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Earl Sweatshirt

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Earl Sweatshirt
Earl Sweatshirt on March 15, 2013
Earl Sweatshirt on March 15, 2013
Background information
Birth nameThebe Neruda Kgositsile
Also known as
  • Sly Tendencies
  • randomblackdude
  • DJ Earl Fletcher
Born (1994-02-24) February 24, 1994 (age 30)
Chicago, Illinois, United States[1]
OriginLos Angeles, California, United States
GenresHip hop
Occupations
  • Rapper
  • record producer
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • keyboards
  • drums
  • modulator
Years active
  • 2007-present
Labels
Websiteearlsweatshirt.com

Thebe Neruda Kgositsile (born February 24, 1994), better known by his stage name Earl Sweatshirt, is an American rapper and record producer from Los Angeles, California. His father was the South African black nationalist poet Keorapetse Kgositsile. Earl was originally known by the moniker Sly Tendencies when he started rapping, but soon changed his name when Tyler, the Creator invited him to join his hip hop collective Odd Future in late 2009. He gained recognition and critical praise for his debut mixtape, entitled Earl, which released in March 2010 when he was just 16 years old. Shortly after its release, his mother sent him to a boarding school in Samoa for at-risk teens until his eighteenth birthday, and he was not able to record new music for a year and a half while he was there.

After returning to Los Angeles in February 2012, Earl rejoined Odd Future and started producing new music. Earl released his debut studio album, Doris in August 2013. His second album, I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside: An Album by Earl Sweatshirt followed in March 2015. Both received widespread critical acclaim. He is currently signed to Columbia Records as well as his independent label Tan Cressida.

Early life

Thebe Neruda Kgositsile was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Cheryl Harris, a law professor at University of California, Los Angeles, and Keorapetse Kgositsile, a South African poet and political activist. Harris and Kgositsile separated when Thebe was eight years old. After a short illness, Kgositsile, age 79, died on January 3, 2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa.[2]

He attended the UCLA Lab School in Los Angeles and New Roads High School and Middle School in Santa Monica.[3][4]

Musical career

2008–09: Kitchen Cutlery and The Backpackerz

Earl Sweatshirt first started rapping in the 8th grade. In 2008, under the name Sly Tendencies, he posted tracks for his mixtape, Kitchen Cutlery, via MySpace. He and two of his friends, Loofy and Jw Mijo, formed a rap trio called The Backpackerz. They were going to release a mixtape titled World Playground but disbanded sometime in 2009.[citation needed]

2009–11: Earl and hiatus in Samoa

Main article: Earl (mixtape)

In 2009, Tyler, the Creator discovered Sly Tendencies via his MySpace account after he reached out to Tyler to tell him he was a fan of his work. Sly later changed his rap name to Earl Sweatshirt and eventually joined Tyler's rap group Odd Future. Earl and Odd Future have been featured in mainstream magazines such as Spin, Billboard and The Fader.[citation needed]

His debut mixtape, Earl, was self-released March 31, 2010 as a free digital download on the Odd Future website.[5] Most of the mixtape was produced by Tyler, the Creator. Earl was named the 24th-best album of 2010 by Complex.[6]

Despite positive reactions from both critics and fans, various sources[7][8][9] indicated that Sweatshirt had stopped making music with Odd Future. Posts from Tyler, the Creator's Twitter and Formspring accounts seemed to indicate that Sweatshirt's mother would not grant permission to release any of Sweatshirt's music; although after his return, Earl later expressed in an interview that his mother sent him to Samoa due to getting into trouble with friends. Earl attended Coral Reef Academy, a therapeutic retreat school for at-risk boys, located outside of the Samoan capital of Apia.[4][10] At Coral Reef Academy, Earl worked to earn back privileges, and the opportunity to return home. At the beginning of his enrollment, he was unable to use the bathroom unsupervised [11] While there, he read Manning Marable's biography on Malcolm X and Richard Fariña’s counterculture fiction. He wrote rhymes, including most of his verse on "Oldie," his only contribution to The OF Tape Vol. 2.[12] Earl was brought back from Samoa by Leila Steinberg, the first manager of Tupac Shakur, who today still manages his career.[13]

