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The dark depression of Earl Sweatshirt’s: Some Rap Songs.
If the average trap, pop, or general music listener were to listen to Earl Sweatshirt’s “Some Rap Songs” it would probably seem self explanatory. Just some rap songs. Lazily, and poorly mixed, weird, seemingly unfinished beats filled with looped samples and minimal production.
And while they aren’t wrong, once the correct context is placed, lyrics analyzed and cracks filled, Some Rap Songs soon becomes far more than it’s namesake.
Since Earl had blown up with the group “Odd Future” he had always been the odd one out compared to other members like Frank Ocean and Tyler, the Creator. He was always noticeably quiet, and far darker in both personality and music. His fans were rabid seeing Earl as an avatar for
their own sadness, introvertedness and awkwardness encapsulated into a single person. His first tape and album “Earl” and “Doris” fell soundly into the Odd Future canon, but his sophmore album “I Dont Like Shit I Dont Go Outside” established his position as a person entirely
seperate entity from Odd Future. The album was far darker than anything by his contemporaries, and he also somewhat reinvented himself, stripping back a lot of the production and sounding more comfortable on the mic then ever, and everything for Earl was looking great.
He then went silent for the 3 years.
Things had changed a lot in the gap. Earl had lost his father, a poet who he had plans to reunite with, until he suddenly passed away. If this wasn’t enough to deal with he also lost his fathers best friend and an uncle figure, Hugh Masekala, who’s trumpet work is sampled-
on the last track of SRS “Riot!”
Earl couldn’t deal with it fast enough, calling off his European tour citing depression and anxiety as the cause. Earl was in a bad place and how he would get out of it would be a mystery until he broke the silence.
Earl couldn’t deal with it fast enough, calling off his European tour citing depression and anxiety as the cause. Earl was in a bad place and how he would get out of it would be a mystery until he broke the silence.
On November 8th, 2018 Earl broke the silence with “Nowhere2go”
Earl had stripped back on his acrobatic lyricism, becoming far more blunt simply stating
“I spent most of my life depressed
Only thing on my mind was death
didnt know if my time was next”
Earl had stripped back on his acrobatic lyricism, becoming far more blunt simply stating
“I spent most of my life depressed
Only thing on my mind was death
didnt know if my time was next”
The track met with mixed reviews, some people praising Earl opening up and his brash but unique choice for the beat, while others recognized his state of depression as cause for the sound, but not using as an excuse simply thinking it didn’t sound good.
Earl would release one more single “The Mint” ft. Navy Blue. The track had minimal production, a theme that would stick with SRS. Earl’s lyrics were just as poignant, rapping about his depression and seemingly stumbling over the beat like he didn’t he didnt know how he got there.
That would be his last single before releasing Some Rap Songs. The album is one that takes multiple listens to truly get. At first it just seems bad to average but upon listens we can see what Some Rap Songs conveys.
Earl’s depression seems to have aged him decades older from voice to lyrical content, and his beats are more repetitive yet lo-fi, fuzzy, and dark. Earl different aspects of his depression from “Nowhere2go” and “Eclipse” talking about his isolation-
to “The Bends” talking about Earls friends or “Ontheway!” which is one of few happier cuts off the record. “Red Water” is one of the hardest hitting talking about his relationship to his late father, who separated from his mother at a young age.
He raps
“Blood on my father, I forgot another dream”
and on the opener “Shattered Dreams” he says
“Why ain’t nobody tell me I was bleeding Please nobody pinch me out this dream”
With him “bleeding” being a metaphor for his spiraling depression.
“Blood on my father, I forgot another dream”
and on the opener “Shattered Dreams” he says
“Why ain’t nobody tell me I was bleeding Please nobody pinch me out this dream”
With him “bleeding” being a metaphor for his spiraling depression.
“Playing Possum” is one of the heaviest tracks on here mixing bits of an acceptance speech from his Mother, where she thanks him and her colleagues for helping her get there. Bits of his father reciting parts of his poem about refugees and war.
“Peanut” is the absolute bottom of the barrel, and the sea floor of Earl’s mental state. Earl sounds like he’s barely getting his words out and the production is downright eerie, with mixes of chopped up samples randomly playing throughout the track.
“Flushin through the pain, depression, this is not a phase, ay
Picking out his grave couldn’t help but fell out of place, ay”
“Bless my pops, we sent him off not an hour late
Still in shock, and now my heart out somewhere on the range”
Picking out his grave couldn’t help but fell out of place, ay”
“Bless my pops, we sent him off not an hour late
Still in shock, and now my heart out somewhere on the range”
In terms of one liners the most poignant was “Peace to every crease in my brain” which seems light on the surface but when put in context with Earl’s drug use to get through his depression the line becomes far less playful.
The mixing is something that is commented on a lot, it is most definitely intentional with my interpretation of it being Earl getting crushed by the things around him shifting him into the background.
Some Rap Songs was Earl’s outlet to get everything that had happened to him, out there and away from his mind. SRS is Earl’s most emotionally dense and darkers album and to me, his best album. Thankfully, Earl has since gotten a lot better, coming to terms with everything.
hope you enjoyed, likes and rt’s appreciated <3
