Earl Sweatshirt released his "surprise" album, I Don't Like Sh*t, I Don't Go Outside, yesterday, despite being angry at his label for announcing giving away the surprise. Now the Odd Future artist opens up about the project in an hour-long interview with NPR. He talks about the process behind the album, the botched early release, advice from Flying Lotus, becoming self-aware, his relationship with his mother, the meaning behind his album title, the state of journalism, Kendrick Lamar's new album To Pimp A Butterfly, and much more. Here are some things we learned:
On his label ruining the surprise of his album:
"I was devastated. I was ready to like kill some - the day I was - it would've been so quiet for any n-- from Sony. I was so mad cause it was like - especially because I feel like this is my first album. This is the first thing that I've said that I fully stand behind, like the good and the bad of it. Because it's just - I've never been this transparent with myself or with music. I've never been behind myself this much. So for them to not treat as importantly as I was treating it was just like - I couldn't help but to feel a little disrespected, you know?
"...But it was just like, in the moment, they let it get spun like I was on a pedestal, complaining about some nuances, you know what I mean? When it was really like zero percent of what was supposed to go right went right. Like, y'all got an F. It's not chill. Like, 'You're in the red zone.' And no one acted like they were in the red zone. That's what had me the most hot."
On his creative process:
"I came up with the album title first, just cause like, I got to completely visualize what the album - it's easier for me if I work all the way backwards. What does it look like in iTunes? What does the cover look like? And then I go last song - I learned that this is my process. I go last song first, first song second, and then ... You fill it in. Yeah. Kinda how you write...a book.
On becoming self-aware:
"[When I found myself] I looked f**ked up. When I was in my most - when I had the most clarity, I looked f**ked up. I think that's kind of universal though. A lot of dudes that get, like, really withered and skinny, all of sudden get this really profound sense of clarity. This is the concept behind fasting, I think. Like, you don't eat. And it's hard. It's the worst. And then you get to the other side and it's like the clearest your head has ever been. So that's where I was with a lot of the album.
"I didn't give a f**k about my body. ...I disrespected myself - not disrespected, but I really prostrated myself to music."
On the album's title:
"It's not so much about, like, some pretentious 'I don't like s--. I don't go outside.' It was more about getting f--ing forced inside, you know what I mean?"
On Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly:
"Kendrick's album is so fire. And I don't have any - it's not even a reservation - but you can hear when it's G-funk. You can hear it when it's jazz. This is this. This is this. This is this. And it's explicit. I think that's a language that needs to get spoken to a lot of - but it's very explicit. And people make the mistake - I've had so many conversations with people about how Kendrick - 'Oh, it's a lot of subliminal.' Kendrick is not subliminal at all. Kendrick is so so so straightforward. Like, he says everything - subliminal is having to pick up whether this was spiritual - you feel me? Subliminal is like - Kendrick is very straightforward with his message."
On the state of music journalism:
"I am trying to start a f--ing magazine. Because journalism is so trash right now. Have you read the writeup on Kendrick's album on iTunes? ...I'm saying that s-- f-ks me up. I be looking for good writing and people doing these f--ing fourth grade book reports on people's albums. Like, 'This happened and then there was also a feature from ... And then. And also.' ...Music writing sucks so f--ing bad."
Check out the rest of the extensive interview here (or listen below), and let us know what you think in the comments section!
