SICK!

Earl Sweatshirt

I truly appreciate Earl Sweatshirt as an artist. With his last few releases, he has distanced himself from the mainstream and has become somewhat of a hip-hop purist. The beats are minimal, repetitive, and serve more as a backdrop for Earl's free-form poetry rather than providing a wave for him to ride on. There's no choruses, no hooks; time is precious to Earl and it is better spent exorcising as many ideas and thoughts as he can onto the canvas. The lyrics are the focus of this particular project and they are no doubt very poetic, but I must claim ignorance. No matter how much I try to dive into what Earl is saying, I will always feel like I'm - pardon the pun - lost in the weeds. I get themes of isolation on the first track (Old Friend) and there's a really nice DOOM callout on Titanic but other than that, the words to me appear so disjointed resulting in a lost connection.

Therefore, I focus on the sounds. The instrumentals can go one of two ways: either subtly psychedelic, or classy vintage. My favourite instrumental on here is 2010 which falls under the former with its watery arpeggios that cascade and rewind in this enchanting cycle. Tabula Rasa falls under the latter category with the layered smooth guitar and sharp piano loops. There's also this belting vocal sample that interrupts rather unceremoniously, but is cutoff almost as fast as it barges in. Then there's Earl's voice which always sounds like it comes from the Earth; stoic and wise. For me, it's often the reason why I turn to his projects. I think he has a perfect voice for rap, which is great considering that what he says is often a mystery to me. Unfortunately though, there are moments on this record where the vocals are lacking a little bit. Earl sounds particularly sleepy and a little far gone on the title track, and while it may not be all Earl's fault, the guest appearance from Zelooperz on Vision sets a terribly monotonous precedent as far as the flow is concerned. Earl somewhat upholds the vocal rhythm that was established but deviates from it often enough for his performance to be marginally better.

Overall, I didn't mind this project. There's not a whole lot here that I was able to connect to on a physical, emotional, or mental level, but I think I do connect with the spirit of the record, even though I can't quite pinpoint what it even is. I like the repetitive beats and I just like hearing Earl string together words even when I have no clue what he's talking about. I tend to just get lost in the enigma that is Earl. It's not for everyone, especially if you're looking for something a little more catchy and less heady. Although, if you're truly a fan of the craft, I think SICK! is among the albums one would consider to be the most pure as far as hip-hop goes.