EAST: Understanding Earl Sweatshirt

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[@nedd.8479]

This is a great analysis, but the sample was actually found - it's an Indonesian song from the 70s called 'Iddunja Chilwah'.

[@abuslang5715]

right after the east part its actually sampled my timbaland

[@invisiblecurious856]

Lu org indo ya?

[@ryalgh]

NO SAMPLE SNITCHING

[@t.j._edits9669]

EAST created the best comment section on the internet

[@stateportSound_wav]

I swear, when I used to be able to deal with the subreddit, it was never this reasonable 😂

[@TheJSRF001]

I still think its "goofy ahh beat" incarnate but the Earl's commitment to expressing himself how HE wants to and pushing boundaries has to be respected. Most rappers wouldn't dare record on a beat that strange let alone release it for the world to see.

[@walterdavis2843]

The cover of Some Rap Songs is from a fan that approached with a camera and he shoved him away.

[@-1707]

sorry buddy that’s cap

[@Cv2CaboVerde]

Honestly I think Earl sweatshirt is the most lyrically talented artist to touch a mic

[@ethansprague2005]

He's not given enough attention for it, even when he was 16 he was already Wiping the floor with his flows and wordplay

[@doctorbnasty1859]

Hes really a poet on the beat

[@WHOAM1894]

Earl is one of the best, but I think Rap Ferrira, Billy Woods, and E Lucid are better when it comes to lyrics. I do think Earl is really good at matching a vibe and captivating an audience a little better when the other three can come off a little too esoteric, dry, and nerdy despite their excellence. Ka is very excellent and deep lyrically and probably the most underrated out of all these. He's enigmatic and doesn't have much of a public presence it seems, but admittedly idk much about him. I also respect Mavi, MIKE, and Navy Blue when it comes to lyrics. That's all that's coming to mind rn.

[@Cv2CaboVerde]

@@WHOAM1894 thank you for the recs, I knitted a few of those artists but I’ll check out the rest

[@hansolo9585]

Check out Ka. Funny enough, it was Earl that put me on to him. Really dope lyricist.

[@ToxcityBass]

The More I listened to EAST the more i liked it.

[@bobseeee]

For me, the more I listened to EAST the more I disliked it.

[@alonzomor112]

​@@bobseeeecool

[@bobseeee]

@@alonzomor112 yeah, its real cool

[@coldennys]

To be honest, East was my favorite song off of FOC when it first dropped. It felt like an extension to the vibe of some of my favorite songs by him like Wind In My Sails and Hat Trick. It's just got that ancient piratey grit to it and I rock with it HEAVY. The memes were funny at first, but I feel like the cultural impact this song will have has yet to even be fully recognized. People laugh at it now, but I feel like this song will be really important once the time comes that people understand it. In other words, I think it's MAD ahead of it's time.

[@SlyHikari03]

The fact that earl sampled a Indonesian song is crazy. I love when people sample music from Asia, I grew up on that stuff.

[@ferdi200204]

This video was better than I expected it to be! Great video, thanks for putting this out.

[@unabridged.]

Thank you!

[@dinodalle-vacche3958]

Was listening to east and this song came up in the recommended, keep it up man love the thumbnail style as well. so cool to see someone from the uk covering the niche shit I fuck with.

[@unabridged.]

thanks, glad you liked it!

[@hohosbebbe1232]

The lyrics are actually insane, im obsessed

[@tukoijarrett9155]

Accordion doesn't actually sample an accordion weirdly enough

[@stateportSound_wav]

s/o to Daedalus fr, such a genuine dude

[@HIMMBelljuvo]

He's the Dark Soul of rappers

[@zefanto]

This is the most beautiful description on a song i ever heard dawg, subscribed

[@unabridged.]

Thanks so much!

[@DRAVENBROOKS]

Damn how has this channel not blown up already

[@iProbablyDontCare]

Can't wait for the next vid. You're good at this

[@unabridged.]

Thanks so much! got more videos on the way

[@chrxstt]

i love this song so much thank you for making this

[@unabridged.]

thanks for watching!

[@deadby2534]

Excellent analysis my man, very fascinating video.

[@unabridged.]

thank you!

[@slevin003]

Loved this, great work.

[@unabridged.]

thanks!

[@anthonyguzzi9535]

I see you were on the Midwest emo to alternative pipeline just like me. Good work man your taste in music + video creation is sick

[@unabridged.]

Really appreciate that, thanks!

[@coburgerj1993]

Earl's godfather is trumpet Legend Hugh Masakela .. Along with his father's work, he's cut from rare cloth.,

[@stateportSound_wav]

was he not actually his uncle? Rest in power, both of em

[@stateportSound_wav]

@unabridged this is who plays the sample on RIOT btw

[@jacklattimer3890]

really good vid, this needs more views

[@unabridged.]

