Earl’s new project brings us up to date with his life, with that signature Sweatshirt style.
Live, Laugh, Love, the most recent release from acclaimed lyrical rapper Earl Sweatshirt, sees him continuing to pave his own weird way through the hip-hop landscape.
Since his days with Odd Future, Earl has become one of the collective’s true standouts, building a dedicated fanbase who stick by him no matter what – whether that’s through his releases or his mental state.
His projects usually deal with themes of mental health, depression, loss, addiction, and everything that comes with fame.
This latest project has truly taken the Sweatshirt fandom by surprise. After a brief two-year hiatus since his last release, are we finally seeing a happy Earl?
Now married and with kids, the young Earl we once knew seems to be no more, replaced by a more mature, more experimental artist.
Much of this is summed up by its perfectly hilarious album cover, showing Earl looking wiser than ever, really coming into his older self.
The project acts as a sort of sequel, both sonically and thematically, to his critically acclaimed Some Rap Songs (2018) – with experimental sample loops, short, hard-hitting, slow-spoken bars, and his understated delivery.
It also shares a similar short runtime, with several tracks hovering around the one-minute mark.
It may be difficult to realise just how much time has actually passed since Some Rap Songs being over 7 years old as of this release, showing that a lot of time truly has passed not just as fans but for Earl too.
Whilst it shares lots of similarities it more feels like a brighter sibling to Some Rap Songs which was one of his hardest hitting albums to date, with themes of grief and lots of discussion on his father who left Earl at a young age.
Live, Laugh, Love feels like Earl has gained an emotional maturity since then really coming into his own as a person, and he is feeling better.
Very tired, as he states on several tracks, but better.
Some standout tracks include ‘Gamma (need the <3),’ with its addictive sample loop and sharp bars, and shorter tracks like ‘WELL DONE!’ and ‘Static,’ which add great depth and flavour to the album.
But the biggest standout – and likely fan favourite – is ‘TOURMALINE,’ the most structured song on the album, with an actual chorus, melodic string instrumental, and vocal chop loops.
Here, Earl discusses themes of struggling alone even after achieving his dreams, saying everyone wants to “beat Bowser,” a metaphor for conquering the world around you.
He also reflects on coming to terms with his past decisions and finding a way through them.
It’s a beautiful, thoughtful track, reminiscent of his older work but with new-found maturity and outlook.
At just around 24 minutes, the album is tight and consistent, with virtually no skips.
While there are a few slower moments near the start, the project really comes into its own by the second half, proving Earl remains one of the most experimental and creative rappers working today.
It’s also a testimony to his consistency as an artist, releasing solid projects since 2010, with recently though post ‘Some Rap Songs’ his sound has had quite a change, leaning into the experimental side of his raps, on ‘Sick!’ and ‘Feet of Clay’, perhaps fulfilling avid Earl fans, but with his experimentation came some a slump of pretty uninteresting projects.
Overall he has had a consistency comeback in recent years with his collaboration effort with the Alchemist just two years ago with ‘Voir Dire’ and now ‘Live, Laugh Love’
Working with some returning producers such as ‘Navy Blue’ and ‘Theravada’ giving him his extremely unique and signature production style.
Overall Earl Sweatshirt is giving us a unique and exciting project, but with this excitement for his life, he shows doubts in his own ability to become a father, perhaps spanning off of his own father leaving him as a child.
While Earl is certainly in a better headspace than ten years ago, flashes of that teenage anger and loss still show through.
This project feels like a real turning point for Earl, and while no one can say for sure where he’ll go next, what we do know is this: Earl Sweatshirt is a father, he’s happy, and he’s still releasing music — and that’s all we could ask for.
