Doris is an impressively cohesive, if uncommerical, effort.
Doris is miles ahead of 2010’s Earl, and on it, Earl surpasses nearly all of his contemporaries.
Doris is full on its author’s prodigious abilities as a formidable young voice in L.A.’s resurgent hip-hop scene, but it’s not as concerned with the wider significance of the moment as it is with disbelief it’s actually happening.
Earl is still negotiating his capricious tendencies with a more consistent, reliable style. Doris displays some of those growing pains, but it also delivers a uniquely impressive collection of vicious beats and lyrics that make Magna Carta…Holy Grail sound like Marky Mark.
Doris confirms that one of rap’s most technically accomplished voices has also got his conceptual vision firmly in place.
Earl’s debut studio album Doris is many things. It’s messy, emotional, awkward and sinister, but it’s also a fascinating release that finds one of Odd Future’s brattiest MCs in a contemplative mood.
A slow (rarely rising above 70 bpm), introspective album where Earl Sweatshirt combats pressures when returning to a life of stardom after time spent at a Samoa-based boarding school for troubled youths.
‘Doris’ is a disturbed and penetrating journey into the mind of the boy that came back from Samoa.
His trademark reticence (both this and 2010's Earl begin with voices needling him to speak) means he gives away too many verses: the best tracks are him and him alone.
With Doris, Sweatshirt jumps up the ranks. Moving nimbly around some fantastic rhymes and lines, the rapper tries to put everything that has happened to him in the past few years into perspective, from the release of Earl to his parentally-imposed exile, to watching his buddies go interstellar in his absence.
Whether selfish or smart to persist on remaining a standoffish mystery, Earl prospers in establishing himself as a 19-year-old with an unusually high standard for rhyming that should be separated from urban legend.
Overall, Doris will likely stand tall as another step in the maturing and deepening of the Odd Future ethos and sound.
It’s a work as notable for its technical achievements as its nuanced themes, and that’s almost as impressive considering that so many artists lack in one or both of those fields.
Enamored with language itself, Doris is a celebration of syntax, a yoga pose pushing the limits of the MC's flexibility
Doris is unsettled, messy, and takes a bit to sort, but there are codes to crack and rich rewards to reap, so enter with an open mind and prepare to leave exhausted.
Doris represents one of the most innovative and important hip-hop releases of the year. Not just because of the charm and intrigue of Earl’s story but because of the immense and understated level of his talent for writing rhymes.
Earl Sweatshirt has officially entered himself into the conversation for best MC of Tumblr generation. The only question is will he ever give a f*ck to fully reach his potential.
Not to say that the Sweatshirt is incapable of sounding original and "influenced", but at times it sounds as though he's still in the 'teeming with potential' stage of his career, immature attempts at articulating "sounds done by grown folks".
Doris suffers not just from not enough Earl but not enough Earl. Still, he’s easily one of the best at his craft, and Doris is as strong as any release from a promising young rapper who’s had to do a stint against their will in Samoa.
Doris is not a tidy next step in this narrative. It is not the Big Album many were hoping for, although it certainly shows great growth when compared to EARL. Instead, it sounds like a transitional record by a 19-year-old with a lot on his mind.
Doris isn't the classic many anticipated, but it is a strong, uncompromised debut from a very talented young rapper. For now, that's enough.
Odd Future's Earl Sweatshirt returns with his long-awaited major label debut, Doris.
It’s telling that the most fired up Earl gets on Doris is when he entertains the idea of abandoning rap altogether ... Judging from this dispassionate, at times almost deliberately underwhelming album, it’s not inconceivable that he might actually make good on that threat.
Earl fucking Sweatshirt. I’m glad you don’t waste your talent, because you’re starting to dip in quality a tiny bit.
California rapper Earl Sweatshirt, former member of Odd Future, has been rapping since he was at a very young age. He wasn’t even 16 yet when he was featured on Tyler, The Creator’s song AssMilk. They were both set up for success, huh?
This album has quite a few features that can make or break a song, and some features quite literally steal the ... read more
The middle of this album really outshines anything in the beginning and end. Chum is a classic of course, but the album as a whole is a bit inconsistent. The features are also way outmatched by Earl. It's like comparing horse radish to honey mustard. Who the fuck likes Horse radish?
1 | Pre 2:52 feat. SK La' Flare | 73 |
2 | Burgundy 2:07 feat. Vince Staples | 85 |
3 | 20 Wave Caps 2:12 feat. Domo Genesis | 82 |
4 | Sunday 3:25 feat. Frank Ocean | 84 |
5 | Hive 4:37 feat. Vince Staples, Casey Veggies | 90 |
6 | Chum 4:03 | 94 |
7 | Sasquatch 2:48 feat. Tyler, The Creator | 79 |
8 | Centurion 3:03 feat. Vince Staples | 81 |
9 | 523 1:31 | 72 |
10 | Uncle Al 0:52 | 74 |
11 | Guild 3:53 feat. Mac Miller | 68 |
12 | Molasses 2:16 feat. RZA | 83 |
13 | Whoa 3:16 feat. Tyler, The Creator | 87 |
14 | Hoarse 3:52 | 80 |
15 | Knight 3:13 feat. Domo Genesis | 85 |
#1 | / | Clash |
#10 | / | eMusic |
#10 | / | Entertainment Weekly |
#11 | / | Complex |
#15 | / | The Guardian |
#19 | / | Pitchfork |
#22 | / | Pigeons & Planes |
#23 | / | MOJO |
#24 | / | FasterLouder |
#25 | / | The Fly |