It was clear from his breakthrough in the influential Odd Future collective that Earl Sweatshirt had little interest in following any rulebook. A defiance that has only grown more pronounced over time. Unlike former Odd Future peers such as Tyler, The Creator and Frank Ocean, Earl Sweatshirt has continued to drift further from the mainstream, embracing an increasingly left-field trajectory. His beats are often fragmented, the productions noisily experimental, and the themes laced with a distinct strain of dark humor. Yet one constant remains: Earl Sweatshirt’s razor-sharp precision as a rapper and lyricist. Now he returns with the acclaimed new album “Live Laugh Love” — a 25-minute, mind-expanding journey where conventional logic is once again set aside. As ever, songs fracture and bleed into one another, but there is also a newfound lightness from the artist who once titled an album “I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside”. At Stay Out West this summer, one of the most singular and influential voices in contemporary hip-hop takes the stage.

Earl Sweatshirt will perform at Stay Out West on Thursday August 13th