As a medium, the ‘collab album’ can be rather polarising. Sure, fans may rejoice that two of their favourite artists are working together, but equally, they might be fearful of a low common denominator outcome. In this case, for hip-hop fan favourites Earl Sweatshirt and MIKE, a joint album would seem an obvious move for artists with similar production, cadence and flows, not to mention previous successful collaborations. Throw into the auditory blender experimental production group SURF GANG, consisting of Harrison, evilgiane, Elipropperr and Flea Diamonds, and this album is undoubtedly an enticing, if controversial prospect.
MIKE’s half of the album is POMPEII, and his entrance is explosive. As if functioning as a WWE walkout song, ‘The Fall’, starts with a vocal sample: “Some people might say you are the devil”. Eerie and sparse chords support MIKE’s raspy delivery before being overwhelmed by distorted bass stabs crashing into the track. Just over 90 seconds long, it works as a statement track for anyone unconvinced about MIKE’s and SURF GANG’s collaborative power.
‘AFRO’ and ‘Minty’ further demonstrate this palpable chemistry, and almost delve into the dance music spectrum. On the latter, produced by evilgiane and Pentagvm, MIKE spits humorous lyrics over an irresistibly groovy beat as 808 bass drum stabs complement rigid and muted claps: “Bro, you not a gangster, take your talents off the LinkedIn”. By the end of MIKE’S POMPEII, the rapper has shown a range of styles, flows and cadences that perhaps doubters wouldn’t have thought he was capable of on SURF GANG productions.
Sweatshirt’s UTILITY, whilst treading new production ground, still feels quintessentially him. Tracks like ‘:( again :)’ and ‘Hot Water (Cahuilla)’ have characteristically vulnerable and motivational lyrics as on his last album Live Laugh Love. On ‘:( again :)’, Sweatshirt raps that he “found the strength to get up again”, whilst on ‘Hot Water (Cahuilla)’ he tells the listener “I done told you about four, five times how sitting around ain’t gone get you shit”. Sweatshirt’s lyrics here show that he doesn’t have to be on soulful and luxurious productions to rap about more mature topics, and that it’s just as effective over trippier, psychedelic beats.
SURF GANG’s production remains flawless across UTILITY. Experiencing tracks like ‘Home on the Range’, ‘React’ and ‘Rectangle Lens’ feels like biting into Proust’s madeleine and flashing back to an old Lucki album such as Freewave 3 or old Ethereal beats, but keeping Sweatshirt at the centre of it all.
But UTILITY’s quintessence is probably best felt in ‘Leadbelly’, one of the few tracks featuring both Sweatshirt and MIKE. The pair effortlessly trade bars, perfectly complementing each other’s energy to produce a satisfyingly druggy, after hours anthem.
Previously, fans may have felt Sweatshirt and MIKE’s lyrics needed the listener’s primary focus to catch each double entendre or metaphor. Yet POMPEII // UTILITY shows their joint ability to create music which washes over you in search of a curated atmosphere. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s certainly admirable.
