Earl Sweatshirt
SICK!
Tan Cressida/Warner Bros.
Buy via Official Store | Listen Below
As our population enters the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, things are again looking as bleak as when this all began. For many, finding a path forward can be infuriatingly daunting. Thebe Neruda Kgositsile, a.k.a. Earl Sweatshirt, articulates these frustrations as well as any emcee out there on his latest project, SICK!, creating a thoughtful endeavor about finding a way to learn from the pain that life inflicts.
With its 10-song and 24-minute run time, SICK! is a brisk endeavor, but that’s a standard operating procedure for Earl Sweatshirt. He is no stranger to doing more with less: of all the entries in Earl’s catalogue, only Doris (2013), his “official” debut album, tops a half an hour in length. However, as time has gone on, Earl is prone to breaking things up into smaller bites. The acclaimed Some Rap Songs (2018) featured 15 different songs, with only two more than two-minutes long. Feet of Clay (2019) featured a similar approach, but was less successful in its execution. Overall, SICK! is better than both, and his best effort since Doris.
The continuing COVID pandemic informs all of SICK!’s content. It’s the reason why Earl scrapped an earlier, 19-track version of the album titled The People Could Fly. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Earl explained that the earlier incarnation had a lot in common with Some Rap Songs, but once the stark realities of life during this health crisis set in, he realized he needed to switch things up.
Thematically, SICK! has a good deal in common with his incredibly prescient I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside (2015). Things are bleak, but Earl advocates finding a way to soldier on in whatever way possible. He applies the lessons he learned from his past troubles to create a road map for making it through the current hellscape.
SICK! is not easy listening by any stretch; things can and do go over your head even if you’re listening to it while reading the lyrics. As an emcee, Earl shares a lot of common DNA with his idol MF DOOM, in that his rhymes are extremely complex and layered and often can come at you at dizzying speeds. Overall, Earl is undoubtedly getting better, and is amongst the cream of his “class” that came of age during the 2010s. Musically, SICK!’s beats are dense and hazy, with a good chunk of the production handled by Black Noi$e, along with friends like The Alchemist, Navy Blue (credited as Ancestors), and others.
SICK! starts off with The Alchemist-produced “Old Friend,” where Earl reflects on his time as a member of Odd Future (or OFWGKTA). A little over a decade ago, the collective of rappers, vocalists, DJs, producers, musicians, and artists seemed poised to lead hip-hop’s new vanguard. Now, the crew has completely dissolved. Most members of OFWGKTA became household names after leaving the group (see: Tyler, the Creator, Frank Ocean, The Internet, and Earl himself). Earl seems to regret that “what remains of the Wolves, nil,” but is at least thankful that they’re still on friendly terms.
Earl describes his efforts to be a stronger person on “2010,” Sick!’s first single. Over layers of keyboard trills, he recalls the drug-fueled benders of his youth and delves a bit into his relationship with his mother, Cheryl Harris. She was cast as a villain by Odd Future fans early in his tenure with the group for sending the then underage Earl to Samoa for an extended stay at a “therapeutic retreat” due to his wild behavior outside of music. “2010” provides a look into the complexities of their relationship. The bouncy “Titanic,” the album’s third single, functions as a bookend of sorts, as Earl describes returning to Los Angeles, trying to reacclimate himself as he rides down Highway 10.
“Magic,” featuring a marathon verse from Zeelooperz, is a shimmering entry on SICK! Earl directly addresses the effects of the pandemic on his psyche and society around him, as he struggles to find a way to cope. He teams with like-minded lyricists Armand Hammer on the laid-back “Tabula Rasa” to weave surrealistic imagery, as billy woods attends a Grown and Sexy Party organized by notable African poets and politicians. Meanwhile, Earl executes some extremely impressive verbal gymnastics, delivering his best verse on the project. “Trust the passage rites to life’s chapters,” he flows. “I have to write to find balance / This game of telephone massive / I do what I have to with the fragments.”
Matters of life and death occupy much of Earl’s thoughts. On the Alchemist-produced “Lye,” he ponders rediscovering spirituality over a muted horn-loop, professing that he “finally found it at the core of my dimming fire.” On “God Laughs,” he laments the tragedy of watching his grandfather, a man who spoke 13 languages, succumb to mind-withering dementia. With “Fire in the Hole,” the album’s final track, Earl seeks to find the strength and inspiration to carry on, even as the world collapses around him. “Life could change in the blink of an eye,” he raps, “I'm wrinklin’ time / Imma leave it to y'all to get hoodwinked and surprised.”
I have no idea if the time will ever be right for Earl to release a project like The People Could Fly. Earl has said that the album was relatively light-hearted and optimistic, sentiments that seem so alien in our current climate. SICK! is definitely an album of the now, and Earl has managed to channel the weariness of living in these times into becoming better at his craft. We take our victories anywhere we can.
Notable Tracks: “2010” | “Lye” | “Tabula Rasa” | “Titanic”
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