By Yane Ahn
Earl Sweatshirt’s new album I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside is an expression of boredom and frustration with others illustrated through solid melodies and incredible lyricism.
In this album, Earl continues his expressively downcast venue of music from Doris. He utilizes his gloomy mood to rant about things personal and real to him. None of his songs are about hype or making noise. They can be cocky, but there’s always an atmosphere of a depressed boredom in everything he says.
No one else expresses their feelings the way Earl Sweatshirt does. His lyrics are quite literally poetry, the most complex, intricate expressions. Earl is able to draw crazy lyrics from his dark mood.
He constantly talks about the fake people, the “serpents” or “snakes,” in his life, whether in “Faucet” or “Off Top.” The chorus of “Faucet” echoes that he doesn’t know whose house to call, and that it feels like “basic hoes try to cage him like the po’.” “Off Top” also states outright that he only “trust these bitches ‘bout as far as I can throw ‘em.”
The fourth track off his album, “Grief,” demonstrates his current state of mind. People are trying to be better than him, everyone around him is acting fake or trying to be like him. Yet he also briefly raps about how he’s still struggling with drugs and he misses his grandma. This contrast between his confidence and his sadness continues throughout the entire album, including “AM // Radio.”
The songs on I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside use a lot of melodies and rhythms that are similar in stylistic form. In that way, his style is solidified and there is a continuation of the classic, dreamy, slow but emotional Earl Sweatshirt his fans have come to love.
The point of what he does isn’t to try to be easy to listen to. He really wants to express himself and not give anyone an easy way out of trying to understand him. He says that people always try to know him and it’s annoying — that’s literally what his first track, “Huey,” is about.
It makes me feel bad for him. He hates everyone around him, the girls and the fans. He likes the rich rapper lifestyle, but still finds that there’s a void within him that he can’t really fill. He misses his mom, grandma and his friends. He hates his ex. He misses having someone to compare his rapping against and he just wants to be happy. The most striking aspect of this new album is that he’s never sounded this sad before.