Earl Sweatshirt | |
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 Earl Sweatshirt performing in 2017 | |
| Born | Thebe Neruda Kgositsile (1994-02-24)February 24, 1994 (age 31) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
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| Children | 2 |
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| Musical career | |
| Origin | Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
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| Formerly of | Odd Future |
Musical artist | |
| Website | earlsweatshirt |
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Thebe Neruda Kgositsile[a][1] (born February 24, 1994), known professionally asEarl Sweatshirt, is an American rapper and record producer. Kgositsile was originally known by the monikerSly Tendencies when he began rapping in 2008, but changed his name whenTyler, the Creator invited him to join hisalternative hip-hop collectiveOdd Future in late 2009. He is the son of South African political poetKeorapetse Kgositsile.
At the age of 16, he gained recognition and critical praise for his secondmixtape,Earl (2010). Shortly after its release, he was sent to a boarding school inSamoa for at-risk teens by his mother, which he attended for a year and a half. Unable to record during his stay, he returned toLos Angeles in February 2012 before his eighteenth birthday. Kgositsile rejoined Odd Future and adopted a recording contract with the group's parent label,Columbia Records to release his debut studio album,Doris (2013).[2]
The album peaked within the top five of theBillboard 200, while his second and third albums,I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside (2015) andSome Rap Songs (2018), both peaked within the top 20; each received critical praise. He then signed withWarner Records to release his secondEP,Feet of Clay (2019) as well as his fourth and fifth studio albums,Sick! (2022) andLive Laugh Love (2025), which is currently his most recent album. He has also collaborated with record producerthe Alchemist on their project,Voir Dire (2023).
Thebe Neruda Kgositsile was born on February 24, 1994, inChicago, Illinois, toCheryl Harris, a law professor andcritical race theorist at theUniversity of California, Los Angeles, andKeorapetse Kgositsile, a South African poet and political activist. Harris and Kgositsile separated when Thebe was six years old.[citation needed] His father is often mentioned in Kgositsile's music and was called a "complicated figure" byPitchfork. He was presented as a person that was often absent in Kgositsile's life,[3] due to him living in South Africa while Kgositsile lived in Los Angeles, California. Kgositsile stated that "Me and my dad had a relationship that's not uncommon for people to have with their fathers, which is a non-perfect one, talking to him is symbolic and non-symbolic, but it's literally closure for my childhood. Not getting to have that moment left me to figure out a lot with my damn self."[4] Kgositsile attended theUCLA Lab School in Los Angeles and New Roads Middle School & High School inSanta Monica, California.[citation needed]
Kgositsile first started rapping in the seventh grade. In 2007, under the name Sly Tendencies,[5] he posted tracks from his mixtape,Kitchen Cutlery, viaMySpace. He and two of his friends, Loofy and JW Mijo, formed a rap trio called The Backpackerz. They intended to release a mixtape titledWorld Playground, but disbanded sometime in 2009.[citation needed]
In 2009,Tyler, the Creator discovered Kgositsile via hisMySpace account after he reached out to Tyler to tell him he was a fan of his work. Kgositsile later changed his pseudonym to Earl Sweatshirt and joined Tyler's rap group,Odd Future. Kgositsile said he's always liked elderly names, hence the name Earl. He was also a fan of the multi-instrumentalistJames Pants, and decided to follow suit with the clothing theme and come up with the last name Sweatshirt.[6]
His debut mixtape,Earl, was self-released on March 31, 2010, for free digital download on the Odd Future website.[7] Most of the mixtape was produced by Tyler, the Creator.Earl was named the 24th-best album of 2010 byComplex.[8]
Despite positive reactions from both critics and fans, various sources indicated that Kgositsile had stopped making music with Odd Future.[9][10][11] Posts from Tyler, the Creator's Twitter andFormspring accounts seemed to indicate that Kgositsile's mother would not grant permission to release any of her son's music. Kgositsile later expressed in an interview that his mother sent him toSamoa due to getting into trouble with friends. Kgositsile attended Coral Reef Academy, a therapeutic retreat school for at-risk boys, located outside of the Samoan capital ofApia.[12][13] At Coral Reef Academy, he worked to earn back privileges and the opportunity to return home. At the beginning of his enrollment, he was unable to use the bathroom unsupervised.[14] While there, he readManning Marable'sbiography onMalcolm X andRichard Fariña's counterculture fiction. He wrote rhymes, including most of his verse on "Oldie", his only contribution to Odd Future's studio albumThe OF Tape Vol. 2.[15] Kgositsile was brought back from Samoa byLeila Steinberg, the first manager ofTupac Shakur, who still manages Earl's career today.[16]
