This album cover kinda reminds me of those weird, blurred, Mr. Krabs memes that people used to represent being caught off guard. And I suppose the juxtaposition of Earl’s deranged smile with his soft, introspective lyricism are enough to catch a casual hip-hop listener like myself off guard as well.
I don’t really put a lot of time digging deep into a rapper’s lyrics searching for meaning. While I recognize that, with Earl, there’s definitely a lot to unpack, I can’t say the quality of his lyrics has ever held priority over whether or not I actually enjoy the music. This probably makes my opinion less valid than the more refined listener, but that’s fine. I’m not an expert.
What Earl does have is one of the best flows in modern rap music. His slurred, relaxed delivery compliments lyrics about his depression, mentality, and struggle to find his place in the world. He utilizes it a lot more on Some Rap Songs than on his last album, I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside, where we found Earl was much more emotional and the production was much cleaner.
On this record, the production is much more lo-fi, with beats consisting of samples chopped up, copies, and haphazardly stuck together with Elmer’s glue. It’s all a part of the image that Earl is going for here. With 15 brief tracks crammed into a 24-minute run time, Earl showcases an ability to law all of his ideas out on the table and assemble them like a puzzle.
I only wish that I found the music more interesting. What Some Rap Songs lacks is a spark of creativity or a stroke of genius that would really set it apart from the other major rap releases of the year (Kids See Ghosts, DAYTONA, etc.). I’ll admit that, when it comes to rap, I’m difficult to impress, but I found Some Rap Songs to be particularly underwhelming relative to the amount of hype it was given by the music community.
I had to give Some Rap Songs many more rotations than I would for a normal album review, because each time I listened, I found that my affinity towards it differed from the previous listen. Overall, I do think it kind of grew on me. I originally found it to be extremely boring, but once I kind of realized what Earl was going for, I began to suspect a hidden genius within it.
Nonetheless, I’m forced to leave it at a “meh…” this time. If nothing else, Earl Sweatshirt is one of the most likable and interesting figures in rap music. His simultaneously laid-back and chaotic music are intriguing to say the least, and he has a sense of humor that proves he doesn’t take himself so seriously. In a world where pointless Drake beefs and strange Kanye tweets exist, it’s surely a welcome change.
Ryan Reviews Music 