Doris cover
Released

When Odd Future’s turn-of-the-decade emergence precipitated untold terabytes of hype, deconstruction, and speculation, it was teenage phenom Earl Sweatshirt that garnered some of the most feverish talk: how would he develop as an artist? Did he have more than just shock value in store? When was he even going to be able to drop a record, anyways — isn’t he in some Samoan boarding school? Doris answered all those questions, only to stir up even more, dwelling on his self-doubts even as he embodies his own inner creative strengths. His semi-detached yet expressive voice spills invitingly bad vibes everywhere, whether it’s Neptunes, RZA, BadBadNotGood, or his own “randomblackdude” self he’s rapping over.

Nate Patrin

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