Earl Sweatshirt

Earl Sweatshirt
Earl Sweatshirt
Background information
Birth name	Thebe Neruda Kgositsile
Also known as	Sly Tendencies, Early Man
Origin	Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres	Alternative Hip hop,Search underground hip hop
Occupation	Rapper/Poet
Years active	2006–present
Website	oddfuture.com

Thebe Kgositsile (born February 24, 1994), better known by his stage name Earl Sweatshirt (formerly Sly Tendencies) , is an American rapper and member of the Los Angeles hip hop collective Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All. He is the son of Professional Poet Keorapetse Kgositsile. Thebe attended New Roads High School in Santa Monica, California.

His music has been well reviewed online by various music websites and his group has recently been featured in mainstream magazines such as The New Yorker, Thrasher, Spin, The Wire, Billboard, and The Fader as well as on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. His debut studio album, Earl, was self-released March 31, 2010 as a free digital download on the OFWGKTA website. Most of the album was produced by Tyler, The Creator. Earl was named the 24th best album of 2010 by Complex Magazine. Earl's rapping style is notable for its dark lyrical content, multi-syllable rhyme schemes, heavy wordplay, and double entendres.

Various sources indicate that Earl is not currently making music with OFWGKTA. Posts from Tyler, The Creator's twitter and Formspring seem to indicate that Earl's mother will not grant permission to release any of Earl's music. This was later confirmed when Fat Possum Records, the label releasing MellowHype's BlackenedWhite re-release, was unable to include the track "Chordaroy" which contained his vocals.

Earl later confirmed his location at Samoa's Coral Reef Academy in an interview with The New Yorker. While there is speculation that he may leave when he becomes legally independent at 18 years of age, Samoan law is different from that of U.S. law, 21 being the legal age of adulthood. In his interview with the "New Yorker", he stated that he was not held against his will or forced to go to Samoa by his mother, and requested that the "Free Earl" Campaign be stopped because he felt that his mother was being wrongly villainized by Odd Future fans. Tyler, The Creator later denied this, and stated that the interview was Earl's mother speaking in his position. On Tyler, The Creator's formspring, Tyler claims that Earl himself started the "Free Earl" campaign. A later interview carried out by Complex with another Coral Reef Academy attendee, Tyler Craven, who claimed to have become good friends with Earl, confirmed that the interview in the New Yorker did not consist of Earl's words and led Complex Magazine to the photo of Earl. His interview with Complex answered many other questions about Earl, but has been disputed by the other members of Odd Future, as well as a former pupil from Coral Reef. On November 18, 2011 Tyler the Creator announced that Earl was back in L.A. After much speculation, it was eventually confirmed that this was in fact a prank by Tyler. On December 1, 2011, 3 unreleased songs were leaked onto the internet (Sly x Stones Throw, WattStax, and Rebellious Shit). In December 2011, Earl was announced as a candidate for XXL's 2012 Freshmen List.

In Popular Culture

Earl Sweatshirt's name was dropped on adult swim television show Childrens Hospital.

Discography

Studio Albums

• Kitchen Cutlery (released as Sly Tendencies, 2009)
• Earl (2010)