Some Rap Songs

AlbumNov 30 / 201815 songs, 24m 47s
Abstract Hip Hop Experimental Hip Hop
Popular Highly Rated

Earl Sweatshirt’s second album, 2015’s *I Don’t Like S\*\*t, I Don’t Go Outside*, is a masterwork of efficiency. At just 10 songs over 30 minutes, not a word is wasted nor a note held a second too long. Brevity, specifically, is a concept Sweatshirt cites in interviews as a guiding principle in his art, one he leans into even further on *I Don’t Like S\*\*t*’s follow-up, *Some Rap Songs*. At an even brisker 15 tracks in 25 minutes, the project is mineral-rich, Sweatshirt losing himself in a relentless pursuit of clever and complex bars. His rhymes are marvels of non sequitur, rarely tracking a theme or singular direction for more than a few lines, all delivered over subdued and unrelenting soul loops. The former Odd Future standout handles the bulk of production as well, though *Some Rap Songs* also includes contributions from frequent collaborators Denmark Vessey and Gio Escobar (of NYC art-jazz duo Standing on the Corner), among others. Vocal guests include two of Sweatshirt’s oldest inspirations—his mother, UCLA professor Cheryl Harris, and late father, South African poet laureate Keorapetse Kgositsile.

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8.8 / 10

With his latest record, the onetime teen prodigy reemerges as the face of a new sound and scene that blurs the line between avant-garde jazz and hip-hop.

A

Earl Sweatshirt’s 2015 album I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside is one of the best rap albums of the decade, but it was a grower, claustrophobic and dissonant. Some Rap Songs aims higher and makes you work harder. That blurry cover and demurring title are no feint; he’s buried in the mix, his voice fighting against…

8 / 10

Don't be fooled by the title – Earl Sweatshirt's third album is dense, experimental and deeply fascinating.

Earl Sweatshirt's 'Some Rap Songs' is a claustrophobic and compelling story about finding one's self in the aftermath of loss.

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7 / 10

Recorded under the umbrella of Odd Future, Earl Sweatshirt's 2010 debut was that year's most divisive rap record.

8.5 / 10

'Some Rap Songs,' the brand new effort by Earl Sweatshirt, album review by Stephan Boissonneault. The full-length is now available by Tan Cressida/Sony.

Cut-up beats are a foil for candid reflections on the artist’s battles with drugs and depression, with moving moments of parental reconciliation

80 %

The most captivating album of his career.

4.2 / 5

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