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A BREAKDOWN OF SOLACE BY EARL SWEATSHIRT
solace by earl sweatshirt is a beautiful and dark EP released on April 28, 2015. This EP is a 10 min song, split into 5 different soundscapes that take the listener on a journey in the rapper’s mind. Earl presents himself at his most vulnerable, expressing his depression -
and struggles with no filter truly broadcasting his illness.
PART 1:
The track starts off with a muffled, dark and uneasy beat with Earl continuously saying “I’ve been here before” which sets off the tone for the rest of the tape. In the first verse, Earl describes his depressed state, he hasn’t been eating and spends his time smoking, -
The track starts off with a muffled, dark and uneasy beat with Earl continuously saying “I’ve been here before” which sets off the tone for the rest of the tape. In the first verse, Earl describes his depressed state, he hasn’t been eating and spends his time smoking, -
he compares his thoughts to being emprisoned “See, I ain’t been to prison but the feeling’s the same” he feels chained and trapped in his conscious filled with intrusive and depressing thoughts. He also makes reference to River Pheonix a young actor who passed away due to drug-
abuse and says they’ll share the same fate, meaning he thinks his drug use will get the best of him.
PART 2 :
The beat here remains uneasy yet it is replaced with a piano sample. There is a strong repetition of the word alright in the intro of this portion which shows that the rapper is trying to convince himself things will be alright regardless of his struggles. -
The beat here remains uneasy yet it is replaced with a piano sample. There is a strong repetition of the word alright in the intro of this portion which shows that the rapper is trying to convince himself things will be alright regardless of his struggles. -
In this verse, he sounds much more melancholic, drained you could say. He’s losing hope and tries to cope with the pain. In one line he says “ it’s raining a bit, I hope it’s a monsoon”, A monsoon is a long period of heavy rain which shows his depression can get worse and he -
wants it to get worse no matter how bad it’ll be. Yet to oppose that thought the verse ends with him telling himself “Stay in it, alright..?” which is him telling himself to not give up and keep pushing through.
PART 3 :
The instrumental shifts to a much less dark beat and is sort of hopeful and lighthearted, which could be him finding hope again.
The instrumental shifts to a much less dark beat and is sort of hopeful and lighthearted, which could be him finding hope again.
PART 4:
This part goes back to the dark beats and has a verse filled with him referring to two people whom he loves, his grandmother who passed, her death took a toll on him as she would be the who he would turn to for comfort and he mourns her frequently, every time he sees -
This part goes back to the dark beats and has a verse filled with him referring to two people whom he loves, his grandmother who passed, her death took a toll on him as she would be the who he would turn to for comfort and he mourns her frequently, every time he sees -
his hands. The second person is Nakel Smith one of his closest friends who is always there for Earl to give him a boost of confidence. He then implements an anaphora of the phrase “To tell the truth” where he admits to his drug use, insomnia, loss of friends and how he believes -
he deserves his depression which is apparent through the line “you can’t be loudest when you’re the wrongest” The verse ends with “if ya soul intact let me know” which is him calling out to anyone who is happy and not in the same state as him to possibly give him hope.
PART 5 :
The instrumental is the outro of this tape which is relaxing and not as uneasy and dark as the instrumentals featured beforehand.
The instrumental is the outro of this tape which is relaxing and not as uneasy and dark as the instrumentals featured beforehand.
This project is truly beautiful, through the 10 minutes the listener is filled with so many emotions and is a spectator to the rapper’s depression seeing how he truly felt all the darkness and sadness and how depression not only affects one’s mental yet physical health as well. -
Despite its short length solace truly has so much substance and is so lyrically complex and rich along with well throughout production, a dark and magical tape in my eyes.
This is my favourite Earl Sweatshirt project and means a lot to me, I relate to a lot of the same things expressed throughout the EP and my first listen left me in tears as it truly was so dark and beautiful. Earl was never the rapper that I was most fond of his other projects -
never stuck out to me much yet solace truly did have a large effect on me. Solace is defined by “comfort or consolation in a time of distress or sadness.” and I can truly say that this tape is my solace it comforts me when things are bad and it shows me I am not alone feeling -
The ways I do.
thank you for reading likes and rt’s appreciated :)