Thanks so much!

[@drgenuine3357]

Newest best journalist in the making. Imma keep my eyes peeled.👀

[@unabridged.]

Thanks so much!

[@deadchannel-ch5xp]

amazing analysis

[@unabridged.]

Thanks!

[@doit9times]

Thank u cuz everybody just makes fun of the song but nobody appreciates it and it's ARTT

[@dobhar]

his name is of Sotho origin so it’s pronounced Te-be, the H is silent and Kgo-sit-si-le, the Kg should sound like a hard R. great video btw!

[@unabridged.]

thanks for letting me know!

[@stateportSound_wav]

where’d you get the hard R from? I’ve always heard them say it more like an H. hard R sounds crazy 😂

[@dobhar]

@@stateportSound_wav its more so the accent cause that’s how it’s pronounced in south africa

[@stateportSound_wav]

@@dobhar interesting, I recall hearing it on the SA memorial broadcast for Keorapetse, I didn’t catch that aspect I suppose

[@floppagang1]

Great video

[@unabridged.]

Thanks!

[@fischy6182]

I can't go a day without listening to Earl

[@omegarift]

Flawless video man ty so much, I still got my Feet of Clay Tshirt

[@unabridged.]

Thank you!

[@tomassandao3913]

Great analysis, still gonna mosh when i hear that tho 💃

[@madgenius2278]

This song reminds me of a the fire in which you burn by company flow such unorthodox hip hop songs. Great analysis

[@stateportSound_wav]

not familiar with that. the style on this track is Earl’s of course, but I’d also heavily attribute it to Billy Woods’s influence on him

[@grief2134]

intresting points you made i never could wrap my head around east but after this video i see it with a different perspective thanks!

[@unabridged.]

thanks so much!

[@mrdyasi]

Great analysis

[@unabridged.]

thanks!

[@garytucker3563]

Excellent video cuz.

[@unabridged.]

Thanks!

[@_widas_]

Dude this video is awesome 🤝🫂🔥

[@unabridged.]

Thanks so much!

[@XXDanimalz]

Legendary !!

[@unabridged.]

Thank you!

[@devonrichards8769]

Damn this was fire

[@unabridged.]

Thanks!

[@truederpsloth]

ts really in depth and deserves more views tbh

[@unabridged.]

thanks!

[@lars4888]

das a crazy good video right there

[@unabridged.]

Thank you!

[@wh33zr]

its a masterpiece

[@alterpathmusic]

Also fantastic video 🤟🏻🤟🏻🤟🏻

[@unabridged.]

thanks!

[@NuWerra_OF]

Honestly understanding earls style changed my perspective on his music

[@myyoutubeaccount4167]

This is a really interesting take

[@unabridged.]

Thanks!

[@stateportSound_wav]

Is it really a minor key song? I thought the key it was in (major) was whatever the bass note is on the every 4 count, which is the resolve.

[@michaelofparadise]

i love earl

[@ketchup8837]

Good video

[@unabridged.]

thanks!

[@stateportSound_wav]

we need a video on MIKE, please!

[@unabridged.]

Need to listen to more of his music! I like what I've heard

[@Cv2CaboVerde]

I have read the lyrics to EAST and I still have no fucking idea what that man said for half of the song

[@Charlie-kt9oy]

I FUCKING LOVE EARL SWEATSHIRT

[@stateportSound_wav]

another interesting point, this is a prime example of purposely shifting his flow back (imagine this visually on a vocal audio track, entirely shifted back behind the beat starting time, just enough to be off a bit). This leaves more unfamiliar listeners to think of him as not actually having a flow all the time, as they describe it as “spoken word.” If you listen to his live version, he makes it obvious where the cadence is actually coming in at, without the “lazy, delayed” delivery. Much like his contemporaries Mach, Roc Marci, MIKE, Billy Woods, and of course DOOM first, he will decide what songs (or just some bars) he wants to deliver with tight timing, while others will be shifted behind the beat. There’s a Rory & Mal segment where he acknowledges this, saying people often just don’t understand timing, which has proven true. To me it’s one element that adds to the experience, almost like knowing a line technically goes here, but the way it’s delivered it comes in over there, and is done very meticulously.

[@unabridged.]

