Earl Sweatshirt Returns To Chicago Sunday

By Robert Martin in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 28, 2015 4:00PM

Earl Sweatshirt Facebook page

It’s been five years since Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (OFWGKTA) unleashed themselves on an unsuspecting web audience and rose from the ranks of mixtape heroes to culture moguls by making a fortune on socks. Critics and hip-hop heads alike bowed down to Tyler, the Creator, the mysterious Earl Sweatshirt and their wild assortment of friends and collaborators.

Half-a-decade later, the L.A. collective is a shell of its former self. Solo careers pushed several members of Odd Future in different directions. Tyler veered away from rap while Frank Ocean became a central figure in R&B.

Earl, on the other hand, decided to stay indoors and take some time to himself. The result of that move is I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside, the 21-year-old’s sophomore LP that dropped Monday to a flurry of angry tweets and a label dispute. Just 30 minutes long, the record marks the largest step Earl has ever taken from his OF base. Not one member of the original collective appears alongside Sweatshirt on I Don’t Like Shit and there are no references to Odd Future. Save for a few features, this is Earl in his most singular form.

Days after the release of the new record, Earl heads to The Concord Music Hall with Vince Staples for a tour that showcases some of the best in L.A. hip-hop right now. Staples' latest, Hell Can Wait puts the city's gang violence problem under the microscope with a level of examination not seen since Kendrick Lamar's 2012 release Good Kid, M.A.A.D City. Together, these two are a young force in rap and complete no-brainer for a joint tour.

Earl Sweatshirt plays with Vince Staples and Remy Banks on Sunday, March 29 at 6 p.m. Concord Music Hall, 2047 N. Milwaukee Ave. It's an all ages show and tickets are $28.50.