After cutting his teeth in the rap crew Odd Future, Earl Sweatshirt has become one of hip-hop’s most outlandish and uncensored poets about young, urban life. In 2010, the then-16-year-old Sweatshirt launched his solo fame with the title track of his Earl mixtape, as well as its viral music video—then disappeared for a year, piquing the interest of critics and fans and shrouding him in mystery. (As it turns out, his mother had sent him to boarding school in Samoa.) When Earl returned to Los Angeles, he began recording what would become his 2013 album Doris, which racked up accolades for its complex emotional topics. It was followed in 2015 by I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside. Earl Sweatshirt continues to retain the cult credibility that got him started, casting an acerbic but witty eye on contemporary life. His music reached new levels of abstraction on his 2018 comeback, Some Rap Songs, which blurred the line between avant-garde jazz and hip-hop to examine a rash of recent losses in his life.
After steadily leveling up across more than two decades, the label is a bastion for uncompromising artists looking to get weird, loose, and honest.
After steadily leveling up across more than two decades, the label is a bastion for uncompromising artists looking to get weird, loose, and honest.
From Atlanta to Memphis to Detroit; from lightspeed Jersey club rap to diamond-hard New York drill; rap overflowed with energy again this year.
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A gallery highlighting artists from this year’s fest including Mitski, the Roots, Lucy Dacus, and more.
Bad Bunny, Rosalía, Big Thief, the Weeknd, the Smile, FKA twigs, and more of the best music of the first half of 2022
The hip-hop iconoclast talks about his recent musical obsessions, protecting his baby son from a prying public, and dismantling his own myth.
New releases to look forward to in the coming months, from Rosalía, 100 gecs, Beach House, Earl Sweatshirt, Kaina, and others
From Megan Thee Stallion to Tyler, the Creator; Playboi Carti to Cardi B; NoCap to Noname
From Bon Iver to J Dilla to Beyoncé, these are the musicians who made the biggest impact across Pitchfork’s lifetime so far.
Featuring Megan, Cardi, Rico Nasty, Flo Milli, Lil Baby, Jay Electronica, Saweetie, and more
The tracks that defined this bizarre year, featuring Megan Thee Stallion, the Weeknd, Christine and the Queens, Noname, Waxahatchee, and more