I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside: An Album by Earl Sweatshirt

Release and promotion

On March 16, 2015, the album pre-order appeared on the iTunes Store without prior announcement, in part due to an error by Sony Music Entertainment. On March 17, 2015, Earl released a music video for the song "Grief". The full album was digitally released on March 23, 2015, and the physical version was released later on April 14, 2015. On August 7, 2015, Sweatshirt released an animated music video for the song "Off Top".

Critical reception

I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside: An Album by Earl Sweatshirt received widespread acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album has received an average score of 81, based on 31 reviews. David Jeffries of AllMusic said, "I Don't Like Shit is heavy and lacks much hope, and yet it communicates these feelings with such skill and artful understanding that it still fills the soul." Randall Roberts of Los Angeles Times said, "Within these sparse, Rothko-esque works the artist dedicates deep, unflinching energy to documenting and hopefully exorcising his woes (or at least understanding them), delivering lines with wondrous cadence, zipping with a sing-song musicality that illuminates what surrounds it." Winston Cook-Wilson of Pitchfork said, "Earl is carefully whittling away at the proclivities he's always had, remaining confident that he'll light upon something that feels fresh and honest. So far, he's right."

In a positive review for Exclaim!, Erin Lowers praised Earl's "raw and honest" look at both sides of success. Tshepo Mokoena of The Guardian said, "The album staggers by quickly, making it easy to miss a lacerating line here or clever double entendre there. In that respect, it lends itself well to multiple listens." Eric Diep of HipHopDX said, "His self-expression is supported by an album mostly produced by him (a.k.a.. randomblackdude) and Left Brain, where the entire production is minimal, dark and contains rare interludes. It's the glue that holds all his confessions and retrospective bars together." Devon Fisher of PopMatters said, "There's usually only so much of the Odd Future aesthetic one can take before the darkness becomes overwhelming, and so a sub-40 minute runtime is perfect. Never in any danger of overstaying his welcome, Kgositsile shows an overall maturity on Outside that suggests great things in his future." Don Dolan of Rolling Stone said, "It's amazing that music so claustrophobic can be this engrossing."

Evan Rytlewski of The A.V. Club said, "At just under a half hour, it's even more understated than its predecessor, with fewer guests, almost no outside producers, less variety—less everything, really. That may sound like a downgrade, but it's not, since here the anti-spectacle becomes a kind of spectacle of its own, as Earl tests how far his music can retreat into itself." Rachel Chesbrough of XXL said, "Nothing is forced in his rhymes; his lyricism is so dense and acrobatic that his freestyle vibe is all the more impressive." Ernest Wilkins of Complex said, "Self-produced almost entirely under the moniker randomblackdude, I Don't Go Outside is a minefield of gloomy thumpers. Nothing stands out to the point of distinction sonically, but that might be the point." Louis Pattison of NME said, "The little dude is a poet. Still, at a relatively lean 30 minutes, it's hard to argue this is a heavyweight album."

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 12 on the Billboard 200, selling 30,000 copies. It was the seventh highest selling album in the United States that week.

Track listing

Notes

Samples credits