Earl Sweatshirt, a nineteen-year-old m.c., is one of the most notable members of the Odd Future hip-hop collective, a loose alliance based in Los Angeles, who began releasing music for free on their Tumblr, in 2009, when they were all teen-agers. Earl, born Thebe Neruda Kgositsile, was recognized early on as the most gifted m.c. of the group, and his major-label début, “Doris,” comes out this week. He is an exceptionally good rapper, talented enough to overcome the threatening, offensive mojo that Odd Future has spent years conjuring. The group’s style is manic, confrontational, profane, and irrefutably smart; sometimes, it seems as if the group were dedicated to reinforcing the historical idea of the teen-ager as a . . .
