Rappers Earl Sweatshirt and MIKE teamed up with producer group SURF GANG to release the 33-song double album “POMPEII // UTILITY” on April 3. On the project, MIKE leads the charge with the first 15 songs while Earl supplies the last 18 songs.
SURF GANG co-founders Harrison and Evilgiane handled the bulk of the album’s production. They crafted the instrumental landscape of “POMPEII // UTILITY” to be an ethereal mix of thumping 808s, abundant hi-hats and lethargic melodies — the signature SURF GANG sound.
Earl and MIKE — both decade-long rap veterans — found overlap in their artistic growth on the project. They synchronize their performances with hazy lyricism that, at times, borderlines on cryptic and delivers drowsy vocals that blend seamlessly with SURF GANG’s dream-like production. Their stoner machismo shines through gritty beats to etch a piece as expressive as the album’s artwork, done by ceramic artist Sharif Farrag.
For the first batch of singles — released on March 9 — the four collaborators paired off. Evilgiane laid down a bassy instrumental with the help of Pentagrvm on “Minty” for MIKE to give an uncharacteristically staccato performance. Harrison produced a synth-driven ambient track on “Earth” for Earl to explore his burgeoning mumble-rap style. With the singles came a shared music video for both songs.
Before the conception of “POMPEII // UTILITY,” Earl, MIKE and SURF GANG had a brief shared history. MIKE employed Harrison’s production in 2024 on the song “Belly 1.” In 2022, Earl collaborated with Evilgiane to produce “Making The Band (Danity Kane).” In both instances, the decision to work with SURF GANG noted a departure from the rappers’ typical sound.
In more recent years, Earl has strayed from the introspective and morbid lyrics that once defined him, as heard on the albums “Some Rap Songs” and “FEET OF CLAY.” He has instead opted for more casual, braggadocious lyricism as exemplified by “VOIR DIRE” and “Live Laugh Love.” Yet, Earl has dived deeper into the experimental beats that have been a constant throughout his career.
The same goes for MIKE who, since his debut album “MAY GOD BLESS YOUR HUSTLE,” has been known for utilizing chopped, innovative beatmaking and contemplative lyrics. MIKE has since eased up on his subject matter and found the same typical rap charisma with albums like “Burning Desire” and “Showbiz!.”
Enter “POMPEII // UTILITY” — a complete pivot for both Earl and MIKE, essentially giving them each full bodies of work backed by the backbone of underground rap, SURF GANG. Both artists rarely dedicate entire projects to one producer. However, they each made an exception to work with legendary producer The Alchemist on collaboration albums. Aside from that, only MIKE has endeavored into other collaborations, spending two albums with Tony Seltzer on “Pinball” in 2024 and “Pinball II” in 2025.
As for the inter-rapper relationship, Earl and MIKE have had their fair share of collaborative work. Excluding the pair of songs from this album, the two have tallied six songs together: 2024’s “On God,” 2025’s “Jumanji,” 2023’s “plz don’t cut my wings,” Niontay’s 2023 “Real hiphop,” 2020’s “allstar” and 2023’s The Alchemist-produced “Sentry.”
Despite having 33 opportunities, Earl, MIKE and SURF GANG only appear on two songs together throughout the entire project. The first, “Leadbelly” was released as a single this year in March and appears on Earl’s half of the album. The second, “Kirkland,” comes in at track 13 on MIKE’s half and was released with the rest of the album.
Instead, MIKE dedicated his feature slots to spotlight artists under his label 10k.global. Of his five features, three are his labelmates: rapper and producer Jadasea, singer, producer and drummer Anysia Kym, and rapper, producer and model Niontay.
The only feature aside from MIKE to appear on Earl’s portion is Lerado Khalil, a rapper who in 2025 had his own collaboration album with SURF GANG.
That being the case, the majority of “POMPEII // UTILITY” ends up being Earl and MIKE experimenting independently with the unfamiliar SURF GANG sound. On “THE POPE,” MIKE tries his hand at ad-libbing, a popular rap technique that is largely absent from his music. On “Hot Water (Cahuilla)” Earl gives his version of off-beat rapping. At times, their experimentation can be so unpolished that it resembles a demo-tape.
Nonetheless, “POMPEII // UTILITY” proves to be a stark change for the rappers and possibly signals a new era for the two. This comes at a time of increased collaboration in hip-hop — a genre that has been slipping from the mainstream.
Still, within this trend, Earl has maintained a steady fan base since his beginning with Odd Future in the early 2010s. MIKE, now with his 10k Global team, has garnered his own blooming fanbase with his most substantial growth occurring in the 2020s.
In the week leading up to the album’s release, the group hosted three secret shows whose location, date and RSVPs were hidden on their website. On March 25, they played in Los Angeles, followed by an April 1 show in New York and a London show on the release date, April 3.
Earl, MIKE and Harrison will be embarking on a global tour with stops in Australia, North America and Europe. The tour starts in April and ends in September with varying supporting acts throughout. Fans in Southern California can catch them in Riverside on June 9 or Los Angeles on June 10.
Griffin Chan is an Arts & Entertainment Staff Writer. He can be reached at griffilc@uci.edu.
Edited by Jocelyn Cosgrove and Tracy Sandoval
