Vinnie the Intern #22: Three Songs to Check Out

On November 1st, Earl Sweatshirt released his new track "Chum" and it is easily one of his best to date. I was a fan of his mix-tape EARL. It introduced a young rapper (very young, in fact) still trying to cultivate a persona and a voice. A little spotty, a lot of indulgent stories dealing with violent fantasies, and an uneven quality of beats, EARL went where very few albums dared to go. It seemed that as soon as he arrived, he vanished. An improved Earl resurfaced earlier this year. Over summer he added his mic skills to two great songs: Frank Ocean's "Super Rich Kids" and the Flying Lotus/Captain Murphy track "Between Friends."

This song is proof to why he is often revered as Odd Future's best lyricist. Long gone is the violent imagery which put him on the map. He predicted he would lose some fans for his change in style (and unabashedly admitted that he would be happy to lose them if all they wanted were songs like "epaR"). "Chum" explores Earl's life with the absence of a father and how he pursued guidance, even it was the wrong kind as he says he goes from "Honor Roll to cracking locks up off the bicycle racks." There is a noticeable improvement production-wise. A fuzzy bass line is set under a piano line with a marching snare.This track is a great sign of things to come. Whenever his album post-Samoa drops, I will have my expectations set on high.

Earl Sweatshirt - Chum - Single

A collaborator of Earl Sweatshirt, Captain Murphy may release his album sooner rather than later. On October 31st, the still anonymous Captain Murphy claimed "November 30th or the day I get 10k followers." That happened Monday morning and we are still waiting for Duality, but we did get a new song called "Immaculation" featuring Azizi Gibson and Jeremiah Jae. The bassline is very reminiscent of the only 50 Cent song of which I am actually fond: "Just A Touch." Captain Murphy fans can be happy that this song contains everything that a typical Captain Murphy song contains: hyperactive pitch-shifting and some references to the end of the world.