Earl Sweatshirt released one of the best albums of the year last year with I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside – a dark, introspective record that saw the rapper grapple with where his life is today. Since then, he hasn’t been afraid to speak his mind (less than he was before), and his latest interview is perhaps his most frank yet.
Chatting with A Country Called Earth over email, Sweatshirt has given some interesting insight into where he is at in his life right now. Like on the notion of fame, Earl said “If you had asked me to describe fame a few years ago, I would’ve told you that fame is a stressful and dehumanizing pedestal,” but now he has changed his tune a little. “I’m blessed to have a platform that allows me to speak to many at once. I recognize[sic] that I can make consciousness a tangible thing for young people.”
He also touched on the ability social movements have to “shift the societal landscape”, namely Black Lives Matter: “Black Lives Matter has already demonstrated that it has the power to shift the societal landscape by bringing awareness to age old issues that have plagued us as a people. I’m fully behind it.”
The interview, though short and sweet, shows a side of Earl that is once again different to what we’ve already seen. Seemingly intent on growing and changing as much and as fast as he can, he’s becoming an enigma of sorts in the rap game and it’s certainly interesting to say the least to watch him continue to change.
Oh, and if he could fight any historical figure, it would be Christopher Columbus, “for obvious reasons.”
Check out the whole interview here and read our satirical open letter to Earl Sweatshirt here.