We’ve heard from Earl Sweatshirt a few times over the course of the year, with the rapper popping up on a couple tracks produced by The Alchemist—one on the producer’s collaboration with Armand Hammer, one on his collab with Boldy James, and the other on his guest-heavy solo EP. But last month we got the first taste of new solo Earl material since the Halloween 2019 release of FEET OF CLAY with the loose single “2010,” which, as it turns out, paved the way for news of a new album. SICK will arrive in about a month, with the new single “Tabula Rasa” featuring Armand Hammer giving us another idea of what the project has in store. Contrasting with the last single, this one leaves plenty of room for his collaborators’ lengthy verses all while a gentle piano-based sample fills the soundtrack.
“SICK is my humble offering of 10 songs recorded in the wake of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic and its subsequent lockdowns,” Sweatshirt shared of the album in a press statement. “Before the virus I had been working on an album I named after a book I used to read with my mother (The People Could Fly). Once the lockdowns hit, people couldn’t fly anymore. A wise man said art imitates life. People were sick. The People were angry and isolated and restless. I leaned into the chaos ’cause it was apparent that it wasn’t going anywhere. These songs are what happened when I would come up for air.”
SICK arrives January 14, with Earl hinting at guest spots from ZelooperZ, Black Noi$e, and, yes, The Alchemist in addition to AH’s feature. Watch the video for the new single below.
