American rapper Earl Sweatshirt’s new project “Feet of Clay” is a short but deeply introspective look into the artist’s personal struggles to cope with death and grief.
Thebe Kgositsile, better known as Earl Sweatshirt, released the project Friday without much warning other than a few social media posts.
Clocking in at 15 minutes, “Feet of Clay” is the second EP Sweatshirt released after 2015’s “Solace.”
It’s also the first time he released music since his 2018 album “Some Rap Songs,” which touched on the topic of making amends with his father, but dropped just after his father’s death that year.
“Feet of Clay,” an expression describing a weakness or character flaw in people of prominence, is the perfect title for the EP as it reflects Sweatshirt’s greatest flaw: his projects are way too short.
But in a way, even though the EP is only 15 minutes long and leaves you confused and wanting more, it oddly fits the tone of the project.
The music transports you into Sweatshirt’s mind and makes you feel that same confused feeling he must have felt after losing his dad.
Leaving no time to waste, the project starts off with the disjointed, lo-fi piano sample beat of “74,” where Sweatshirt immediately jumps into his off-beat and stylistic flow. His cadence makes it seem like you’re in a living room just talking about random topics.
This track is definitely the most lyrically fun song as there’s a lot of name-dropping and references to artists including Amar’e Stoudemire and the Wu-Tang Clan as well as some really fun word schemes.
“Protect your neck and don’t forget the heart / We upper echelon with it, that’s what they’re checkin’ for,” Sweatshirt raps.
As the following track, “EAST” comes in with a single accordion loop and a simple but uplifting bassline, the lyrics take a more serious tone as Sweatshirt laments on losing his girlfriend and the deaths of his grandmother and father.
The way he presents it almost seems like he’s just trying to have a conversation with the listener.
The production on the project really shined and even complimented his flows and lyrics perfectly.
With full creative control after leaving Columbia Records, his vision and style of mixing these weirdly disconnected beats and samples to match how he feels works so well.
Tracks such as “OD” with its heavily chopped horn and vocal samples and “TISK TISK/COOKIES” with its lo-fi drums and samples from an episode from the animated sitcom “The Boondocks,” really show Sweatshirt’s beat making skills.
With “The Boondocks” voice actor John Witherspoon’s recent death, the latter of the songs really hit home as Sweatshirt raps, “The silliness in you, I mourn / The moments that’s tender and soft / I’m in ’em, the memories got strong / But some of ’em long gone.”
The features on the album are definitely another aspect of the project worth mentioning as most of them have a similar tone to Sweatshirt, making the whole project much more cohesive.
On “EL TORO COMBO MEAL” Charlotte-native rapper Mavi spits the first verse over another lo-fi drum sample which actually has more of a classic boom bap beat similar to “MTOMB”.
Mavi’s flows and runs through this conversational style of rapping is so similar to Sweatshirt’s style, which doesn’t surprise, given that Mavi is a direct descendent-turned-collaborator of Sweatshirt.
The previously mentioned “MTOMB” also has a feature with the beat coming from legendary California producer The Alchemist.
His boom bap influences reflect in this heavenly but dark beat made up of some simple high hats, bass drum and droning gospel vocals as Sweatshirt continues talking about his depression and dealing with his father’s death.
The album ends with the longest song off the project, the rest lasting no longer than 2 minutes, with almost 5 minutes of instrumentals and verses from Sweatshirt and Haitian American rapper Mach-Hommy.
The song opens up with a faint piano melody over a looped guitar and high hat beat as Mach-Hommy faintly introduces the track with his chorus before going into a dark toned verse about gun violence.
Sweatshirt follows the verse and continues the theme of guns and violence with some interesting rhythms in his rapping and some new topics other than his own depression.
If you are a die-hard Sweatshirt fan, this EP won’t disappoint in lyrical or musical content.
However, just be prepared to finish the EP quickly with the feeling of wanting more.
