Earl Sweatshirt and MIKE, frequent collaborators and leaders of a certain strain of underground rap, have gotten together to release a new album that'll be produced entirely by SURF GANG, the adventurous collective who we profiled back in 2023. We didn't get a PR announcement or anything, but the new album POMPEII / UTILITY comes out in less than a month. From all appearances, it's a double album, with MIKE doing the first half and Earl Sweatshirt doing the second. Right now, both of them have singles out, and there's a music video with both songs.
MIKE and Earl Sweatshirt have been influencing one another for years, and they've been working together steadily since 2020, when Earl produced most of MIKE's album weight of the world (under his dj blackpower alias) and appeared on the song "allstar." It'll be interesting to hear the two of them doing extended work with SURF GANG, whose sound is frisky and energetic. The combination has led to good shit in the past, as SURF GANG leader evilgiane produced Earl's excellent 2023 single "Making The Band (Danity Kane)." Both Earl and MIKE released albums last year — Earl's Live Laugh Love, MIKE's Showbiz! and the Tony Seltzer collab Pinball 2. Last year, SURF GANG teamed up with UK rapper Jawnino for the collaborative project amnesia, and evilgiane released the instrumental LP Giane 2 in January.
MIKE's half of POMPEII / UTILITY comes first, and it features appearances from Anysia Kim, Niontay, Jadasea, and Na-Kel Smith, with Earl on one track. Earl's part of the album has one track with MIKE and another with Lerado Khali. The whole thing is going to be long — 33 tracks, with 15 from MIKE and 18 from Earl. The video includes the MIKE song "Minty," produced by evilgiane and DC beatmaker/death metal musician Pentagrvm, and the Earl song "Earth," produced by SURF GANG member Harrison. Ian Lopez and Richard Phillip Smith directed the clip, in which MIKE, Earl, and friends hang out around mountainous beaches in what I'm guessing is California. It looks like the place where the car chase happens in One Battle After Another.
Hypebeast reports that Earl Sweatshirt and MIKE also have plans to tour North America and Europe this summer. Below, check out the video for "Minty" and "Earth," the POMPEII / UTILITY tracklist, and those tour dates.
TRACKLIST:
01 MIKE & SURF GANG - "The Fall"
02 MIKE & SURF GANG - "MY WORST (rebuke)"
03 MIKE & SURF GANG - "Da Bid" (feat. Jadasea)
04 MIKE & SURF GANG - "NOT 4TW" (feat. Anysia Kym)
05 MIKE & SURF GANG - "THE POPE"
06 MIKE & SURF GANG - "AFRO"
07 MIKE & SURF GANG - "Minty"
08 MIKE & SURF GANG - "F.E.A.R." (feat. Niontay)
09 MIKE & SURF GANG - "Tampering"
10 MIKE & SURF GANG - "Shutter Island"
11 MIKE & SURF GANG - "Back LA" (feat. Na-Kel Smith)
12 MIKE & SURF GANG - "Back Home"
13 MIKE & SURF GANG - "Kirkland" (feat. Earl Sweatshirt)
14 MIKE & SURF GANG - "#FREE #MIKE"
15 MIKE & SURF GANG - "Man of the Month"
16 Earl Sweatshirt & SURF GANG - "this2shallpass"
17 Earl Sweatshirt & SURF GANG - ":( again :)"
18 Earl Sweatshirt & SURF GANG - "Home on the Range"
19 Earl Sweatshirt & SURF GANG - "React"
20 Earl Sweatshirt & SURF GANG - "Hot Water (Cahuilla)"
21 Earl Sweatshirt & SURF GANG - "rectangle lens"
22 Earl Sweatshirt & SURF GANG - "Leadbelly" (feat. MIKE)
23 Earl Sweatshirt & SURF GANG - "quikk"
24 Earl Sweatshirt & SURF GANG - "Ew!"
25 Earl Sweatshirt & SURF GANG - "Earth"
26 Earl Sweatshirt & SURF GANG - "Chali 2na"
27 Earl Sweatshirt & SURF GANG - "Sisyphus"
28 Earl Sweatshirt & SURF GANG - "Locusts" (feat. Lerado Khalil)
29 Earl Sweatshirt & SURF GANG - "Tour de France"
30 Earl Sweatshirt & SURF GANG - "Chicago"
31 Earl Sweatshirt & SURF GANG - "Book of Eli"
32 Earl Sweatshirt & SURF GANG - "AOK"
33 Earl Sweatshirt & SURF GANG - "Don't Worry!"
TOUR DATES:
6/09 – Riverside, CA @ Riverside Municipal Auditorium $
6/10 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium $
6/12 – Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre $
6/13 – Albuquerque, NM @ Historic El Rey Theatre $
6/15 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex $
6/16 – Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom $
6/18 – Kansas City, MO @ The Truman $
6/19 – Omaha, NE @ The Admiral Theatre $
6/20 – Madison, WI @ The Sylvee $
6/22 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave $
6/23 – St. Louis, MO @ The Hawthorn $
6/24 – Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room @ ONC $
6/26 – Cleveland, OH @ Rock & Rock Hall of Fame $
6/27 – Columbus, OH @ KEMBA Live! $
6/28 – Cincinnati, OH @ Bogarts $
6/30 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Roxian Theatre $
7/01 – Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom $
7/02 – South Deerfield, MA @ Summerstage at Tree House Brewing $
7/07 – Providence, RI @ The Strand Ballroom $
7/08 – New York, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount $
7/09 – Baltimore, MD @ Nevermore Hall $
7/13 – Richmond, VA @ The National $
7/14 – Norfolk, VA @ The NorVa $
7/15 – Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore CLT $
7/17 – Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz $
7/18 – Myrtle Beach, SC @ House of Blues Myrtle Beach $
8/07 – Katowice, Poland @ OFF Festival €
8/22 – Salisbury, UK @ We Out Here £
8/25 – Glasgow, UK @ o2 Academy Glasgow $
8/26 – Dublin, Ireland @ Vicar Street $
8/27 – Paris, France @ Bourse De Commerce £
8/28 – Nottingham, UK @ Rock City $
8/29 – London, UK @ All Points East £
8/31 – London, UK @ o2 Forum Kentish Town $
9/02 – Bristol, UK @ Prospect Building $
9/03 – Brighton, UK @ Brighton Dome $
9/06 – Paris, France @ Elysee Montmartre $
90/8 – Tilburg, Netherlands @ 013 Poppodium $
$ with Harrison (SURF GANG)
€ Earl Sweatshirt only
£ MIKE only with the Band of the Century
POMPEII / UTILITY is out 4/3 on 10k/Tan Cressida/SURF GANG/the Harp.
