- This decade passed, hip-hop fans have witnessed countless unique artists stake their claim in the online rap world. In this hypothetical list of future/current legends (depending on who you ask), it's hard to argue Thebe Kgositsile hasn't earned his place. Entering the public consciousness at just sixteen with the Odd Future collective, Earl Sweatshirt has gone on to unknowingly influence and then ride an exciting new wave of forthright street poets, their rhymes rooted in loops of the past and prescient observations.
Collaborations with this close-knit crew of NY introverts bore both the fleeting brilliance of 2018's Some Rap Songs and its apocalyptic accompaniment Feet Of Clay the following year. These projects, as raw and honest as they were intangible, enshrined Thebe as a torchbearer for a sound which would define underground hip-hop as it entered the 2020s.
Sick! comes in response to upheaval both global and personal - “leaning into the chaos” as Earl puts it. Seemingly he's found solace in the storm, keeping family and friends close while welcoming the birth of his first child. This need for connection sees Earl entirely outsource production duties for the first time since Doris in 2013, casting a wide net of influence and emotion.
Earl's renowned obsession with sampled loops remains, opening and closing the record with soft-spoken sermons in the vain of Brownsville veteran Ka. Always quick to credit contemporaries, Sick! boasts features from Danny Brown affiliate ZelooperZ, as well as New York cryptids Armand Hammer, the latter pair appearing on lyrical centrepiece Tabula Rasa (the clean slate). Elucid and billy woods prove their place as lyrical powerhouses with confessional verses, but it's Earl who stretches out in an elaboration on SRS's confessional style, showing the renewed reselience that's got him through these past few years: “The madness method rampant these days, I let the panic pass me / Featherweight, my heart was straight without baggage.”
Sitting in balance with these soulful musings are Sick!'s collaborations with Detroit producer Black Noi$e, who steals the show not one, but three times; on Titanic, Visions ft. ZelooperZ, and lead single 2010. His beats are an evolved offshoot of shimmering cloud trap made prevalent throughout the 2010s, recalling the surrealism of Clams Casino and Bruiser Brigade's in house producer Raphy, among many others of the scene. Earl's vocals on these beats provide ideal counterpoint to the jazzy abstractions of Alchemist produced cuts like Lye and Old Friend.
Aforementioned single 2010, as well as being the postcode of Surry Hills, more likely refers to Thebe's early years as an artist, trying to define himself in the hip-hop industry. Black Noi$e delivers a real thumper, draping hi-hats across piercing snare shots beneath a flitting synth lead. While Earl's vocal delivery recalls the immediacy of his West Coast days, the lyrics show a strengthened sense of internal wisdom with internal rhymes to match: “Foot shook ground when I stepped on it / Didn't look back when I broke soil / 'Cause every time I did it would hurt more.”
Titanic is similarly hard-hitting, the beat's rattling momentum giving way to cascading punchlines as Na-Kel plays hypeman behind Earl. It's fair to credit some of this rugged direction to ZelooperZ, a Detroit enigma whose drawled vocals on Visions sound like Lil Wayne featuring in a dream. It's a style I can appreciate on his own projects – or Bruiser Brigade's excellent TV62 compilation from last year – but there's a level of lyricism expected on an Earl record that ZelooperZ' immense swagger doesn't quite account for. Irrespective of my feelings, Visions sticks out as a defining statement for the vast piano and vocal samples engulfing its low end.
So that's Sick!, a transitional album for transient times. It's clear Thebe is as much a student of hip-hop culture as he is a young scholar and mentor to countless affiliates, unafraid to show influence and document his creative development through rap. Earl Sweatshirt continues his career as a once-in-a-generation artist whose movements will be felt for years to come. To quote a recent interview, Earl was asked about his love of density in verses, replying casually: “I wanna live after I'm dead bro, it'll be fun”.
- Boddhi Farmer.