A few weeks ago we told you about how the New Yorker had tracked down and interviewed Earl Sweatshirt, the musical prodigy from Odd Future who mysteriously went missing months ago, only to be found living with his mother in Africa. In the interview, which was conducted via email, Earl claimed that he wasn’t being held against his will…
Earl told Sanneh in an email: “Please listen: I’m not being held against my will … I’ve had to do a lot of growing up since I left, so naturally my perspective has changed.” He adds that he’s troubled by the “Free Earl” movement and the online vitriol directed at his mom, writing, “Now with the ‘Free Earl’ chants come a barely indirect ‘F*ck Earl’s Mom.” When asked when he’ll be back, Earl wrote, “Hopefully soon … I don’t have any definite date though. Even if I did I don’t know if I’d tell you. You’ll hear from me without a doubt when I’m ready.”
But now Complex has tracked down a friend of Earl’s who claims that the New Yorker article is dead wrong.
Complex found a number of Facebook posts from a classmate of Earl’s, a Virginian named Tyler Craven. (Earl, it would seem, is drawn to dudes named Tyler.) In various Facebook posts, Craven claimed that Earl still refers to Odd Future figurehead Tyler, the Creator as “his brother,” that Earl “hates his life right now and his mom for sending him there,” and that Earl gave those quotes to the New Yorker because “the program is making him say that stuff for now because the obese bitches running the place dont like is explicit music.”
Later, referring directly to the New Yorker article, Craven wrote, “If it says hes there willingly then they are wrong.” He also implies that Earl’s music is the only thing that got him sent to the Academy.
Now, while I’ve been sort of fascinated by all of this, this is the bottom line: the kid isn’t 18 yet, so he doesn’t really have much of a choice but to do what his mom demands he do. Look, plenty of us hated our parents and didn’t want to be living with them when we were teenagers. Tough sh*t. Musical prodigy or not. The mom in this situation seems to be doing little more than trying to prevent her son from having to grow up too fast and going down the road so many others have when fame struck too early in life. In other words, she’s being a decent mother. Trust me, this situation could be a lot worse…