His hiatus led to a movement known as "Free Earl", which stemmed from a post on Odd Future'sTumblr. Chants of the phrase would ensue at the group's shows, and would appear throughout several songs by both the collective and its individual members – leading to media coverage of the movement itself.[17][18]
On February 8, 2012, rumors spread around the internet that Kgositsile had returned to the U.S. when a video of him surfaced on YouTube with a preview of a new song saying if viewers wanted "the full thing", they would have to give him 50,000 followers on Twitter.[19]
He appeared on the song "Oldie" from Odd Future's debut albumThe OF Tape Vol. 2. This was Earl's return to official Odd Future releases and his first appearance on an Odd Future Records release. On March 20, a video released on the official Odd Future YouTube page. It featured him in a cypher, rapping his verse from "Oldie" with the other members of the crew. That same day, Kgositsile performed with the group at theHammerstein Ballroom in New York City.[20]
On April 9, 2012, rapperCasey Veggies released a mixtape titledCustomized Greatly 3, that included a song featuring Earl Sweatshirt, Tyler the Creator, Domo Genesis, and Hodgy Beats titled "PNCINTLOFWGKTA”. During that month, Kgositsile signed on to create his own record label imprint, Tan Cressida, to be distributed throughColumbia Records. He turned down several other larger offers due to his priority of remaining close to Odd Future.[12]
Earl Sweatshirt was featured on the track "Super Rich Kids" from Frank Ocean's debut album,channel ORANGE, which released digitally July 10, 2012. On July 16,Domo Genesis &The Alchemist released the first official single, "Elimination Chamber", from their collaboration albumNo Idols, which featured Earl,Vince Staples, andAction Bronson. He was featured on the album again on the tracks "Daily News", featuring himself,SpaceGhostPurrp, and Action Bronson and "Gamebreaker". On July 23, 2012, record producerFlying Lotus released a song titled "Between Friends" on theAdult Swim Single series which featured Earl Sweatshirt and Lotus. Earl Sweatshirt was also featured onMellowHype's second and final studio album,Numbers, on the track "P2".
On November 2, Kgositsile released his first solo single since his return from Samoa, titled "Chum".[21] On December 4, he announced that his debut studio album would be calledDoris.[22] That same day, the music video for "Chum" was posted onto YouTube.[23]Doris was reported early on to feature vocals and/or production fromTyler, the Creator, Frank Ocean, Ommas Keith, Thundercat, Domo Genesis,Mac Miller,the Neptunes,Christian Rich, Vince Staples,BadBadNotGood,Pharrell Williams,Samiyam,The Alchemist, Casey Veggies,The Internet andRZA.[24][25][26] On March 6, 2013, while performing withFlying Lotus and Mac Miller, Earl premiered three new songs offDoris: "Burgundy" produced byPharrell Williams, "Hive" featuring Vince Staples, and "Guild" featuring Mac Miller. Kgositsile also confirmed the next single to be titled "Whoa" featuring Tyler, the Creator. The song was released to iTunes on March 12, 2013, along with the music video, which was directed by Tyler, the Creator.[27][28][29]
Doris was released on August 20, 2013, under Tan Cressida and Columbia Records.Doris featuredguest appearances from Odd Future members Domo Genesis, Frank Ocean, Tyler, the Creator, along with Vince Staples, RZA, Casey Veggies and Mac Miller.Production was primarily handled by Kgositsile under the pseudonym “randomblackdude” and production duoChristian Rich. Additional production was provided byMatt Martians,the Neptunes, RZA,Samiyam,BadBadNotGood, Frank Ocean, and Tyler, the Creator. In September 2013,Complex named Kgositsile the tenth best producer in hip-hop.[30] Upon its release,Doris was met with critical acclaim from music critics, including perfect scores byThe Guardian andThe Los Angeles Times, which praised Kgositsile's rhyme schemes and lyrics along with the gritty underground production.[31] The album also fared well commercially, debuting at number five on the USBillboard 200 and number one on USTop Rap Albums chart.[32]
On November 12, 2012, Kgositsile announced that he had begun working on his second studio project.[33] The forthcoming album was to be namedGnossos,[34] but he later decided against the title.[35] He cited inspiration fromRichard Fariña's 1966 novelBeen Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me.[36] He ultimately decided to take the album in another direction under the nameI Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside. On October 10, 2014, Kgositsile confirmed that he had completed the follow-up album toDoris.[37] On November 5, 2014, he released a new song entitled "45", produced byThe Alchemist. On February 14, 2015, Earl debuted a new song titled "Quest/Power" viaSoundCloud.[38] He continued to perform unreleased tracks since early 2015, such as "Swamp Vermin", "Vultures", "I Be Outside", "Hell", and "Flowers on the Grave".
