Thebe Neruda Kgositsile (born February 24, 1994), known professionally as Earl Sweatshirt, is an American rapper and record producer. Kgositsile was originally known by the moniker Sly Tendencies when he began rapping in 2008, but changed his name when Tyler, the Creator invited him to join his alternative hip-hop collective Odd Future in late 2009. He is the son of South African political poet Keorapetse Kgositsile. At the age of 16, he gained recognition and critical praise for his second mixtape, Earl (2010). Shortly after its release, he was sent to a boarding school in Samoa for at-risk teens by his mother, which he attended for a year and a half. Unable to record during his stay, he returned to Los Angeles in February 2012 before his eighteenth birthday. Kgositsile rejoined Odd Future and adopted a recording contract with the group's parent label, Columbia Records to release his debut studio album, Doris (2013). The album peaked within the top five of the Billboard 200, while his second and third albums, I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside (2015) and Some Rap Songs (2018), both peaked within the top 20 and were critically praised.
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