If you know me, you know I'm really into the underground hip hop scene. With the radio airwaves being dominated by Trap and Top 40, I find it difficult at times to find music that you won't hear 40 times a day. Well, enter Earl Sweatshirt, one of the more popular artists from Odd Future music collective which includes most notably, Tyler the Creator, Frank Ocean and Syd the Kid. For me, Earl represents a segment of hip hop that is hyper focused on Lo Fi style beats, aromatic samples, and a chill bass that forces you to listen to the lyrics and rhyme schemes. With a talent such as Earl Sweatshirt, many of the rhymes and punchlines are not so easy to catch so you actually to end up listening to the song 40 times in a row, not just because it's good, but because you are really trying to understand the meaning behind the words. Off his new album Sick!, the single 2010 just gives you a classic Earl verse, a little bit dismal, no fancy choruses and cryptic rhymes and leave you questioning so many things, but that's just part of Earl's appeal as a rapper. Just check out the below sequence and tell me if you if it doesn't leave you puzzled and fascinated at the same time:
When the mood change I'ma poker face 'em
It's a new day, who got all the aces?Who be foldin' late? Who know when to play dead?
Who sit up straight when the roof caved in?
Had a full plate, you ain't wanna split it
Tell it to you straight, you ain't wanna listen
Cup runneth over the brim
Bust open, there's no closin' the lid