— Earl Sweatshirt, MIKE, and SURF GANG release their double album POMPEII // UTILITY via 10k/Tan Cressida/SURF GANG Records.
A long-rumored, coveted collaboration between two friends who happen to be two of the most critically celebrated rappers in the game and renowned producer collective SURF GANG, the double album is a capstone on the musical community they’ve cultivated over the last decade. From top to bottom, there was a clear concerted effort to keep every angle of the project within the family. All of the art for this project, from single covers to the album cover, is pulled from work by sculptor and Earl Sweatshirt’s childhood friend, Sharif Farrag.
Over the past week, Earl, MIKE and SURF GANG have shut down intimate venues in LA and New York City for two secret shows they unveiled via a scavenger hunt on their website last month. The third and final secret show will take place tonight in London, ahead of their Home on the Range tour in support of the album, which kicks off in June. The official Home on the Range tour will include 26 US stops beginning June 9th in Riverside, before taking it overseas to Europe. MIKE and Earl Sweatshirt also announced a series of Australian and New Zealand tour dates in May, including a show at Sydney Opera House as part of Vivid LIVE Festival. Tickets are on sale at the official POMPEII // UTILITY website and you can find the full run of tour dates, with support on select dates from Niontay, Cletus Strap, Anysia Kym, Na-Kel Smith, Lerado Khalil, Lisha G., C.FRIM and Chef Chung.
Structured as a double-sided album with MIKE on one side (POMPEII) and Earl on the other (UTILITY), SURF GANG’s Harrison, evilgiane, Elipropperr, and Flea Diamonds lace an animated and frenetic framework through the project with their production, resulting in a full-circle collision of worlds that was inevitable. POMPEII // UTILITY translates those nuanced differences between MIKE, Earl & SURF GANG into a singular language of their own, evoking a shared ethos of collaboration and community-building rather than a transactional exercise. The producer collective’s distinctly online, manic song structures give MIKE & Earl a new opportunity to fold their shared propensity for coded, meditative verses into the larger community they’ve built through their friendship since MIKE first caught the world’s, and Earl’s, attention in 2016, ahead of his cult classic 2017 album MAY GOD BLESS YOUR HUSTLE. In the years since, the pair have tallied notable collaborations like “allstar” on MIKE’s 2020 album weight of the world, and “Sentry” on Earl Sweatshirt and The Alchemist’s collab album VOIR DIRE.
Upcoming Live Dates
4/24 – Mexico City, MX @ Foro Indie Rocks
5/22 – Auckland NZ @ Studio The Venue ¢
5/23 – Melbourne VIC @ Timberyard ¢ &
5/24 – Sydney SYD @ Sydney Opera House Vivid Live
5/27 – Brisbane QLD @ Tivoli ¢ &
6/9 – Riverside, CA @ Riverside Municipal Auditorium $ %
6/10 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium $ %
6/12 – Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre $ %
6/13 – Albuquerque, NM @ Historic El Rey Theatre $ %
6/15 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex $ %
6/16 – Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom $ !
6/18 – Kansas City, MO @ The Truman $ !
6/19 – Omaha, NE @ The Admiral Theatre $ !
6/20 – Madison, WI @ The Sylvee $ !
6/22 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave $ !
6/23 – St. Louis, MO @ The Hawthorn $ ?
6/24 – Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room @ ONC $ ?
6/26 – Cleveland, OH @ Rock & Rock Hall of Fame $ ?
6/27 – Columbus, OH @ KEMBA Live! $ ?
6/28 – Cincinnati, OH @ Bogarts $ ?
6/30 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Roxian Theatre $ @
7/1 – Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom $ @
7/2 – South Deerfield, MA @ Summerstage at Tree House Brewing $ @
7/7 – Providence, RI @ The Strand Ballroom $ @
7/8 – New York, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount $ @
7/9 – Baltimore, MD @ Nevermore Hall $ +
7/13 – Richmond, VA @ The National $ +
7/14 – Norfolk, VA @ The NorVa $ +
7/15 – Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore CLT $ +
7/17 – Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz $ +
7/18 – Myrtle Beach, SC @ House of Blues Myrtle Beach $ +
8/7 – Katowice, Poland – OFF Festival €
8/21 – Hasselt, Belgium @ Pukkelpop
8/22 – Salisbury, UK – We Out Here £
8/25 – Glasgow, UK – o2 Academy Glasgow $
8/26 – Dublin, Ireland – Vicar Street $
8/27 – Paris, France – Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection £
8/28 – Nottingham, UK – Rock City $
8/29 – London, UK – All Points East £
8/31 – London, UK – o2 Forum Kentish Town $
9/2 – Bristol, UK – Prospect Building $
9/3 – Brighton, UK – Brighton Dome $
9/5 – Salisbury, UK – End Of The Road Festival
9/6 – Paris, France – Elysee Montmartre $
9/8 – Tilburg, Netherlands – 013 Poppodium $
$ – with harrison (SURF GANG)
€ – Earl Sweatshirt only
£ – MIKE only with The Band of the Century
¢ – with C.FRIM
& – with Chef Chung
% with Na-Kel Smith
! with Cletus Strap
? with Lerado Khalil
@ with Anysia Kym
+ with Niontay