Earl Sweatshirt, MIKE & SURF GANG - POMPEII // UTILITY 2CD

It’s hard out there for a contemporary Hip Hop curious physical media Unc!! (note: this is gen z/alpha slang for someone who displays “uncle like behaviour”) I haven’t really stopped listening to MIKE’s ‘Renaissance Man’ and Earl Sweatshirt’s ‘Some Rap Songs’ since acquiring them a couple of years after their 2018 release. 

Personal listening preferences (I like albums and want to escape phone/computer world) and music industry dynamics have stopped me from being nearly as engaged with new Hip Hop as I would like to be. Still, I’ve been following the release press cycle of Earl Sweatshirt, MIKE & SURF GANG’s ‘POMPEII // UTILITY’ and love the energy they have been projecting into the world. Some profoundly funny, heartwarming, and insightful thoughts have come out of their unassuming and open media appearances. Their affirmation of friendship and tight knit creative partnerships as a way to block out the anxiety-inducing outside forces that usually strip music of its unique flavour is one of the great messages. 

I think ‘POMPEII // UTILITY’ has been somewhat polarising, and I get why, but I’m firmly on team “It’s incredible!”. Getting a little old-head here but both rappers remind me of the unhinged and offbeat flow of Sensation, Kool Keith, Sir Menelik, or a 12” you might’ve bought on Fondle ‘em or Rawkus Records, but along with Surf Gang’s production they fold in cassette-only era Southern Hip Hop bangers and post-boom bap experimentation (sorry for writing that) but in a way that feel specifically located in the post-Gucci Mane/Lil’ B era. I am sorry about the price tag and will save my more in-depth frustrations about Hip Hop physical music distribution for another time.  – Nic