Fuck. Yeah. The latest video from Earl Sweatshirt dropped early this morning and, if at all possible, it’s made me even more hyped for his debut album, Doris.
‘Hive’, which features the consistently excellent Vince Staples and Casey Veggies, finds Earl in a darker mood than ‘Woah’. The video is almost a reversal of aforementioned song. It moves through similar terrain (homes, streets and cars), but where ‘Woah’ was drenched in primary colours and sunshine, ‘Hive’ is swathed in shadows.
You can see this reflected in the shots of Earl himself. While in his last video shots of the rapper were light, both tonally and mood-wise, in ‘Hive’ the close-ups of Earl display him as worn-down, complete heavy bags under his eyes.
The song itself is what I would refer to as a “BIG ONE”. The bass rumbles and rolls underneath jazz-influenced hi-hat taps, alongside the barsmith living up to his burgeoning reputation as one of the finest lyricists currently working in rap. Vince Staples verse is also fantastic, his laid-back flow riding the beat perfectly.
On top of all this, we now have a solid release date for Doris: 20th August. Keep that one in your diaries folks; it’s gonna be huuuuuuuuge.