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Rap Fans Get a Look at Earl’s New Direction with His Latest Album “Sick!”

Rap Fans Get a Look at Earl’s New Direction with His Latest Album “Sick!”

Marco Piazza

January 31, 2022

From Then to Now

If “Some Rap Songs” was Earl’s darkest moment artistically, then you could say “Sick!” is like a step in the direction of his process of healing. 2018 was quite the year for Earl, with the project receiving wide critical acclaim. Many die hard fans were unsure of where Earl was going to go with his next full-length project. After he released the B-sides to SRS in the form of his small tape “Feet of Clay,” fans were not sure where he was going to go next, myself included. While SRS is an outstanding album, FOC was much more rough-around the edges as far as production went, and nothing really stood out as being on the same level of Some Rap Songs.

Thoughts On the Album

While it is too early for me to personally rank this album among the rest of his discography, I can say off the bat that the production style of this album is much more palatable and accessible to the more average rap fan. For me this does not make it worse or better than SRS, since I really love the experimental lo-fi feel of the instrumentals of his previous project.

With “Sick!” being produced by Earl’s main producer Black Noi$e, some of the beats feel glitchy and dark, featuring hard hitting trap drums. One song that stands out to me would be “Titanic,” which features Earl spitting non-stop over a hard-hitting and catchy instrumental. However, other tracks feature a much smoother and more soulful instrumental. For me the track “Lye” is one of my favorites in that regard. His lyrics are deep and introspective as usual, referencing his trauma from his family and his mental state.

A New Era of Earl

Throughout the years, myself and other rap fans alike have watched Earl Sweatshirt grow into the conscious rapper that he is today. In addition, I think he is among some of the best lyricists of our generation, and his work has certainly backed this statement up. Love or hate Earl’s new sound, it seems like he is feeling himself, and I will frequently be revisiting this album. If you liked what I had to say about “Sick!”, click here for more music content.