On October 6, Earl Sweatshirt and the Alchemist will set their recent collaborative album Voir Dire free from the Web3 platform where it debuted and onto traditional streaming platforms. That drop will be accompanied by three new songs including "The Caliphate," featuring Long Beach rapper Vince Staples.
A new verse from Vince is always a treat, but this one comes at a pretty special time for him — a recent appearance on Joe Budden's podcast has gone viral for his wildly funny banter, as have compilations of similarly hilarious chat show appearances over the years. Who knows if that will translate to increased listenership of his music, which has been consistently brilliant yet overlooked for years, but it's clear that Vince isn't taking his foot off the gas just yet. His flow is a kinetic monotone that brings the best out of Earl's own hazy, insular poetics.
The black-and-white music video for "The Caliphate," streaming above, seems to take place in some kind of botanical garden. Appropriately, the Alchemist stays in the background rolling some green of his own. In November Earl and the Alchemist will tour with MIKE and Black Noi$e; find those dates here.
