Earl Sweatshirt, MIKE, and SURF GANG have shared “Leadbelly,” the second single from ‘POMPEII // UTILITY,’ their double LP arriving April 3 via 10k/Tan Cressida/SURF GANG Records. Structured as two distinct sides, MIKE on POMPEII and Earl on UTILITY, the album is held together by SURF GANG’s Harrison, evilgiane, Elipropperr, and Flea Diamonds, whose frenetic, distinctly online production gives both rappers new creative ground to move through. Every piece of visual art on the project comes from sculptor and Earl’s childhood friend Sharif Farrag, keeping the whole thing firmly within the community that built it.
The friendship between MIKE and Earl stretches back to 2016, producing collaborations on MIKE’s ‘weight of the world’ and Earl and The Alchemist’s ‘VOIR DIRE’ before this full collaborative project finally took shape with SURF GANG as the connective tissue. The album draws on African and diasporic traditions of collective, iterative storytelling, and both artists are clear about what that means. Earl said it directly: “I feel obligated to put a lot into it because of the gift of getting to do this.” MIKE framed it as shared responsibility: “We all have ownership in a sense. It’s like there’s a pot, and we’re responsible for putting things back into that pot.”
Secret shows in Los Angeles, New York, and London have been announced via their website. The ‘Home on the Range’ tour follows, launching June 9 in Riverside with 26 U.S. stops and support from the album’s guests, before heading to Europe. Australian and New Zealand dates in May include a performance at Sydney Opera House as part of Vivid LIVE Festival.