Earl Sweatshirt and the Alchemist's mystery project finally comes to light
LOS ANGELES — "Voir Dire," the title of the new album from rapper Earl Sweatshirt and producer the Alchemist, translates from French as "speak the truth" — a concept that's all too familiar to its creators.
Ten years ago, Earl's truths manifested as tangled fears and unanswered questions on his debut solo album, "Doris," where he trudged through grief in the absence of his father, dealt with the guilt of missing his grandmother's final days as he hustled to get his music career off the ground, and struggled with the weight of his own lofty expectations. After he stormed the internet in the late 2000s as part of the counterculture group of L.A. skaters, musicians and jokesters known as Odd Future — which also introduced the world to Tyler, the Creator and Frank Ocean — the dense rhyme schemes and layered bars of "Doris" presented him as the group's brightest linguist, with wisdom beyond his then-19-year-old self.
