Earl Sweatshirt: A Hip-Hop Prodigy

Thebe Neruda Kgositsile, who goes by his stage name Earl Sweatshirt, is a critically acclaimed rapper born in Chicago, Illinois, to a highly educated family, with his father being a South African poet who graduated from Columbia and his mother a UCLA School of Law professor. Unfortunately, his parents divorced when he was six, leaving him to stay with his mother in California. Earl Sweatshirt began his career very early on in his life, making his first mixtape in 7th grade under the name Sly Tendencies. In 2009, he connected with Tyler, the Creator via MySpace, where he joined Odd Future, Tyler, the Creator’s rap group. This change led him to change his stage name from Sly Tendencies to Earl Sweatshirt. Through this new group, he produced his first “debut” mixtape. So, on March 31st of 2010, Sweatshirt released his mixtape titled “Earl” to critical acclaim, appearing on Complex’s Top 100 Albums of the Year in 24th place.

After the release of “Earl,” Sweatshirt was forced to sever ties with Odd Future. This was due to his mother finding out about his musical career and prohibiting him to release more. He was then sent to the Coral Reef Academy, in the island state of Samoa for behavioral and addiction issues. During this time, he developed his style and read the works of Richard Fariña and the biography of Malcolm X. He often wrote rhymes, and ended up writing a verse for Odd Future while staying at the academy, which was featured on the song “Oldie.” 

Eventually, after two years in Samoa, he returned to the states in 2012 with the help of Leila Stienberg, who became his manager. Once back, he added his verse he wrote for the song “Oldie,” being his one and only feature on an Odd Future track. For the next few years, he stuck close to Odd Future. Because of this, he was a featured artist on Channel Orange by Frank Ocean, an Odd Future member. During this time, he also began developing his first studio album, Doris. 

Through a drip feed of content, Doris was eventually released after around a year of development on August 20th, 2013. It was released to near universal critical praise, giving him two perfect scores from the Los Angeles Times and The Guardian. Doris premiered at fifth in the US Billboard 200 and first on the US Top Rap Albums charts. The album was completely self produced, and featured many of his friends and Odd Future members like Mac Miller, Tyler, the Creator, and Frank Ocean. 

While developing Doris in 2012, Sweatshirt also announced that he was working on a second studio album. After the release of Doris, Sweatshirt went on to release the single “45,” and continue to slowly roll out singles leading up to the release of I Don’t Like Sh*t, I Don’t Go Outside. Sweatshirt had confirmed that this second album had been finished in October of 2014 but continued to slowly release small chunks of the album until its official release on March 22, 2015. Sweatshirt did say in an interview with NPR that I Don’t Like Sh*t, I Don’t Go Outside was his first true album, because he could, “back up everything, the good and the bad.”

I Don’t Like Sh*t, I Don’t Go Outside was a departure from his first album Doris, sharing some darker themes, but his next release was the most vulnerable and personal Sweatshirt has ever gotten with a release. Under the Youtube account Dar Queness, Sweatshirt released a 10 minute track titled “Solace”, with the description of: “music from when i hit the bottom and found something.” Sweatshirt claimed that the track was about his mother, but delving into the lyrics you can find many meanings and references to his experiences. Sweatshirt speaks on his anemia, loneliness, death of loved ones and friends, wanting to give up, depression, growing older and drugs. “Solace” creates one of the most uniquely hopeless sounds I’ve ever heard. Throughout, you hear piano playing which evokes a slight sense of happiness, but it's distorted, broken, loss of happiness, coinciding with him being “ at a loss of friends”. Sweatshirt was completely embroiled in depression, and at no point did “Solace” ever stray from that idea. It beautifully portrays this sense of being just one step away from completely giving up. “Solace” is Sweatshirt’s deepest dive into himself and the emotions he felt at the time, giving one of the most emotional and raw pieces of music to come out in the last decade.  

Luckly, nothing came of this depression, but “Solace” forever changed the topics and themes Earl Sweatshirt speaks on and cements what makes him so lyrically unique. After the release of “Solace” and I Don’t Like Sh*t, I Don’t Go Outside, Sweatshirt left Odd Future, which soon after disbanded entirely. Sweatshirt then took a 9 month break before releasing another single in January of 2016. 

During the production of his third studio album, Kgostisle’s father passed away, causing much of Some Rap Songs to be dedicated to his late father. Due to the death of his father, Sweatshirt canceled his 2018 tour. Some Rap Songs was released over 3 years after his last major album, releasing on November 30th, 2018. Some Rap Songs keep in line with some of the themes of “Solace” with lines about depression and anxiety, but Some Rap Songs differentiates itself from “Solace” by having the songs portray themes of growth and progress. Sweatshirt speaks on his choice to surround himself with people who care about him and not isolate himself when he hits a low period. Some Rap Songs defined Sweatshirt’s style of rapping, sounding like a reading of slam poetry, with an industrial melody playing behind it. Some Rap Songs is Sweatshirt’s most impactful studio album, defining his sound and style, and not straying away from darker themes. Some Rap Songs is one of my personal all time favorite rap albums, and cemented to me what made Earl Sweatshirt, as both a producer and rapper, so unique.

Some Rap Songs, similar to “Solace” also became a departure for Sweatshirt instead of a change in themes, Some Rap Songs became the last album Sweatshirt released through Columbia records, choosing to leave so he could have more creative control over his projects. 

Over six months later, Sweatshirt released Feet of Clay on November 19, 2019, to critical acclaim. While Some Rap Songs embraced a new style and sound, Feet of Clay acts as an experiment for Sweatshirt, pushing the limits of what could be called good or bad rap. Feet of Clay is a subversion of norms in the rap industry, making it a distinct listening experience. I personally like this album less than Some Rap Songs, but I can appreciate its importance.

Just like the rest of us, Sweatshirt was subjected to the COVID pandemic, causing him to not release a new album until the 14th of January  2022. During this time, Sweatshirt became a father. This, along with the pandemic, inspired much of the album Sick!. Sick! is Sweatshirt’s reflection of the past few years of his life and the future he looks hopefully towards. Sick! is the evolution of Sweatshirt throughout the last decade, creating a more concise and confident lyrical performance from Sweatshirt, and the style that’s expected from him. 

Earl Sweatshirt, a so-called “hip-hop prodigy” since his teen years, has become one of the most interesting and enthralling artists to come out of the last decade. Sweatshirt has redefined what can be called rap and pushed the envelope on what can and can’t be talked about in the music industry. His lyrics have a poetic hue to them and have created a sound and style that I have yet to see faithfully replicated. With Sweatshirt moving into a new chapter of his life, I can’t wait to see what is in store for his musical career. 

By: Holden Gruel