Earl Sweatshirt - Doris (2013)

One of hip-hop's youngest artists, Earl Sweatshirt made waves with 2010's Earl. Only sixteen when Earl was released, Earl's debut mix-tape showed a promising talent, if only in need of some maturity. If Earl showed much of Tyler, The Creator's influence, eight of the tracks being produced by him, Doris, shows Sweatshirt maturing and finding his own unique style. After being on hiatus for most of 2011 and part of 2010, Earl returned with new singles "Chum", "Whoa", and "Hive", before finally releasing Doris, his major label debut, in late August this year. Starting with "Pre" featuring SK La' Flare, the opening track hints at the dark production and Odd Futuresque beats which embellish the album. "Burgundy", "20 Wave Caps", "Knight", "Sasquatch", and "Whoa" are regular Odd Future workouts with guest appearances from various members of the Odd Future Collective, such as Vince Staples, Domo Genesis, and Tyler, The Creator. Highly sought out producers The Alchemist, RZA, and The Neptunes produce a track each, along with Tyler, The Creator producing a few tracks himself. One of the standout tracks is"Sunday", featuring Frank Ocean as a kind of repayment for Earl's appearance of Ocean's "Super Rich Kids" in his Channel Orange release."Hoarse"with its Western Style guitar intro, play on words, and grimy production is the most astonoshing track, Earl sounding confident and in his element. Interestingly enough the producer randomblackdude, who produces or co-produces seven of the tracks is actually Earl's producer alias. From the strength of his production on these tracks alone, Earl could have a promising future as a producer/rapper. Doris shows Earl emerging as and artist, finding his own sound, which still sounds like an Odd Future album, but has its own unique flares. An essential listen, and probably the best Odd Future release out there.