Earl Sweatshirt: ‘I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside’ Review

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Kendra Allen in Uncategorized // 0 Comments

GREATEST. ALBUM. TITLE. EVER.

Vevo

“GOT BURNERS ON MY SOUL, AND MY POSSE ON MY SKIN”

“Drop this when the sunlight gone.” Honestly, whether nighttime or lights out or just eyes closed, it’s so much to take from I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside, Earl Sweatshirt’s second LP. Not because this is a dark, depressing project, but because any moment of solace causes an appreciation for the content and a heightened listening experience.

Earl is misunderstood and underestimated as an emcee, and who knows why?—this dude consistently snaps. His lazy flow captures his audience, and whether you like it or not, what he is saying is out of this world and well thought out. It you sneeze, it’s possible to miss the wordplay involved in his verses, it’s so subtle—“I’m like quicksand in my ways. Was always stuck in em’ stuck it in and I ambulance came.”

His lyrical complexity cannot be denied.

There are only two producers (not including Earl) used on I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside (RandomBlackDude & Left Brain) that brilliantly capture the essence of Earl’s style with hard knocks and minimal everything else. This really does sound like a gavel when it knocks; the production is amazing and heart-pumping. The instrumentation catapults Earl’s delivery. It adds more malice behind it, more umph! (whatever that even means), especially on “Mantra” and “Grief.” These don’t overshadow, rather they assist in making this album sonically coherent.

Also, “Off Top” is a perfect example of everything priorly said. Prepare to replay an excessive amount of times.

This album is only thirty minutes, containing only 10 tracks. Very short snippets of songs could be continued, leaving very little room to fall short, yet they all give you a lot to talk about. They give you a lot to feel, like Wiki’s verse on “AM//Radio” or the desolation on “Inside.” It’s all a feeling process.