(shit I'm reviewing this ^^^^^^^^)
Hello, you chewity chew chews and click clackers and what not.
Let me get this thing started by clarifying one thing: I love alternative rap.
I own CDs by the boys at Odd Future, Aesop Rock, Death Grips, Kendrick Lamar, and others of the genre. Odd Future has stuck out in particular to me. I don't know, I just love the wild sound they give with the wacky instrumentals, offensive, sometimes three dimensional lyrics, as well as just the guys behind the mic all together. I saw an Odd Future in Brooklyn a couple months ago, and it was electric. So basically, I was really, REALLY looking forward to Doris, the first release in years from member Earl Sweatshirt, who was sent to a reform school in Samoa and was denied to release any of his music through the rap collective by his mother.
I finally got around to purchasing a solid copy of Doris one day in the middle of November when me and my (at-the-time) girlfriend walked into Zumiez to get some hats. It was at the counter in a nifty little cardboard display and I said "Aw, why nawt", thus purchasing the album. Initially, my (at-the-time) girlfriend, having no idea who Earl or Odd Future was, laughed at me because one of the feature artists rapping with him was Mac Miller, on the track, Guild.
(on a personal note, Mac Miller's teeth are fucking huge. Just saying. Just look at them)
(just wow)
Ok, serious time. So when I got home, I basically ripped the plastic off, plugged it into my stereo, and blasted this thing.
About forty minutes later, I was left feeling pretty good.
Let me just say this: Earl is a lyrical genius. That's probably the strong point on this album. He has a lot of metaphorical stuff to his songs, and that's really cool to be left to interpret. I'm not saying he's an MF DOOM or something like that, but he definitely has something going for him. Just listen to the track "Hive". It's a rush. Sure, there's the usual "Gettin my dick sucked", "Gold Chains", "Weapons" occasionally, but lines like "Ridin' dirty is the sky that you're praying to", stuck out to me.
(like shit, I could get into this)
My only real deterrent from this album had to be the instrumentals at points. There are tracks like "Burgundy" with a really chopped, skewed sounding beat that just doesn't do it for me.
I'm not saying chopped and skewed doesn't work on this album completely. Like, "Knight" does it and it sounds pretty solid to me.
Overall, I'm giving this an 7/10. Where it fails it is made up with lyrically as well as delivery. Clean up the instrumentals a tad and we got a pretty good album. Get wrecked.
Favorite tracks: Knight, Hive, Whoa
Least favorite tracks: Burgundy, Guild, Sasquatch