''Earl'' is the second

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

by American rapper Earl Sweatshirt. It was released as a free digital download on March 31, 2010, on the

Odd Future Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, better known as Odd Future and often abbreviated as OF or OFWGKTA, was an American alternative hip-hop Musical collective, music collective formed in Los Angeles, California in 2007. The group consisted of rap ...

website.

Background and lyrics

''Earl'' is notable for its depraved and violent lyrics, which detail the fictional misadventures of the young Earl Sweatshirt, as he commits acts of murder, rape, kidnapping, and violence. The album features production by BrandenBeatBoy (credited as BeatBoy) and fellow Odd Future members

Tyler, the Creator Tyler Gregory Okonma (born March 6, 1991), known professionally as Tyler, the Creator, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has been cited as an influential figure in alternative hip-hop during the 2010s. Tyler beca ...

and

Left Brain Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, better known as Odd Future and often abbreviated as OF or OFWGKTA, was an American alternative hip-hop Musical collective, music collective formed in Los Angeles, California in 2007. The group consisted of rap ...

. The album features vocals from Tyler, the Creator,

Vince Staples Vincent Jamal Staples (born July 2, 1993) is an American rapper. Born in Compton, California and raised in Long Beach, California, he first became known for his appearances on projects by Odd Future members—''Earl (mixtape), Earl'' by Earl Sw ...

, Hodgy Beats, and some backing vocals from fellow Odd Future members Syd Tha Kyd and Taco Bennett. The lyrics featured on the album were written and recorded in 2009–2010, when Earl was 15–16 years old. The content present throughout the album includes various drug references, macabre themes of murder, rape and sexual lyrics. On the title track, Earl, Tyler, and Taco rap about their distaste for

2DOPEBOYZ ''2DopeBoyz'' is an online hip hop music review, news and criticism website launched in 2007 by Meka Udoh and Joel "Shake" Zela, who were former editors at HipHopDX. The website played a central role in hip hop's blog era of the mid-2000s and ...

over frustrations the blog wouldn't publish

's music.

Critical reception

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

called the album "mesmerizing". Pitchfork's sister site Altered Zones listed ''Earl'' as one of their top twenty albums of 2010, praising the album for its ferocity and for making "some of the most vile verses sound eloquent". Music site Gorilla vs. Bear listed it at number 12 in its list of the 30 best albums of 2010. Complex magazine rated ''Earl'' as the twenty-fourth best album of 2010.

Accolades

The mixtape was recognized as one of The 100 Best Albums of the Decade So Far, a list published by

in August 2014.

Track listing

All tracks produced by

, except where noted. ; Notes * "Thisniggaugly" and "Earl" feature additional vocals from

and

Taco A taco (, , ) is a traditional Mexican cuisine, Mexican dish consisting of a small hand-sized corn tortilla, corn- or Flour tortilla, wheat-based tortilla topped with a Stuffing, filling. The tortilla is then folded around the filling and fing ...

. * "Wakeupfaggot" features additional vocals from Syd tha Kyd. * "epaR" features additional vocals from Hodgy Beats. * Tyler, the Creator is credited as 'Ace Creator' on "Couch," and as 'Wolf Haley' on "Pigions."

Unauthorized Tidal & Amazon Music re-release

On April 6, 2015, ''Earl'' was re-released on music streaming services Tidal and

Amazon Music Amazon Music (previously Amazon MP3) is a music streaming platform and digital music store operated by Amazon. As of January 2020, the service had 55 million subscribers. It was the first music store to sell music without digital rights manag ...

. The updated track list combined most of the original tracks from ''Earl'' (excluding "Thisniggaugly" and "Wakeupfaggot") with tracks recorded prior to ''Earl'', back when Sweatshirt went by the stage name Sly Tendencies. Other tracks include songs Sweatshirt featured on around the time of ''Earl''. This is an unauthorized release from the company Classic Hits. Despite being available for purchase, most included songs were previously released for free.

Track listing

;Notes * The instrumental for "Deerskin" is originally the instrumental for "

All Caps In typography, text or font in all caps (short for "all capitals") contains capital letters without any lowercase letters. For example: All-caps text can be seen in legal documents, advertisements, newspaper headlines, and the titles on book co ...

" by

Madvillain Madvillain was an American hip hop supergroup formed in 2002, consisting of rapper MF Doom and producer Madlib. Their only album, '' Madvillainy'' (2004), earned critical acclaim and cult popularity, widely regarded as one of the greatest r ...

, produced by

Madlib Otis Lee Jackson Jr. (born October 24, 1973), known professionally as Madlib, is an American record producer, DJ, multi-instrumentalist, and rapper. Critically acclaimed for his eclectic, music sample, sample-heavy production style, he is rega ...

. * The instrumental for "Orange Juice" is originally the instrumental for "

Lemonade Lemonade is a sweetened lemon-flavored drink. There are many varieties of lemonade found throughout the world. In some parts of the world, lemonade refers to an un-carbonated, traditionally, homemade drink, using lemon juice, water, and a sw ...

" by

Gucci Mane Radric Delantic Davis (born February 12, 1980), known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper. He is credited, along with fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Jeezy, with pioneering the hip hop subgenre trap music for mainstream a ...

, produced by Bangladesh. ** Hodgy Beats was mistakenly credited on the re-release's track list; Tyler, the Creator is the correct feature. * "Chordaroy" was originally on MellowHype's 2010 mixtape '' BlackenedWhite''. * The instrumental for "Drop" is originally the instrumental for " Drop" by Rich Boy, produced by Cha Lo and

Polow da Don Jamal Fincher Jones (born October 15, 1977 or 1978), known professionally as Polow da Don, is an American record producer from Atlanta, Georgia. He began his career as a recording artist in the late 1990s, leaving college to pursue a career with ...

. * The instrumental for "Swag Me Out" is originally the instrumental for "Not a Stain on Me" by Big Tuck. * "Home" was released as a standalone song on February 8, 2012, the day Sweatshirt returned from Samoa, and the instrumental for it is originally the song "Theme From Paris" by James Pants. * The instrumental for "Blade" is originally the instrumental for "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me" by Terror Squad, produced by

DJ Khaled Khaled Mohammed Khaled (; born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ and record producer. Originally a Miami-based radio personality, Khaled has since become known for enlisting high-profile music industry ar ...

. * "Rick James" was mistakenly released as an Earl Sweatshirt song. The song is actually titled "BADBOI222" and was released by Long Island rapper "BIG BREAKFAST".

References

{{Odd Future 2010 mixtape albums Earl Sweatshirt albums Albums produced by Tyler, the Creator Albums produced by Left Brain Fiction about rape Rap operas 2010s concept albums Horrorcore albums Self-released mixtape albums