On January 5, 2015, Kgositsile released a song titledsilenceDArapgame with professional skateboarderNa-Kel Smith under the moniker Hog Slaughta Boyz.[39]
On March 16, 2015, The pre-order for Kgositsile's second studio album, titled:I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside appeared on theiTunes Store without prior announcement.[40] On March 17, 2015, he released a music video for the song "Grief".[41]
The digital version of the full album was released on March 22, 2015; the physical version was released later on April 14, 2015.[42] A later music video for the song "Off Top" was released on August 7, 2015.[43] Kgositsile stated in an interview with NPR that his record label gave him no notice they would release the album.[44] He says he considers this his first album because he feels he can "back up everything, the good and the bad".
On April 28, 2015, a ten-minute track named "Solace" was released on YouTube via an account called dar Qness;[45] the video garnered significant attention, gaining more than 100,000 views in 24 hours.[citation needed] Earl stated toNPR that he was making an album called "Solace" inspired by his mother, however the project has also been categorized as an EP.[citation needed] The project never received an official release.
By early 2015, speculation was growing that Kgositsile had left Odd Future, a rumour which he confirmed via Twitter on May 28, 2015, by tweeting "No sympathy for male virgins who're in their feelings about Tyler pointing out and solidifying the obvious." This was in response to a Tyler, the Creator tweet that was thought by many to be an announcement of Odd Future's disbandment, although Tyler denied this interpretation. Subsequently, Earl did not appear atCamp Flog Gnaw in 2015, which many speculated to be due to a conflict between himself and Tyler. However, Tyler tweeted the day after the festival "Thebe and I are fine by the way," seemingly dismissing the rumour.[46]
On January 25, 2016, Kgositsile released three new tracks on SoundCloud, "Wind in My Sails", produced by The Alchemist, "Bary", and "Skrt Skrt", produced under his alias “randomblackdude”. "Wind in My Sails" contains samples from Captain Murphy's song, "Children of the Atom", and vocal samples fromGene McDaniels's song, "The Parasite (For Buffy)". "Bary" contains vocal samples fromKanye West's song, "Barry Bonds". "Skrt Skrt" contains vocal samples from21 Savage's song, "Skrrt Skrrt".[47] On March 4, 2016, Kgositsile was featured onSamiyam's 4th album,Animals Have Feelings. The song, "Mirror", was originally meant forI Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside. According to Kgositsile, the song wasn't included since "the tracklist got fucked up".[48] The music video for "Mirror" was released on June 21, 2016.[49] On August 1, 2016, an instrumental track called "Pelicula" was posted onApple Music. On August 17, 2016, Kgositsile was featured onAdult Swim Singles Program 2016 on the track "Balance",[50][51] produced byKnxwledge. On September 4, a new track called "Death Whistles" was released on Earl's and Knxwledge's livestream show,Red Bull Music Academy, produced byKing Krule.
On September 21, 2018, frequent collaborator The Alchemist released the track listing to his EP,Bread, which contains the track "E. Coli", featuring Earl Sweatshirt.[52] On November 2, 2018, frequent collaboratorVince Staples released his album,FM!, featuring the track "New earlsweatshirt – Interlude" containing a 20-second verse from Earl. Vince later said "Earl is back" and that "his album coming soon" on hisBeats 1 show 'Ramona Radio'.[citation needed]
On November 7, 2018, Kgositsile teased the release of new music on social media in a video clip captioned, "NOWHERE2GO TOMORROW MORNING TAP IN." The single "Nowhere2go" was released on November 8, 2018, and received positive reception.[53][54] On November 20, 2018, he released the single "The Mint", and announced his third studio album,Some Rap Songs, which he slated for a November 30, 2018, release.[55] According to Kgositsile,Some Rap Songs was intended to be themed around his father's death.[56]
On November 30, 2018, Kgositsile releasedSome Rap Songs to widespread critical acclaim.[57] In January 2019, he said thatSome Rap Songs would be his last album with Columbia Records, and that he was "excited to be free because then [he] can do riskier shit".[58]
In May 2019, Kgositsile appeared in a song withZelooperz titled "Easter Sunday".[59] On November 1, 2019, Kgositsile released his EPFeet of Clay.[60] A deluxe version ofFeet of Clay, which included two bonus tracks, was released the following June.
