June 26, 2020
Warner Bros. Records
1xLP
Early Sweatshirt's mother, Cheryl Harris, is a critical race theorist and professor of civil rights and liberties at the University of California. She has been published in the Harvard Law Review. Earl Sweatshirt's father, Keorapetse Kgositsile, was a vital member of the African National Congress. He was inaugurated South Africa's national Poet-Laureate. To say Earl was destined to be the greatest wordsmith of his generation isn't hyperbole, nor should it detract from the staggering evolution he's undergone as a MC and producer — it's simply in his blood to excel at language, at challenging words to keep up with him, daring meaning and sense to be made in accordance to what comes out of his mouth. Hearing him rap is a hearing a preternaturally talented wunderkind create awe out of thin air. Plus, he raps over a accordion. James Joyce could never.