Earl Sweatshirt

It seems like an eternity has passed since the hype surrounding a collective of kids called Odd Future had SXSW 2011 ablaze with anticipation and near rioting at every performance.  And here we are, some seven and a half years later, the boys and girls of said collective mostly going their own ways to different degrees of success, but the constant still being the unwavering talent of the enigmatic Earl Sweatshirt.  Several years removed from the "FREE EARL" days, the artist finds himself growing with each subsequent release, the latest of which, "Some Rap Songs," fuses elements of free form jazz, avant garde sounds, and hazy, subdued hip-hop.  You can hear the MF Doom and J Dilla influence for sure.  The record is deep and searching, finding Earl mourning the loss of his father and recontextualizing his own life and past, and could be a contender for all of your year-end lists.  Anyway, listen to album opener "Shattered Dreams" below and get it here.