“Old Friend” by Earl Sweatshirt
Earl Sweatshirt appears to be one of those types of rappers who rely heavily on wordplay and indirect references to get his points across. And even though “Old Friend” is pretty terse, there appears to be a lot going down in the lyrics.
Perhaps the most-pressing topic touched upon is the COVID-19 pandemic, with Earl alluding to the notion of having caught cabin fever and all. And judging by the name of the album this song is derived from, such may be a consistent theme permeating throughout Sick!.
At the conclusion of his various musings, with Sweatshirt also giving a notable shoutout to weed, the vocalist expresses his gladness at having “stayed friends” with the addressee, thus the title.
Said addressee is not identified but, all lyrics considered, would likely be the listener him or herself. And more to the point would be Earl addressing his established fans in particular. What he appears to be implying in that regard is that recent times have been challenging, including but even beyond the pandemic. And most simply put, he is celebrating having the opportunity to drop another album for his audience to enjoy.
Earl Sweatshirt
Earl Sweatshirt is a rapper from Chicago though more associated with the West Coast, who made a name for himself as part of the early-2010s Odd Future crew. Throughout the 2010s, he put out three studio albums, with the first of those, Doris (2013), reaching first place on Billboard’s Top Rap Albums chart.
His next two efforts, 2015’s I Don’t Like Sh*t, I Don’t Go Outside and 2018’s Some Rap Songs, failed to replicate his debut success.
“Old Friend”
“Old Friend” was released by Warner Records and another label called Tan Cressida on 14 January 2022 as part of Earl’s fourth studio album, Sick!, also serving as the opening song of its 10 track playlist.
This song was written by Earl and The Alchemist, the latter of whom also produced the track.