On December 1, 2011, three formerly unreleased songs by Sweatshirt were released through the OddFutureTalk Odd Future Unreleased mixtape. In December 2011, Sweatshirt was announced as a potential candidate for XXL's 2012 Freshmen List.[14]

2012–13: Return from Samoa and Doris

Main article: Doris (album)
Sweatshirt performing in March 2013

On February 8, 2012, rumours spread around the internet that Sweatshirt had returned to the U.S. when a video of him surfaced on YouTube with a preview of a new song saying if viewers wanted "the full thing" they would have to give him 50,000 followers on Twitter.[15] He also later confirmed on his new Twitter account[16] that he had returned to his home in Los Angeles.[17]

Earl appeared on the song "Oldie" from Odd Future's debut album The OF Tape Vol. 2. This was Earl's return to official Odd Future releases and his first appearance on an Odd Future Records release. On March 20, a video released on the official Odd Future YouTube page featured Earl in a cypher-style music video rapping along to his verse from "Oldie" with the other members of the crew. That same day, Earl performed with the group at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on March 20, 2012.[18] On April 9, 2012, rapper Casey Veggies released a mixtape titled Customized Greatly 3 that included a song featuring Earl Sweatshirt, Tyler the Creator, Domo Genesis, and Hodgy Beats titled "PNCINTLOFWGKTA." During that month Earl Sweatshirt signed on to create his own record label imprint, Tan Cressida, to be distributed through Columbia Records. He turned down several other larger offers due to his priority of remaining close to Odd Future.[4]

Earl Sweatshirt was featured on the track "Super Rich Kids" from Frank Ocean's debut album, channel ORANGE released digitally July 10, 2012. On July 16, Domo Genesis & The Alchemist released the first official single, "Elimination Chamber", from their collaboration album No Idols, which featured Earl, Vince Staples, and Action Bronson. He was also later featured on the album again on the tracks "Daily News" (also featuring SpaceGhostPurrp & Action Bronson) & "Gamebreaker". On July 23, 2012, Flying Lotus released a song titled "Between Friends" on the Adult Swim Single series which features Earl Sweatshirt and Captain Murphy. Earl Sweatshirt was also featured on MellowHype's second and final studio album, Numbers on the track "P2".

On November 2, Earl released his first solo single since his return from Samoa, titled "Chum".[19] On November 12, he announced in a tweet that his debut studio album will be titled Gnossos[20] but later decided against the title.[21] On December 4, Earl announced that the album will instead be called Doris.[22] That same day the music video for track 6 on Doris, "Chum" was posted on YouTube.[23] Doris was reported early on to feature vocals and/or production from Tyler, the Creator, Frank Ocean, Ommas Keith, Thundercat, Domo Genesis, Mac Miller, the Neptunes, Christian Rich, Vince Staples, BadBadNotGood, Pharrell Williams, Samiyam, The Alchemist, Casey Veggies, The Internet and RZA.[24][25][26] On March 6, 2013, while performing with Flying Lotus and Mac Miller, Earl premiered three new songs off Doris: "Burgundy" produced by Pharrell Williams, "Hive" featuring Casey Veggies & Vince Staples and "Guild" featuring Mac Miller. Earl also confirmed the next single to be titled "Whoa" featuring Tyler, the Creator. The song was released to iTunes on March 12, 2013, along with the music video being released, which was directed by Tyler.[27][28][29]

Doris was released on August 20, 2013, under Tan Cressida and Columbia Records. Doris featured guest appearances from Odd Future members Domo Genesis, Frank Ocean, Tyler, the Creator, along with Vince Staples, RZA, Casey Veggies and Mac Miller. Production was primarily handled by Sweatshirt under the pseudonym randomblackdude and production duo Christian Rich. Additional production was provided by Matt Martians, The Neptunes, RZA, Samiyam, BadBadNotGood, Frank Ocean, and Tyler, the Creator. In September 2013, Complex named Sweatshirt the tenth best producer in hip hop.[30] Upon its release, Doris was met with universal critical acclaim from music critics, including perfect scores by The Guardian and Los Angeles Times, which praised Sweatshirt's rhyme schemes and lyrics along with the gritty underground production.[31] The album also fared well commercially debuting at number five on the US Billboard 200 and number one on US Top Rap Albums chart.[32]

2014–15: I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside and Solace

Main articles: I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside: An Album by Earl Sweatshirt and Solace (Earl Sweatshirt EP)
Earl Sweatshirt with fellow group member, Taco.

