Chum

Earl Sweatshirt is an American rapper and member of the Los Angeles based hip hop collective Odd Future. Earl missed Odd Future's initial success as his mom sent him away to a Samoan boarding school because he kept getting into trouble. This was Earl's first solo single following his return from Samoa. It was released on November 2, 2012.

The time Earl Sweatshirt spent at the Coral Reef Academy became public knowledge when Complex magazine published an article revealing his location, to the dismay of his family. The rapper addressed the media fiasco on this song: "I know you're happy now Craven and these Complex f--- n---as done track me down Just to be the guys that did it, like I like attention Supposed to be grateful, right Like thanks so much, you made my life Harder and the ties between my mama are strained and tightened." Earl told MTV News: "Most of the s--t that I get, and that I've gotten in my entire career, has been based on s--t that's going on in my life and not music stuff."

The introspective song was produced by twin brothers, Kehinde "Rich" Hassan and Taiwo "Christian" Hassan and was birthed freestyle during one of their studio sessions. "Most of the sessions were about five hours of talking crap — what artists you like and you don't like, having fun — and then he'll just black out and be like, 'OK I got a verse,'" Kehinde explained to MTV News "That's how 'Chum' worked." "We were just playing around," he added, "and I didn't even think the beat was done yet, and he's like, 'Yo I got a whole song.' He goes in the booth and just spits it in one take. One take. What happened to that dude was chillin' and talking crap? He said 'I'm gonna do this in one take,' and he really did."