While appearing on NPR’s Microphone Check during South By Southwest in Austin, Texas, Earl Sweatshirt revealed that there was “a disconnect” with the release of his latest album, I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside.
Earl went on to explain that his frustration with his label, Sony Music stemmed from the rollout of his project. He revealed that the rollout he had in mind wasn’t treated as importantly as he had hoped.
The Los Angeles, California musician then recalled being so angry and “devastated” at the outcome that he was ready to kill someone.
“I just had a disconnect with the release of — with the rollout of everything, just from probably a combination between like my initial — me initially being apprehensive to talking to anyone from the label while I’m working,” Earl Sweatshirt said. “Cause I would rather just finish the package and present it with instructions. So, it’s what I did… Just with the launch. I wanted the video to go up first so that — cause it would’ve been out of complete nowhere. The video with the song would’ve been enough to digest. The title of the album’s at the end of the video. That’s — I presume that the consumer is smart enough to put two and two together. Like, that’s not that crazy. So, we don’t need — my whole thing was we don’t need to shove it down their throats. Cause the initial thing that they had for me, like the layout for the website.
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“I was devastated,” he added. “I was ready to like kill some — the day I was — it would’ve been so quiet for any nigga from Sony. I was so mad cause it was like — especially because I feel like this is my first album. This is the first thing that I’ve said that I fully stand behind, like the good and the bad of it. Because it’s just — I’ve never been this transparent with myself or with music. I’ve never been behind myself this much. So, for them to not treat as importantly as I was treating it was just like — I couldn’t help but to feel a little disrespected, you know?”
Later in the interview, Earl Sweatshirt offered his thoughts on Kendrick Lamar’s newly-released album, To Pimp A Butterfly. Prior to speaking on the album, he spoke on his own experience with people encouraging him to choose a particular style with his music.
Earl then offered praise to Kendrick for not allowing himself to be placed in a box with his album.
“I have so many friends that I came up with doing music that have said the dumbest shit to me about music, like trying to put me on,” the rapper said. “Like, ‘Bro, look. You have to pick a style.’ You feel me? And you can hear it in everyone’s music. Like, Kendrick’s album is so fire. And I don’t have any — it’s not even a reservation — but you can hear when it’s G-funk. You can hear it when it’s jazz. This is this. This is this. This is this. And it’s explicit. I think that’s a language that needs to get spoken to a lot of — but it’s very explicit. And people make the mistake — I’ve had so many conversations with people about how Kendrick — ‘Oh, it’s a lot of subliminal.’ Kendrick is not subliminal at all. Kendrick is so so so straightforward. Like, he says everything — subliminal is having to pick up whether this was spiritual — you feel me? Subliminal is like — Kendrick is very straightforward with his message.”
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Earl Sweatshirt’s Microphone Check interview can be streamed below.
For additional Earl Sweatshirt coverage, watch the following DX Daily:
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