On October 10, 2014, Earl confirmed that he had completed the follow-up album to Doris.[33] On November 5, 2014, he released a new song entitled "45" produced by The Alchemist. On February 14, 2015 Earl debuted a new song titled "Quest/Power" via SoundCloud.[34] Earl has been performing unreleased tracks since early 2015, such as "Swamp Vermin", "Vultures", "I Be Outside", "Hell", and "Flowers on the Grave". No specific time table is known for the official releases for these songs.

On January 5, 2015, Earl released a song titled silenceDArapgame with professional skateboarder Nakel Smith under the moniker Hog Slaughta Boyz.[35]

On March 16, 2015, The pre-order for Earl's second studio album, titled: I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside: An Album by Earl Sweatshirt appeared on the iTunes Store, without prior announcement.[36] On March 17, 2015, Earl released a music video, for the song "Grief".[37]

The full album was released on March 22, 2015, but only the digital version; the physical version was released later on April 14, 2015.[38] A later music video for the song "Off Top" was released on August 7, 2015.[39] Earl stated in an interview with NPR that his record label gave him no notice they would release the album.[40] He says he considers this his first album because he feels he can "back up everything, the good and the bad".

On April 28, 2015, a ten-minute track named "Solace" was released via YouTube, and has gained much attention; gaining more than one-hundred thousand views on YouTube in 24 hours. He stated to NPR that he was making an album called "Solace" inspired by his mother, however many believe it is instead an extended play. The project has not been addressed fully.[41] It is widely debated if Earl left Odd Future or not. It seems he has confirmed he has left through his Twitter on May 28, 2015 by saying "No sympathy for male virgins who're in their feelings about Tyler pointing out and solidifying the obvious" after Tyler, the Creator tweeted what everyone thought was the disbandment of Odd Future, although Tyler denies an Odd Future disbandment. Earl did not appear at Camp Flog Gnaw 2015 on November 14, 2015. Many speculated that Tyler, the Creator did not invite Earl to perform at the Carnival because of a feud or conflict between the two. However, Tyler tweeted the day after the carnival "Thebe and I are fine by the way".

2016–present

On January 25, 2016, Earl released three new tracks on SoundCloud, "Wind in My Sails", produced by The Alchemist, and "Bary" and "Skrt Skrt", produced under his alias 'randomblackdude'. "Wind in My Sails" contains samples from Captain Murphy's song "Children of the Atom" and vocal samples from Gene McDaniels's song "The Parasite (For Buffy)". "Bary" contains vocal samples from Kanye West's song "Barry Bonds". "Skrt Skrt" contains vocal samples from 21 Savage's song "Skrrt Skrrt".[42]

On March 4, 2016, Earl was featured on Samiyam's 4th album, Animals Have Feelings. The song, "Mirror", was originally meant for I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside: An Album by Earl Sweatshirt. According to Earl, The song wasn't included because "The tracklist got fucked up".[43] The music video for "Mirror" was released on June 21, 2016.[44]

On August 1, 2016, a instrumental track called "Pelicula" was posted on Apple Music. On August 17, 2016, Earl was featured on Adult Swim Singles Program 2016 on the track "Balance",[45][46] produced by Knxwledge. On September 4, a new Earl track called "Death Whistles" was released on Earl's and Knxwledge's livestream show on Red Bull Music Academy, produced by King Krule.

