Score: 8/10
In early 2019, legendary beatmaker The Alchemist responded to an innocuous Tweet asking if he and rapper Earl Sweatshirt were ever going to release a collab tape. His response read: “We did one and dropped it already under a fake name. Youtube. Go find it.” Instantly, the underground rap world was alight with desperate searches to discover the project and be the first to hear what a full tape from two of the most top-tier creators in the scene would sound like. The search proved futile and eventually faded into the background, but both Alc and Earl still consistently hinted at the project, seemingly confirming its existence. Four years later, on August 21, the Alchemist posted the track-list to an unidentified project titled Voir Dire, along with a link to a website that contained all sorts of scavenger hunts and cryptic information. Four days after that, the search was finally over, and Voir Dire, the collaborative album by Earl Sweatshirt and The Alchemist, was released as a free-to-listen NFT exclusively on the Gala Music service.
Right off the bat, let’s address that last sentence. For reasons that haven’t really been revealed, Voir Dire is currently only available in full through a NFT-based music service called Gala Music. A single from the album, “Sentry,” was released on streaming services, but there’s yet to be any indication as to whether or not the full album will ever be available on Spotify or Apple Music. Personally, as someone who 1) doesn’t give a shit about NFTs and 2) enjoys having their music in an easily accessible and well organized place, this is fairly annoying. Luckily, though, the album is completely free to experience, and the only things locked behind a paywall are some merch, behind the scenes info, and upcoming events. While opening up Safari and logging into Gala Music isn’t my ideal way to experience an album (although there may or may not be some workaround ways to add it to your library, just saying), it’s admittedly a pretty easy to use service, and at the very least, I genuinely hope that this unorthodox form of release has proved to be both financially and artistically fulfilling for Earl and Alc.
Collaborations between the former Odd Future frontman and Fuck that Delicious cast member are certainly nothing new, dating back as far as the Doris album cut “Uncle Al” from 2013. As Earl’s pen game has grown from prodigious DOOM-worship into free-flowing poetry, so too have Alchemist’s sample flips developed into soul-searching abstractions. Over the past few years, the duo’s collaborations have been nothing short of top-tier (see “Wind in My Sails”), which has only fueled the fans’ desire to hear an entire project from the pair. At long last, our wishes have come true, but the real question is: does Voir Dire live up to the hype?
In my opinion, yes. As a massive Earl/Alchemist fan, the question was never really: "will an Earl/Alchemist collab album be good?" so much as it was "how good will an Earl/Alchemist collab album be?" It's certainly not a complete reinvention of what their collaborations have sounded like in the past, but it also doesn't need to be. Alc provides Earl with the exact sort of spacey production he’s gifted him on previous records, and Earl rides every single beat with the muttered brilliance we’ve gotten accustomed to. Some of this familiarity may stem from the time period in which the record was actually recorded, since it stands to reason that if this really is the fabled project that Alc teased back in 2019, then the majority of the verses were probably recorded in 2018 or prior. If that is the case, it really speaks to the timeless nature of Earl and Alc's chemistry, as well as their almost involuntary penchant to create outstanding art.
The album itself clocks in at a mere runtime of 27 minutes, spread across 11 tracks. While it certainly flows best as a complete listen from start to finish — with plenty of Alchemist's signature skits and transitions — the tracks also function as perfectly enjoyable stand alone listens. This is further reinforced by the manner in which the album was released, since on Gala Music, every song is available for individual purchase and has its own personalized artwork. While Earl's music has always benefited from multiple listens, the structure of Voir Dire practically insists on it. These aren't the sort of songs that will dazzle and surprise on a cursory listen, but as someone who's heard this album upwards of a dozen times now, I can attest to the fact that there's something special about Voire Dire that you'd have to try pretty damn hard not to fall in love with.
The record kicks off with "100 High Street," which sees Earl riding a gorgeously sampled string section with the lackadaisical bravado that only he could muster. "Focus steady and unbroken/I was wrestling on the low end/My prerequisite to going in/I chief recklessly with no end." These opening bars are a perfect example of what exactly makes Earl's rapping so special. While his delivery is unassuming, the lyrics are an incredible blend of dense poetry and relatable anecdotes, with a deceptively complex level of multi syllabic rhyming that's practically hypnotic. By the time Alchemist decides to bring in some dusty percussion to hammer the words home, the track is already a one-two punch of perfectly executed minimalism and absolute virtuosity.
"Vin Skully" offers up a disgustingly funky beat, comprised of swampy guitarwork and unintelligible chopped vocals. Earl's lyrics are at their most clever and sardonic, making it difficult to not have a tongue-in-cheek grin plastered on your face for the entirety of the song's runtime. "Hand over fist, that's quick/Snake oil salesman with the pitch, that slick." Still, in typical Earl fashion, despite the song's wryness, it's also a deeply melancholic depiction of self-introspection: "Hosing down the problem with gin and tonic/How to stay afloat in a bottomless pit?/The trick is to stop fallin."
Currently, the only song from the album that's widely available on streaming platforms is "Sentry." The track is a perfect summation of Voir Dire's general aesthetic, and should be more than enough to entice skeptics to check out the album in full. The song also features a verse from frequent Earl collaborator, MIKE. On mulitple occasions, Earl has named MIKE as one of his personal favorite artists, and MIKE's abstract style was an undeniable influence on Earl's 2018 magnum opus Some Rap Songs. This is all to say that the pair's chemistry is always nothing short of electric, and when they're flowing over one of the most gorgeous beats in Alchemist's entire career, it's basically guaranteed to amaze.
Some of the most impactful moments on Voir Dire are also its most unassuming. “All the Small Things” is my personal favorite song on the project, and pairs Earl with a church-ready backdrop, complete with squealing organs and noise-gated percussion. Earl’s lyrics are heartbreakingly introspective, but still communicate an attitude of world-weary optimism. “Stillwater’s got depth, don’t hold your breath.” It’s the sort of detached emotionality that Earl excels at, and despite being barely 2 minutes, pretty much every part of this song’s tapestry has already wormed its way into my heart. The same can be said for cuts like “Mac Deuce” and “Geb,” the latter of which has arguably the best beat on the album. If you weren’t already aware of how elite Alchemist’s sampling chops were, just give “Geb” a quick listen and try not to be amazed at the vitality he’s able to pull from a record that hundreds of other fingers would have skipped over.
The album comes to a close with "Free the Ruler," as unceremonious an outro as you could imagine. Much like how "100 High Street" throws the listener into the world of Voir Dire without much ado, "Free the Ruler" leaves it just as abruptly. That's not to say that the album's ending is at all dissatisfying, but rather just that it perfectly matches the project's enigmatic aesthetic. Earl Sweatshirt and the Alchemist don't seem overly concerned with this album's canonization; they're content with releasing a fully-formed release on their own terms and letting it reach the people who want to experience it. If you're a fan of underground rap and haven't yet checked out Voir Dire due to its inaccessibility, I highly recommend that you find the time to. I promise that's worth your attention (and maybe even your money), and hip-hop-heads everywhere can finally rest easy knowing that one of the most elusive rap albums of the past several years is finally in their grasp.
Favorite Tracks: Sentry, All the Small Things, Mac Deuce, Geb
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