By John Medina, Contributing Writer
The Golden Boy
Rap is a genre packed full of young talent. The idea of a “Golden Boy” stretches throughout the history of Hip-Hop with a plethora of artists who made their impact at young ages; while the status isn’t neatly defined, it’s often given to artists who present strong storytelling ability, an advanced pen game, monstrous flows, and a unique mystique that surrounds them. The “Golden Boy” is a true prodigy of the game.
With wider use of the internet throughout the 2000s and 2010s, as well as the rising popularity of social media platforms like Myspace, Youtube, and Tumblr, a door opened for young artists to upload the songs that were made in their bedroom and end up on national stages. Arguably the most prominent online rap collective to catch fire during the expanding internet age is Odd Future, started and led by one Tyler Gregory Okonma, better known as Tyler, The Creator. The group boasted more than a dozen members at their peak, consisting of skateboarders, filmmakers, and fellow artists, and their alumni have gone on to shape what the genre looks and sounds like today.
Some would argue that the “Golden Boy” of the group is obviously Tyler, being the visionary who rapped, produced, created visuals, and designed merch for the group. Some would argue the barrier-breaking Frank Ocean, who released two modern classics in Channel Orange and Blonde only to disappear, earned the title in the group. But, since the sudden virality of Odd Future, true blue rap purists took interest in the nasally voice, inebriated flows, and dark content matter filled bars of member Thebe Neruda Kgositsile, known by his rap alias Earl Sweatshirt.
Earl immediately stood out from the rest of the group. Of course, other members had rapping ability, but Earl was good– really good. Projects like his debut album Doris laid the groundwork for what fans were in for; dark production, reflective lyricism, and a layered soul battling struggles with expectation, substance abuse, and mental health.
Earl continued his 2010s run cementing himself as one of the greatest in his generation of rappers, critically peaking with 2018’s Some Rap Songs. Despite the simplistic album title, the album is a fan and critic marvel of heavy hitting and almost nightmarish production, capturing the mental state Earl was in while grieving with the loss of his father. After continuing to release an output of good projects, fans have been left wondering if he would ever reach the conceptual heights of a project like Some Rap Songs again.
Which brings us to the release of his newest full-length project, Live Laugh Love.
Live Laugh Love
The rollout building up to the official release of Live, Love, Laugh was sporadic, yet quite wholesome. Earl began posting on Instagram with what can best be described as “shitposting” (a form of internet posts with little to no meaning and filled with memes), with a new song as the common theme. The release date, August 22nd, was posted as the caption.
In a New York Times interview that was published the same day as the album released, Earl dove deeper into what Live Laugh Love means to him, explaining that the phrase captures both sides of himself: the younger version of himself who is nihilistic and his current self that takes care of his wife and two children. These themes of family, life, and growing up are extremely prevalent throughout the album, making it some of Earl’s most reflective work, and his introspective focus is crystallized in a few key moments that show off his amazing pen game, particularly on tracks “Forge”, “Heavy Metal aka ejecto seato!”, and the closing track “Exhaust.”
On the second track on the album, “Forge,” Earl raps “My February never ends / It isn’t long,” a seemingly inconspicuous phrase takes on a deeper meaning when examined. February, the shortest month of the year, contains events which are important to Earl and the overall theme of Live Laugh Love. The celebrations of Black History Month and Valentines Day in the month of February capture Earl’s love for the people around him while celebrating Black culture as a whole. These extended meanings are only reinforced once realizing that Earl’s birthday lands on the 24th of February, tying to the theme of life present throughout the album.
Next, on “Heavy Metal aka ejecto seato!” a phrase is repeated in the beginning of the track. A distant and inebriated earl repeats, “I released it,” a phrase that could also take on multiple meanings. My mind immediately gravitated towards the album itself, as Earl celebrates making Live Laugh Love public for people to listen, digest, and interpret. Another potential meaning is the releasing of negative emotions, thoughts, and grudges with Earl’s clearer and joyous sounding tone on a handful of tracks. If you want to take it in the context of the overarching theme of family, he might be referring to the creation of his two children; ponder on that wonderful imagery.
To wrap up the tracklist, “Exhaust” acts as an ambiguous ending to the album. Over an instrumental that sounds like a sunny day, Earl reflects on the work he’s put in and the achievements he’s been able to reach due to his effort, ending the track off with the line “At the end of the day / It’s really just you and whatever you think.” Earl’s focus on ambiguity is highlighted by the track’s title, which simultaneously represents exhaustion, while referring to the exhaust of a car as well. Though I partially believed that it was just a coincidence, Earl confirmed the double meaning of the title in an Apple Music interview with Zane Lowe regarding the album.
Earl’s Thoughts
Despite his work being full of artistic depth and meaning, one of the biggest critiques of Earl Sweatshirt as an artist is his laid back sometimes sleepy sounding vocal delivery. Earl offered a controversial rebuttal to critics in his New York Times interview, arguing, “If you’re in 2025 complaining about mumble rap, you’re probably racist” and going on to explain that it’s not the artist’s job to make sure every lyric is discernible.
Earl’s harsh phrasing aside, his point is understandable. Critics of a mumble-like delivery in rap songs often focus on the lack of lyrical content, yet an artist like Earl shows that a laid back vocal delivery doesn’t always stunt the lyrical performance. He isn’t calling out those who just aren’t fans of the vocal delivery, he’s identifying music listeners who write off the genre without listening to lyrics or even trying to understand where the artist is coming from. Earl completes his thought by stating “Why aren’t you trying to aspire to learn new things?”
Another criticism of Earl’s music in the current age is, well, his age. Although only 31 years old, being ‘old’ while online is practically a crime. While not invented on the internet, the phrase “unc,”commonly used in African American Vernacular English as a shortened version of uncle, has been gaining wider use on social media, often used to shun or ridicule people for simply being older.
During Earl’s interview with Apple Music, he takes time to explain what growing older as an artist means to him, saying “I think because I had older parents, I definitely feel more entitled to being older and doing music. It’s not weird, which needs a megaphone on it cause dying young is super sexy, super hip right? […] You’re not supposed to be the biggest guy forever but you can definitely make music forever. If you don’t move you flatten.”
The Verdict
Tuning into each upcoming Earl album feels like an experience, as fans continue to feel connected to the artist by analyzing his musical journey. From a loud mouth kid who liked to smoke weed and make music in his bedroom to now, tackling the adjustment to life as a father while balancing the legacy he has made for himself as an artist. Live Laugh Love by Earl Sweatshirt was an absolute treat. The project masterfully captures that bittersweet duality of life-a sorrowful joy, like watching the sun break through the rain, leaving listeners to decide what to make of it all. I’d highly recommend listening to it for yourself, so that you can find your own meaning and fall in love with Earl’s music too!