On September 21, 2018, frequent collaborator The Alchemist released the track listing to his EP Bread, which contains the track "E. Coli" featuring Earl Sweatshirt.[47]

Artistry

Influences

Earl has stated that he is influenced by MF Doom, James Pants, Jay-Z, and Eminem.[48][49]

Discography

Main articles: Earl Sweatshirt discography and Earl Sweatshirt production discography

Awards and nominations

Year Ceremony Award Nominated work Result
2013 BET Hip Hop Awards[50] Rookie of the Year Himself Nominated
Grammy Awards Album of the Year Channel Orange (as featured artist) Nominated
MTVU Woodie Awards Breaking Woodie Himself Won

Filmography

Year Title Notes
2013–2014 Loiter Squad Series Regular; 20 Episodes
2013 Late Show with David Letterman Performed "Rusty" with Tyler, the Creator and Domo Genesis
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Performed "Burgundy" with The Roots
2014 106 & Park
2015 Jimmy Kimmel Live! Performed "AM // Radio" and "Grief" with BadBadNotGood
Crash Test Musical guest; Performed "Burgundy" with Odd Future
2016 Party Legends Season 1, Episode 2: Make Mistakes with Na'kel Smith
2016 Traveling the Stars: Action Bronson and Friends Watch ‘Ancient Aliens’ Season 1, Episode 1: Dinosaurs

Videography

  • Earl Sweatshirt – "Earl" (2010)
  • Domo Genesis and Tyler, the Creator – "Sam (Is Dead)" (2012)
  • Earl Sweatshirt – "Chum" (2012)
  • Tyler, the Creator – "Domo23" (2013)
  • Earl Sweatshirt – "Whoa" (2013)
  • Earl Sweatshirt – "Hive" (2013)
  • Pharrell- "Happy" (2013)
  • Earl Sweatshirt – "Grief" (2015)
  • Earl Sweatshirt – "Off Top" (2015)
  • Santigold – "Who Be Lovin' Me" (2015)
  • NxWorries – "Link Up" (2016)
  • Samiyam – "Mirror" (2016)

