People change, but seasons don’t. There are only so many phases and in the rap world circa 2014, there is enough diversity where one of the ideas floating around will always be in. This isn’t 90s revival, but the same ideas are applied. Thudding minimal drums, minor chord piano lines roughly 5 degrees sunnier than […]

Max Bell once watched several Asher Roth videos in a row.  If you remember Earl’s introduction, you’ve always known — he was taught to take your rations and guzzle them. But time changes all rappers. The Asher Roth vids have buffered. The dust from the initial tornado-like Odd Future hype cycle has settled. Earl left the […]

Evan Nabavian invented grape Kool-Aid. The other day my boss said something like, “Let’s review your report tomorrow?” “Bong bong,” I said. A pause. “Indeed.” Read any RZA interview in the past ten years and you’ll get the “Wu-Tang Forever” spiel about the influence of the Wu in the world today. Drake echoed those sentiments […]

Son Raw isn’t sure how he feels about this one. Despite Kanye’s best attempts, Doris will probably go down as the year’s most contrarian rap album. Those expectations you have for Earl Sweatshirt, rap’s golden child anointed in absentia? Get rid of them – he wants nothing to do with this shit. No crowns, no […]

Son Raw is bringing back Eek-a-Mouse Good rap music, no more no less from the Early Man and friends, complete with a video with far more loitering than anything on Loiter Squad. I know the music press never really got over Tyler punking them with Goblin, but No Idols, Channel Orange, Wolf and now Doris […]

Sometimes Riff Raff’s lyrics remind me of an ether binge from Fear and Loathing, except rather than HST, we have Jamie Franko, a devotee of Versace, sushi and Pimp C. Lizards are everywhere and they’re tilted sideways and rocking designer fabrics. If Riff has not had a cameo on Loiter Squad, the universe remains imbalanced. […]

I like everything about this. The old man goofball glee that Letterman gets from saying “Earl Sweatshirt.” The Temptations back-up dancing provided by Tyler and Earl during Domo’s verse. Tyler’s air guitar solo. The St. Louis Cardinal’s Starter jacket. Earl’s return to become everything rap fans had hoped. Tyler’s purposefully corny tucked in shirt and […]

$250,000 in sock money can buy you a ramshackle junkyard, rusting muscle cars, sleazy trailers, and busted ballerinas. But it can’t buy back a moment in time. Odds were skinnier than Earl in boxers that he and Tyler couldn’t replicate the feeling of being young, broke, and hungry. Fake guns and shock have no shelf […]

“Was mobbin deep as 96 Havoc and Prodigy did/We were the pottymouth posse crash the party and dip/With all belongings then toss em out to the audience/Nothing was fucking awesome, trying to make it from the bottom/His sins feeling as hard as Vince Carter’s knee cartilage is/Supreme garment and weed gardeners garnishing spliffs/With Keef particles […]

Influence is unpredictable. During the late 90s and early 00s, common sense and chart placement led you to believe that DMX, Ja Rule, Jay-Z and Eminem would eventually spawn a thousand rappers mimicking their vocal quirks and rhyme schemes. And you would’ve been right. But artistic lineage often takes jagged and unpredictable turns. Some artists […]