Brilliant lyricism with better production.
This album is, simply put, incredible. Earl didn’t disappoint on any level, his bars are emotional and packed full of meaning. He really is a word-smith. Topics of depression, loneliness, colonialism, and reflections on culture. And he manages to do all this with his signature flows and delivery; I think there’s nobody out there right now that sounds quite like Earl Sweatshirt. He’s unique, and that’s fantastic.
That being said, the production is just on another level. The Alchemist might be the greatest producer right now. If you don’t believe that, I beg you to check out this record, because he really knocked it out of the park. He did a bit of everything, more rhythmic beats, more melody, but all of them with incredible, soulful samples.
This album has 2 versions, the original and the streaming version, which have 3 different tracks. Both are very good, but the original version is a bit better. my brother, the wind is way better than Mancala.
Overall, this is a fantastic project that you should definitely check out, if you haven’t yet. The lyricism just blows damn near every other album released this year out of the water, and the production is on another plane entirely. What’s there not to love? But hey,
what do you think?
Best song: Vin Skully
Worst song: Mancala
Rating: 5/5
Great write-up, but this one felt like a bit of a step down from what he did with Feet of Clay or Some Rap Songs. Personally, I think Earl sounds best when he’s rapping over his own beats. This is why I think i was underwhelmed with Sick! too. Regardless, the worst Earl Sweatshirt release is still leaps above most other rappers’ best.
Thanks for introducing me to this community, too!
Ahh I definitely get that! I haven’t listened to Feet of Clay (yet) but on Some Rap Songs Earl was just lyrically brilliant. This (VOIR DIRE I mean) is my favourite project of his yet though. The production really sold it for me.
↪It’s basically just a blog really haha
Feet of Clay is great but usually gets overshadowed by SRS when people talk about that era of Earl. It’s definitely worth a listen, the whole project is less than 20 minutes. Plus it introduced me to rappers like Mavi and Navy Blue, so it automatically scores high on my list.
Like most of earls projects, I’m sure that Voir Dire will grow on me, but I truthfully have never really got much out of Alc’s production. Both artists are great live though, I had the opportunity to see them on the NBA Leather tour last year. Hearing Earl Sweatshirt laugh at tiktok kids for trying to mosh to his songs hits a little different
I’ll check out Feet of Clay then!!!
YOU GOT TO SEE THEM LIVE?! I’m jealous------------------