Interesting point! I'm fascinated by Earl's meandering flow/delivery so this is cool to know

[@chancemitchell4147]

…nah that beat is fire, I’m sorry. Lmfao

[@squareglobeplus]

neptunes had many accordion beats

[@drinksoap6827]

2:24 oh its me

[@NoxiousAffection]

I think difficult-to-listen-to music encourages the listener to, instead of taking in a piece for the sake of it sounding good, analyze it and try to figure out the why the artist made the decisions that they made. Waxing poetic and bearing your heart raw to the world in a song that begs the audience to pick it apart, in my opinion, makes the most sense -- If the message you're trying to convey is demystification of the self and expressing your hardest emotions, why not put it in a form that screams to the listener, "I am a puzzle. Solve me."? Some of my personal favorite tracks of all time sound like absolute shit. If I hadn't taken the time to pick them apart and appreciate the parts that make up the whole, I would not still listen to them; yet here I am, playing them on repeat just to hear it. Something about hearing those same tracks with an open mind and an open heart helps you connect to them in complete earnest, I think. Beautiful essay, Mateus. (P.S. your description links are broken)

[@unabridged.]

Thank you for your comment! I especially like what you said about 'solving the puzzle'. There is something deeply rewarding about engaging with challenging tracks such as this, even if their full meanings will always remain elusive. The links in the description should be working now:)

[@disamis6873]

What “shit” tracks are you talking about here? I’m curious

[@natelin1722]

LLLLLLLLLLLLL

[@stateportSound_wav]

I think much of what the comments are saying (most succinctly in your comment) applies for Earl’s music from Solace onward, and very much MIKE’s too. Much of it off-putting at first, but ultimately more fulfilling to sit with, and get every experience possible out of it. When a hard-to-grasp song just finally hits, it’s so worth the time spent expanding your listening horizons. If you ever heard Earl’s DJ sets (eg. old Boiler Room skatepark set) or RBMA show, he plays everything from spiritual jazz like Sun Ra, to CyHi or Future. I found hella rnb jams, Mach Hommy + MIKE, and a much better grasp of his 90’s rap influence like M.O.P., , Lox, + Mobb Deep. And then he’d play some heat from 21/Nudy 😂 He’s one of the single most influential plugs for my inspiration because of stuff like that, and early on it gave me an idea of the sounds he’d wanted to explore. That may have made it easier to be open to it when he dove fully into it. The newest project with Alc is really my favorite mix of the extreme left-field, while still bringing it all together in a great listening experience, and finally overcoming many of his emotional struggles for some inspiringly optimistic sentiments.

[@Dialloreese]

It’s just proof that people don’t listen to words

[@messucherforever]

This was a good video, but you lost me when you where talking about g minor having "melancholic connotations". People without golden ears (the vast majority) can't reliably tell the difference between g minor and other minor keys at all if they aren't played next together. It's all about how its used, it's completely possible to make a non-melancholic song in g minor. Ice ice baby by vanilla ice or we like to party by the vengaboys are also in g minor, why didn't you mention them instead of a mozart piece?

[@ShadowWizard123]

Everyone knows minor keys are supposed to be melancholic. He's hardly the first to suggest that.

[@messucherforever]

@@ShadowWizard123 its not about minor in general , he specifically pointed out east being in g minor to relate it to a mozart piece which just came of as really pretentious

[@ShadowWizard123]

@@messucherforever at least he didn't use the phrase "golden ears" to describe perfect pitch lmaooo. Talk about coming off as pretentious

[@messucherforever]

@@ShadowWizard123 Whats pretentious about golden ears??? Its just the common, non-academic phrase for describing perfect pitch when it comes to hearing.

[@dannysoul0]

Do Larry June

[@user-vi2rr7hd4l]

I usually hate these but ill be ok with this one

[@unabridged.]

Much appreciated!

[@hasanz7585]

this is unironically the most interesting song i've ever heard cos to this day i have no idea how to feel about it it's almost reached rickroll status for me in terms of meme songs because of that fucking looney tunes ass beat but at the same time he's hitting you with some hard ass bars the shits just confusing to my emotions lmao

[@adammartin27]

if you look past the uncomfiness of the wonky instrumentals on songs like EAST, Earl is one of the most lyrically talented and creative rappers of all time

[@oswarrd]

im pretty sure the sample was from a spongebob episode

[@stateportSound_wav]

I can see why you say that but… no

[@myntultryp3685]

now go listen to EAST

[@mindinthesand]

Please narrate my life

[@unabridged.]

hahah this is one of my favourite comments

[@alterpathmusic]

That song isn’t in G minor, it’s in Bb Major. Same notes but massive difference

[@stateportSound_wav]

okay I knew I wasn’t tripping, thank you

[@AARON-gt4qe]

east is sonic nihilism

[@tafarithehooligan]

you butchered that name my guy. good try tho

[@unabridged.]

Hahah I tried my best!