Earl Sweatshirt, Odd Future member, debut LP

It's finally here. “Doris” is in our hands. I've been looking forward to it ever since the emcee got back from Samoa. I haven't heard a wack verse from Earl since his return (from “Earl”) to “Oldie” up until the last single he released, “Sunday” with Frank Ocean. Alright enough jibber jabber, let's talk about Doris.

First off, Earl has matured tenfold since the release of his debut EP “Earl”, no longer are we getting lines about raping and kidnapping women. Instead we get a more personal and vulnerable Earl. I'll say that any fan of the Odd Future artist will find something they will enjoy about this album. Fans of the 2010 Earl, will find a couple tracks for them and people who liked Earl's newer side that was shown on “Chum” will find a couple tracks for them too

The album opens with “Pre” which I wasn't really feeling. It really caught me off guard too, thing is, Earl was fine, it was SK LaFlare that kind of turned the joint into something I'd expect to hear on the radio. Predictable bars talking about a woman he wants, along with his cool whip. To be honest, I'm not sure if it fit the themes of the album. The very next track, “Burgundy” should've been the intro. Pharrell produced its beat, my favorite on the album. Earl starts the album out on a personal tip, speaking on the illness of his grandmother and the pressure of putting together this album. The beat is energetic and escalates and Earl is personal and spits some fire on the second verse

We also get to see Earl's analytic side. “Hive” while being a single just shows the versatility of Earl. While I may write for RapGenius, I'm going to tell you now, you will need to use it in order to understand what Earl's trying to say. I can almost guarantee that the majority of his intricate rhymes and wordplay will go right over your head. Earl speaks on his rhymes, and even touches on the recession hit city of LA. I'll talk about guest appearances later but Vince Staples drops one of my favorite verses on the album let alone the year. People sleep on him (myself included) but this verse made me wanna check for his album too

I want to touch on “Chum” but this review is already getting a little long, I'll just say it's in contention for my song of the year. Amazing beat produced by Earl himself and the personal rhymes just make it a potential classic. “Sasquatch” is a joint featuring and produced by Tyler the Creator and both joints with Tyler on it pay homage to that 2010 era. Earl is just spitting bars on bars here. Speaking about the antics between him and his homies also talking up himself while talking down to others. From strictly a lyrical standpoint both joints are mind-blowing. If you were a fan of any of the past EarlWolf stuff, you'll enjoy both “Sasquatch” and “Whoa”.

There are a lot of guests on this joint which isn't a necessarily bad thing. We get SK LaFlare, Domo Genesis, RZA, Frank Ocean, Mac Miller, Vince Staples and Casey Veggies on this album. For the most part the guests come through with stellar verses. Domo Genesis continues his onslaught of beats on the tracks he's been featured on since “No Idols”. The RZA produced “Molasses” was dope but I wasn't feeling the hook on the track at all. Frank Ocean's verse was nice and I even enjoyed the Chris Brown diss just not sure it fit with the theme of “Sunday”. And we already spoke on how Vince stole the show with his verse. Mac Miller assisted on the track “Guild” and I have to admit this was the only song I just flat out didn't like on the record. From the beat, to the lyrics to the adjusted pitch on the vocals it was sluggish

Saying that Earl had a lot of pressure on him making this album is an understatement. Heads are calling him one of the best lyricists of our generation and I think on this album he showed glimpses of that. He showed that he's matured since his days of three years ago. He's proven that he's a great producer that shouldn't be overlooked. Earl gave you a piece of everything on Doris, he gave us 2010 lyrical prowess, he gave us an insight to his personal life, he gave us a love song (if you wanna call “Sunday” that), he gave us a diverse album that somehow managed to stay cohesive too. I would've liked a little more Earl on the joint, but that said: this is what we've been waiting for. Be reasonable with your expectations kids, you're not getting a classic, but for a debut LP we got a hell of an album from Earl Sweatshirt