"Chum" is a song by American rapper

Earl Sweatshirt Thebe Neruda Kgositsile (born February 24, 1994), known professionally as Earl Sweatshirt, is an American rapper and record producer. Kgositsile was originally known by the moniker Sly Tendencies when he began rapping in 2008, but changed his na ...

, released as the lead single of his 2013 debut album '' Doris''.

Production and composition

"Chum" deals with Earl Sweatshirt's feelings and thoughts after a week since his return from Samoa in 2012.Fitzmaurice, Larry (November 2, 2012)
Earl Sweatshirt: "Chum"

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. Retrieved November 5, 2013.Naomi Zeichner, Duncan Cooper (May 7, 2013)
Footnotes: Earl Sweatshirt

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. Retrieved November 5, 2013. These would include his absent father, his relationship with his mom, and being raised with problems about his identity. According to

Syd tha Kyd Sydney Loren Bennett (born April 23, 1992), known professionally as Syd (formerly Syd tha Kyd), is an American singer and songwriter. She initially gained recognition as a member of the alternative hip hop collective Odd Future, and went on to c ...

, "Everybody had missed him so much and nobody really knew what to say. At the same time, Thebe had his own plans and he was kinda scared, cause he didn’t want to disappoint anyone." Production duo

Christian Rich Christian Rich is an American-born Nigerian production and DJ duo consisting of twins Kehinde Hassan and Taiwo Hassan. Early life and career The identical twin brothers were born in Chicago and raised in Nigeria for exposure to their father's ...

helped Sweatshirt produce "Chum". Sweatshirt had heard of the two before, and the duo met with Sony's A&R staff for Sweatshirt to hear their beats. According to a member of the duo Kehinde Hassan, "he was going nuts in the studio like, “Wow, okay listen, you guys got to do this project with me.”" Sweatshirt's first album '' Doris'' was produced over the course of about four or five months, and "Chum" was created on its first three days of making the LP.Wete, Brad (June 5, 2013)
Christian Rich Producer Talks Earl Sweatshirt Work, House EP, and Chris Brown's 'X'
''

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''. Retrieved November 5, 2013. The song was produced using

Logic Pro Logic Pro is a proprietary digital audio workstation (DAW) and MIDI sequencer software application for the macOS platform developed by Apple Inc. It was originally created in the early 1990s as Notator Logic, or Logic, by German software devel ...

, and the beat was the quickest and rawest made on the album.Inside The Making Of Our Favorite Songs From Earl Sweatshirt’s ‘Doris’: "Chum"

XXL Magazine ''XXL'' is an American hip hop magazine, published by Townsquare Media, founded in 1997. History In August 1997, Harris Publications released the first issue of ''XXL''. It featured rappers Jay-Z and Master P on a double cover. In December 200 ...

. August 19, 2013. Retrieved November 5, 2013. The song was recorded by Julian Prindle at Paramount Recording Studios in Hollywood, California.

Jaycen Joshua Jaycen Joshua is an American audio engineer based in California. He won three Grammy Awards: the first for mixing ''Growing Pains'' for Mary J. Blige in 2007, followed by '' El mal querer'' for Rosalía in 2018, and ''Hyperspace'' for Beck in ...

mixed the track at Larrabee Sound Studios in North Hollywood, and it was later mastered by Dave Kutch at the Mastering Palace in New York City. Taiwo Hassan wrote the chorus for "Chum", and Sweatshirt came up with the verses.Alexis, Nadeska (July 31, 2013)
Earl Sweatshirt 'Blacked Out'... And Created Doris

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. Retrieved November 5, 2013. Kehinde Hassan said in an interview with

that "Most of the sessions were about five hours of talking crap — what artists you like and you don't like, having fun — and then he'll just black out and be like, 'OK I got a verse.' That's how 'Chum' worked." The song's instrumentation consists of a tumbling piano loop, a low-octave, fuzzy bass, drums, vocals, and other sampled sounds. Christian Rich originally considered

Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician who is the vocalist and main songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. He plays guitar, bass, keyboards and other instruments, and is noted for his falsetto. ''Rolling Stone'' desc ...

to perform the hook to make it sound bigger, but Sweatshirt refused, as he didn't want to go for that sound. Sweatshirt came up with the piano and bass line, and recorded his vocals in one take, while Christian Rich made the drums. The sampled sounds used in the track includes a scream sound effect played at the beginning, which was from a

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, O ...

song the duo listened to years before and wanted to use, a looped recording of Taiwo Hassan saying to the song's engineer "Can you turn that up? Can you get that beat in my headphones louder?", and a sample of

Chad Hugo Charles Edward Hugo (born February 24, 1974) is an American musician and record producer. Alongside childhood friend Pharrell Williams, he formed the production duo the Neptunes in 1992, with whom he has produced numerous hit records for variou ...

laughing.Christian Rich - Off The Record: Earl Sweatshirt's "Chum"
.

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. August 28, 2013. Retrieved November 5, 2013.

Reception

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, it got the "Best New Track" title, with writer Larry Fitzmaurice saying "Only, this isn't a regression. It's someone growing into their lyrical talents as they grow up in real time, and it's more than enough to keep listeners wondering what's next." In a positive HuffPost Contributor article, writer Andres Murillo of SF Critic says "With "Chum," Earl bravely gives a glimpse at these shadowed realities, leaving the emcee producing a perspective so often ignored."

Personnel

Credits are from liner notes. *Earl Sweatshirt -

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

, producer (credited as randomblackdude) *Chad Hugo - writer, producer of outro,

trumpeter The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

*Christian Rich - producer, writer *Julian Prindle - recorder *Jaycen Joshua - mixer *Ryan Kaul - assistant mixer *Trehy Harris - assistant mixer *Dave Kutch - masterer

Release history

Left Brain Remix

"Chum: Remixed by Left Brain" is a remix song, of the song "Chum" American rapper

, by American producer

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 ...

. It was released on May 15, 2014, on

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page.

Production and composition

Reception

Personnel

Release history

Left Brain Remix

Certifications

References

Further reading