about things that offend the decency of others - there are plenty of derivative and talentless examples of this on the web, radio and in record stores). It is that Odd Future, and Earl Sweatshirt, are not over-hyped and under-talented throwaway shock/schlock for the immature and desensitised (post-2002 Eminem , anyone?).

Earl and Tyler, indeed OFWGKTA, frequently excel and demonstrate what is most exciting about their craft, pushing the genre further than it has gone in a long time. Their music grows and evolves constantly - the prolific rate of early releases have seen the individuals from OF mature as artists and musicians.

They have a relevance, vitality, power and energy that demands attention - fans and critics have responded. So have I. And Earl hasn't been far from the iPod in weeks now.

It's your turn to decide.