Earl Sweatshirt: Chum TRACK REVIEW

Usually when I hear that a member of Odd Future has dropped a new track ( save for Mr. Frankie Ocean, of course) I need to prepare myself for some disappointment. Because it seems that ever since Tyler, The Creator, dropped his album "Goblin" last year; the group and it's off-shoots have been releasing mostly sub-par material. Which is sad, because these guys have a lot of potential.

Chief among them is Earl, who, fresh out of juvie ( not THAT fresh) has started dropping new tracks, and "Chum" is the first notable new release from Earl this year.

The track is simply great, with a somber piano loop playing over a fuzzy beat. It actually reminds me a lot of the early stuff OF was putting out back in 09, which is a good thing. Unlike so many newer OF projects, the production on this track is free of cheap synthesizer sounds and fruity loops drum beats.

And since this is Earl we're talking about; the rapping is pretty great too. "Chum" is a very personal track for not only Earl, but for OF in general. Detailing how the loss of his father has affected his outlook on life and maybe why he was acting out in the first place. It's refreshing to hear something of real substance being produced by OF, and not the same old stuff from guys like Hodgy Beats and Domo Genesis.

I'm excited to see whether or not Earl's next full length will contain more tracks like "Chum". Since in a lot of press releases this year, he's been stating that he plans on moving past the juvenile and shock style music that he put out in the past.