It’s a pretty topline take to say that, despite hailing from different coasts of the country, Earl Sweatshirt and MIKE operate within the same sonic realm. Both propelling the pretty much exact same lane of conscious underground hip-hop, the pair has definite potential for beef. But with MIKE and Earl, it’s quite the opposite. It’s always been all love between the two, who have operated in the same creative orbit and traversed the same musical and thematic terrain for quite some time now.
In the ultimate act of solidifying of their creative synergy and geniune friendship, MIKE and Earl have taken it to the studio to cook up POMPEII/UTILITY, their first-ever full-length collaboration. Taking a two-disc format – the first handled entirely by MIKE, and the second, all Earl – the project features front-to-back production by SURF GANG, culminating in a 33-track trip through the New York City underground, where it all started.
2015 – 2016: Early Days
Before the pair even met, MIKE, like the rest of us, was just a fan of Earl’s, calling him his favorite rapper.
In 2015, MIKE dropped “crimson,” a deep cut of his that includes production from Earl’s “randomblackdude” producer alias. At the time, MIKE was involved in his co-founded sLUms rap group with a group of fellow underground NYC rappers.
The pair officially connected via journalist Matthew Trammell in 2016. MIKE was just 17, still sorting out how he’d move out of his aunt’s home. Sweatshirt asked who Trammell was listening to lately, and he sent over MIKE’s “40 Stops.” This prompted Earl to then cop MIKE’s debut project, longest day, shortest night, for $45 USD on Bandcamp – which prompted MIKE to receive an email stating that Thebe Neruda Kgositsile just bought your album on Bandcamp. He also copped a one-off mix MIKE cooked up as well for $15 USD. Later that same year, it was 10k affiliate Wiki who introduced the two rappers, MIKE and Earl exchanging their first words on Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles.
2017 – 2019: The Interim of Inspiration
Earl’s role in MIKE’s life shortly switched from an inspiration, to an active mentor, assisting MIKE with new artistic ways of expression. “He stressed the importance of knowing your own lane, of incubating and knowing those people [around you] and helping them achieve their fullest potential,” MIKE elaborated in an interview with Bandcamp at the time. “When everyone around you is doing great, that’s when you do great yourself and grow, keeping that engine running. He said he appreciated my music ’cause it’s very reflective—I’m talking about horrible things that not everyone relates to, but he got it.”
In that same interview with Bandcamp, MIKE also reminisced on Earl’s role in shaping MAY GOD BLESS YOUR HUSTLE. The project dropped in 2017, and at the time, MIKE didn’t even have a bank account. He reflected fondly on Earl taking him out for lunch at Kottu House in the Lower East Side.
However, at the same time, as much as Earl shaped MIKE’s come-up MIKE began to influence Earl’s growing discography as well. MIKE and sLUms heavily impacted Earl’s 2018 record, Some Rap Songs, which signalled a slight shift in sonic territory for the rapper. “I be with MIKE and Med,” Earl spits on the project’s fourth track, “Nowhere2go,” following it up with “I was in the kitchen with that n**** MIKE,” on “The Mint,” and “Press, King, Navy, Med, MIKE on the bench,” on “Azucar.”
2020: First In-Studio Track Together
It was in the 2020’s that the duo delved into the full potential of their creative synergy. For the pair’s first official sonic foray, Earl hopped on to produce MIKE’s early single “allstar.” The cut made its way to MIKE’s weight of the world LP, signaling just the beginning of a consistent chain of collaborative cuts recorded in-studio.
2021 – 2026: Consistent Collaboration
After “allstar,” Earl and The Alchemist locked in on their acclaimed debut tape, VOIR DIRE which comes bolstered by a heavy-hitting MIKE feature on “Sentry.” “Sentry” preceded Mike’s impressive Burning Desire LP which dropped in October of 2023, and featured writing assistance from Earl, and a feature on “plz don’t cut my wings.” The duo also coincided on Niontay’s Demon Muppy tape in 2023, hopping on “Real hip hop” along with El Cousteau.
In 2024, MIKE and Tony Seltzer dropped their joint Pinball project, infused with indirect Earl influence throughout, and equipped with an official feature from him (along with Tony Shhnow) on “On God.”
Earl popped out at MIKE’s Young World IV festival in July of 2024 – a completely free event in Herbert Von King Park that featured performances from artists ranging from MIKE and Earl to Skaiwater and Sideshow.
2025 marked the release of MIKE’s Showbiz! and the surprise drop of he and Seltzer’s Pinball successor, Pinball II. While Earl didn’t directly contribute to Showbiz!, his essence is all over it, in its risk-taking, experimental production and well-penned emotional subject matter. He did hop on Pinball II though, contributing to fan-favorite cut, “Jumanji.”
All that’s to say that POMPEII/UTILITY comes built on an incredibly steady foundation. Press statements have revealed that the 33 tracks on the album land as byproducts from lengthy studio sessions with SURF GANG in both New York and Los Angeles between the years of 2023 and 2025.
In tandem with the project’s announcement (and slate of world tour dates) last week, Earl and MIKE also lifted the veil on the lead single – which, in true POMPEII/UTILITY fashion, takes the form of a two-part track. “Minty” is handled in its entirety by MIKE, and comes lifted from the POMPEII portion of the LP, whereas “Earth” is all Earth, and appears on UTILITY.
POMPEII/UTILITY drops everywhere on April 3. Until then, we made a playlist of our favorite Earl x MIKE x SURF GANG collab tracks at the link below.