References

  1. ^ "thebe kgositsile on Twitter: "@StylistStan I'm the Chicago version of me. I was born there I moved 2 la a few years after"". Twitter. 2016-02-04. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
  2. ^ "Parliament pays tribute to late poet and political activist Keorapetse Kgositsile". Retrieved 2018-01-04.
  3. ^ Thompson, Nicholas. (2009-01-07) News Desk: Looking for Earl Sweatshirt, The New Yorker. Retrieved on 2011-08-16.
  4. ^ a b c After Exile, Career Reset. Earl Sweatshirt Is Back From the Wilderness. The New York Times, May 2, 2012
  5. ^ "OFWGKTA: Earl Sweatshirt – EARL". Oddfuture.tumblr.com. 2010-03-31. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
  6. ^ Insanul Ahmed, "The 25 Best Albums of 2010," Complex, December 15, 2010.
  7. ^ Caroline Ryder (2010-10-14). "The Future Is Odd – Page 2 – Music – Los Angeles". LA Weekly. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
  8. ^ "OFWGKTA: FUCK! Watching This Video Kills Us Inside. We Miss". Oddfuture.tumblr.com. 2010-12-27. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
  9. ^ "The Live Insanity that Is Odd Future Wolf Gang..." SPIN.com. 2010-11-09. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
  10. ^ Kgositsile, Thebe. "Interview with Peter Rosenberg". YouTube.
  11. ^ "The GQ&A: Earl Sweatshirt". Gq.com. Retrieved 2013-08-25.
  12. ^ Jon Caramanica, "After Exile, Career Reset – Earl Sweatshirt Is Back From the Wilderness", The New York Times, May 2, 2012.
  13. ^ "Leila Steinberg: 'With Earl, It's A Journey' : Microphone Check". NPR. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
  14. ^ "2016 XXL Freshman Class". Xxlmag.com. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
  15. ^ "Home". YouTube. 2012-02-08. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
  16. ^ "Welcome to Twitter – Login or Sign up". Twitter.com. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  17. ^ "Welcome to Twitter – Login or Sign up". Twitter.com. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  18. ^ "Earl Sweatshirt Performs With Odd Future In NYC". Illroots. 2012-03-21. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
  19. ^ "iTunes – Music – Chum – Single by Earl Sweatshirt". Itunes.apple.com. 2012-11-02. Archived from the original on 2013-10-26. Retrieved 2013-04-08. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ "Twitter / earlxsweat: my third album (counting earl". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2013-04-08.
  21. ^ "EARL on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
  22. ^ "EARL on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2015-11-22.
  23. ^ "Earl Sweatshirt – Chum (Explicit)". YouTube. 2012-12-04. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
  24. ^ Horowitz, Steven J. (2012-12-04). "Earl Sweatshirt Reveals Debut Album Title | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales". HipHop DX. Retrieved 2013-04-08.
  25. ^ "XXL Presents... The 35 Most Anticipated Albums of 2013 – XXL". Xxlmag.com. 2013-01-14. Retrieved 2013-04-08.
  26. ^ "Watch Earl Sweatshirt Premiere a Song f/ RZA in Syracuse". Complex. 2013-04-28. Retrieved 2013-08-17.
  27. ^ Cooper, Roman (2013-03-07). "Earl Sweatshirt Previews Three Songs From Upcoming Album | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales". HipHop DX. Retrieved 2013-04-08.
  28. ^ "Earl Sweatshirt Premieres New Music From Debut Album Doris, Featuring Mac Miller (Video)". The Masked Gorilla. 2013-03-07. Retrieved 2013-04-08.
  29. ^ "Video: Earl Sweatshirt Slacks Off in 'Whoa'". Rolling Stone. 2013-03-12. Retrieved 2013-04-08. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  30. ^ "10. randomblackdude a.k.a. Earl Sweatshirt — The 10 Best Rap Producers Right Now". Complex. 2013-09-25. Retrieved 2013-10-29.
  31. ^ "Doris Reviews". Metacritic. 2013-08-20. Retrieved 2013-08-20.
  32. ^ "Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 8/25/2013". HipHopDX. Retrieved August 25, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  33. ^ "EARL on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  34. ^ "Earl Sweatshirt – "45" – Stereogum". Stereogum. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  35. ^ Gordon, Jeremy (5 January 2015). "Earl Sweatshirt and Pro Skater Nakel Smith Are Hog Slaughta Boyz, Share "silenceDArapgame"". pitchfork.com. Retrieved 2017-07-04.
  36. ^ Brandle, Lars (March 17, 2015). "Now Earl Sweatshirt is Dropping a Surprise New Album". Billboard.
  37. ^ Grief. YouTube. 2015.
  38. ^ "Tweet Number 588046067448414208". Twitter. 14 April 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2015. IDLSIDGO PHYSICALS DROPPED TODAY. GO AHEAD AND DO WHAT YOU DO WITH THAT
  39. ^ "Earl Sweatshirt – Off Top". EarlSweatshirtVEVO. 7 August 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  40. ^ "Earl Sweatshirt: 'I'm Grown' : Microphone Check". Npr.org. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
  41. ^ "solace". 28 April 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  42. ^ "Listen to Three New Tracks from Earl Sweatshirt | Pigeons & Planes". Pigeonsandplanes.com. 2016-01-26. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
  43. ^ Jayson Greene (2015-04-02). "The Proverbial Wisdom of Earl Sweatshirt". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
  44. ^ "Samiyam – Earl Sweatshirt – Mirror (Official Video)". YouTube. 2016-06-21. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
  45. ^ "Earl Sweatshirt and Knxwledge Find 'Balance' on New Adult Swim Single". 17 August 2016.
  46. ^ Adult Swim (18 August 2016). "Earl Sweatshirt feat. Knxwledge "Balance" [Explicit Lyrics] – 2016 Adult Swim Singles" – via YouTube.
  47. ^ "Alchemist Shares Tracklist For "Bread" EP Featuring Earl Sweatshirt & Black Thought". Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  48. ^ "Earl Sweatshirt | Similar Artists". AllMusic. 1994-02-24. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
  49. ^ "Nardwuar vs. Earl Sweatshirt & Syd Tha Kyd". YouTube. 2014-11-08. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
  50. ^ "Who New? Rookie of the Year | Hip Hop Awards 2014 | Shows". Bet.com. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
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