Earl Sweatshirt
Born: February 24, 1994
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois
Zodiac Sign: Pisces
Career and Life
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Thebe Neruda Kgositsile aka Earl Sweatshirt, is an American rapper and record producer from Los Angeles, California. Kgositsile was originally known by the moniker Sly Tendencies when he started rapping, but soon changed his name when Tyler, the Creator invited him to join his alternative hip hop collective Odd Future in late 2009.
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He gained recognition and critical praise for his debut mixtape, Earl, which released in March 2010 when he was just 16 years old. Shortly after its release, his mother sent him to a boarding school in Samoa for at-risk teens for a year and a half. He was unable to record music during his tenure there, but returned to Los Angeles in February 2012, just before his eighteenth birthday. Kgositsile rejoined Odd Future and started producing new music, releasing his debut studio album Doris in August 2013.
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His second album, I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside followed in March 2015, and his third, Some Rap Songs, released in November 2018. His projects have all received widespread critical praise. He is currently signed to his independent label Tan Cressida, which was formerly distributed by Columbia Records. On November 1st, 2019, Kgositsile released an EP titled Feet of Clay.
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Earl's father, Keorapetse Kgositsile, was a South African poet and political activist who died on January 3, 2018 at 79. Kgositsile was often mentioned in Sweatshirt's music and was called a "complicated figure" by Pitchfork due to being presented as a person that was often absent in Sweatshirt's life due to Kgositsile living in South Africa while Sweatshirt lived in Los Angeles, California. Speaking on his own relationship with Kgositsile, Sweatshirt said "Me and my dad had a relationship that’s not uncommon for people to have with their fathers, which is a non-perfect one, talking to him is symbolic and non-symbolic, but it’s literally closure for my childhood. Not getting to have that moment left me to figure out a lot with my damn self."
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As of December 2019, Sweatshirt lives in the neighbourhood of Mid-City in Los Angeles, California. Sweatshirt lived in Samoa for a year after his mother found out about his drug habits, sending him to a reform boarding school. The time in Samoa led to Sweatshirt getting sober though eventually he relapsed upon returning to the United States and caught pneumonia whilst on tour. Sweatshirt attributes his time with his collective Odd Future, who were similar ages to him and leaving a long-term relationship, to his drug abuse, saying he was often smoking marijuana and drinking lean before quitting as he reached adulthood.
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