Earl Sweatshirt made a name for himself when he went missing. His buzz was EVERYWHERE. He was not. What happened to him? The word is his moms was coming down on him trying to get him to finish school before he went out and tried to be a rapper. Whatever the case, his name stayed heavy in the rap sheets for months and finally we got something from dude. Doris, the album we had all been waiting for. Not quite as wild as his Golf Wang colleague, Tyler The Creator, but still pretty grim for a youngin'. Originally released in 2013, the album never officially dropped on vinyl... technically. It was released as a promo only vinyl for those lucky enough to be laced. Now the vinyl consuming masses can relive those boom bap moments again in hi fidelity. The cool thing is some of the guests have no gone on to become household names in their own right including Vince Staples and OF co-founder Casey Veggies. Of course you can't have an OF album without the rest of the crew showing up unless you're The Internet which up until their latest was living on their own island. This is raw, rugged, and intimate at the same time. What goes on in the mind of a young outsider living in Cali these days? Listen to Doris and you might have a little idea.

• black vinyl pressing
• music label: Columbia 2015

reviewed by short change 12/2015

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