On November 18, 2021, Kgositsile returned with a music video for the single "2010", the first commercial release since his 2019 EPFeet of Clay.[61] On December 9, 2021, Kgositsile released a music video for another single titled "Tabula Rasa", featuring rap groupArmand Hammer.[62] Alongside "Tabula Rasa", he announced his fourth studio album,Sick!, which was released on January 14, 2022. Kgositsile released the third and final single, theBlack Noi$e-produced "Titanic" on January 7, 2022. The album featuresZelooperZ, and rap groupArmand Hammer, with production from Kgositsile himself,The Alchemist, Black Noi$e,Samiyam and more.[63]
In August 2023, a hyperlink titled "hahaha" was added to Kgositsile's website that led to the Gala Music site that would update with new puzzles everyday, teasing a new project. Initially, the puzzles seemed to point to a tweet published by the Alchemist in 2021 in which he says him and Kgositsile had a full album together and had published it under a fake name on YouTube.[64] On August 22, both the website and The Alchemist'sInstagram page was updated with a track list and album name,Voir Dire. The next day, another post was shared announcing a listening party to take place inLondon on August 25.[65] The website updated once again on August 24, with a music video for the track "Sentry" featuring New York City-based rapper,MIKE.[66] The album was released for free on August 25, 2023, via Gala Music. The release on Gala Music lead to controversy due to its ties toNFTs. The album would later release on major streaming services on October 6, 2023. The streaming version has a slightly different tracklist, including 2 features fromVince Staples.[67]
In July 2024, Earl performed at the Artists for Aidbenefit concert in London which raised funds for theGaza Strip andSudan.[68]
On August 22, 2025, Kgositsile released his fifth album studio album,Live Laugh Love.[69]
Kgositsile has been called a "hip-hop prodigy" and in 2011, was branded byThe New Yorker as "the most exciting rapper to emerge in years, a virtuoso who was just starting to figure out what he could do with words."[70] He is characterized primarily by his voice, which has been classified as a "deep baritone".[71]
Kgositsile has taken influence fromMF Doom,Jay Z,J Dilla,Madlib,RZA,Lupe Fiasco, andClipse.[72][73][74]
Rapper MIKE[75] and the New York underground collective sLUms[76] significantly influenced the lo-fi, sample-based production style of Earl Sweatshirt’s 2018 albumSome Rap Songs.[77]
Kgositsile became connected with MIKE and members of sLUms through shared creative circles during the years leading up to the album.[77]
Writers note that Kgositsile adopted stylistic elements associated with MIKE’s loop-driven, lo-fi sound, incorporating similar sampling approaches and abstract vocal layering into the album.[76]
Members of sLUms directly contributed to the album as well, including producer Adé Hakim (Sixpress), who worked on the track “Nowhere2go.”[78]
Critics have describedSome Rap Songs as part of a broader movement of underground experimental rap emerging from New York artists like MIKE and sLUms.[76]
Kgositsile currently lives in the neighborhood ofMid City, Los Angeles.[79]
Kgositsile struggled with drug abuse, which was one of the reasons why his mother sent him to live inSamoa. The time in Samoa led to Kgositsile getting sober, although herelapsed upon returning to the United States.[80] Kgositsile attributes his drug abuse to time with his collectiveOdd Future and leaving a long-term relationship, saying he was often smokingmarijuana and drinkinglean before quitting as he reached adulthood.[81]
Kgositsile was raised as aNichiren Buddhist and, after a period away from the belief system, he said that he had returned to the religion in 2016.[82]
He welcomed a son in 2021.[83]
In 2025, Kgositsile married actress, writer and comedianAida Osman, who he had been in a relationship with since August 2022.[84] They welcomed a daughter in July 2025.[85]
Studio albums
Collaboration albums
| Year | Ceremony | Award | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | BET Hip Hop Awards[86] | Rookie of the Year | Himself | Nominated |
| Grammy Awards | Album of the Year | Channel Orange(as featured artist) | Nominated | |
| MTVU Woodie Awards | Breaking Woodie | Himself | Won |
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2013–2014 | Loiter Squad | Series regular; 20 episodes |
| 2013 | Late Show with David Letterman | Performed "Rusty" withTyler, the Creator andDomo Genesis |
| Late Night with Jimmy Fallon | Performed "Burgundy" withthe Roots | |
| 2014 | 106 & Park | Guest |
| 2015 | Jimmy Kimmel Live! | Performed "AM // Radio" and "Grief" withBadBadNotGood andGary Wilson |
| Crash Test | Musical guest; performed "Burgundy" withOdd Future | |
| 2016 | Party Legends | Season 1, Episode 2: "Make Mistakes with Na'kel Smith" |
| 2016 | Traveling the Stars: Action Bronson and Friends Watch Ancient Aliens | 2 episodes |
| 2019 | Nowhere, Nobody | Short film |
| 2022 | Late Night with Jimmy Fallon | Performed "2010" |
IDLSIDGO physicals dropped today. Go ahead and do what you do with that
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