Hip-hop duo EarthGang are out to make fantasy a reality. On their first independent album, defiantly released on Tuesday, Oct. 29, the duo of Olu and Dot usher in a bold new era of creative freedom that gives a middle finger to music industry rules.
In Perfect Fantasy, ATL meets Tokyo to create "Tokyolanta." EarthGang plays with funk and R&B, steering clear of the hard-and-fast rules of hip-hop or Atlanta’s regional sound. The album art echoes retro-futuristic Japanese pop culture — katakana script, vibrant arcade aesthetics and anime-style character designs — and EarthGang generally celebrates the ways Japanese culture makes life’s seriousness beautiful.
The theme of finding lightness in life’s weightier moments is at the heart of Perfect Fantasy. Self-reflective tracks like "Goldy" are introspective, while preserving the duo’s signature wit and energy. Elsewhere, "Osmosis" and "Deep Blue" featuring Little Dragon dip into weighty, esoteric lyrics over a richly layered psychedelic soundscape.
When asked how they marry introspection with humor, EarthGang explain that their lyrics resonate because they’re hilariously real, mutterings you hear "with your homies over a drink, a blunt, or a game." They’re no strangers to humor: EarthGang hosted the first-ever Punchanella comedy night at Raleigh, North Carolina's Dreamville Fest this year.
Perfect Fantasy blends fresh and familiar tracks, including pieces like "Osmosis," "Put in Work," and "Blacklight" from their EPs ROBOPHOBIA and RIP HUMAN ART. Together, these projects question societal norms and technology’s place in our lives, ultimately leaning into an Afrofuturistic perspective: What does a better future look like for ATLiens, EarthGang themselves, and society as a whole?
Among the album standouts tackling these questions is "Zone" (featuring Eric Bellinger), a sonically rich track that blends funk and soul with lyrics that examine mortality and relationships. On "The Wave," gospel-inspired production is fused with modern, distorted vocals, where tradition meets technology.
Learn more: Artists Who Define Afrofuturism In Music: Sun Ra, Flying Lotus, Janelle Monae, Shabaka Hutchings & More
While this era of creative freedom represents a step away from convention, industry titans including Pharrell (who features on "U Gotta"), T-Pain, and Eric Bellinger have championed EarthGang’s journey. This new chapter reflects the duo’s dedication to exploring their passions individually and as a pair, with Dot diving into comics and comedy, and Olu celebrating his journey as a newly certified yoga instructor.
GRAMMY.com caught up with Olu and Dot of EarthGang to chat about Perfect Fantasy, their thoughts on AI, the best of Japan, and lessons in growth and creativity they've discovered over the past year. This cultural synergy will continue with EarthGang's show in Japan on Dec. 5th, bringing ATL to Shibuya, where they also filmed the "U Gotta" video. The duo is also set to embark on a European tour in 2025, hitting Stockholm, Oslo, Berlin, and more, with "Tokyolanta" on full display.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
EarthGang is doing things differently with Perfect Fantasy, your first independently released album. What led to the decision to go independent, and why release it on a Tuesday? Tyler, The Creator recently did an "off cycle" release; was this approach more about the timing for you, or is there a broader message?
Olu: Both came from us wanting to get back to delivering for our fanbase. The goal of a major label is to get you as far and widespread as possible, and sometimes, that delays how quickly things can happen. Sometimes, you want to hit your core [audience] and make wildfires spread without all the noise.
Dot: The whole approach to the project — from the creation to the delivery to the packaging to the rollout — has been all about a sense of no rules and getting back to the feeling. We're from the era of kids pirating and stealing music, people just adding stuff to SoundCloud; a no-rules environment has led to the best music, discovery, and experience.
Since the pandemic, many things that were just trends [in music] have become rules — the way you have to make reels deliver on Friday. We were like, f— all those rules. The style of music is different from mainstream hip-hop; we just wanted to go completely left with everything.
Across this album and your EPs EarthGang vs. The Algorithm: RIP Human Art and Robophobia, there are recurring themes of questioning the status quo and exploring connections between AI, technology, and the human condition. AI and other contemporary technologies are major cultural discussions right now, but why has this become such a focus in your recent releases?
Olu: It’s affecting everybody, and like Doc said, the people who made those rules on how to create and make content have realized we’re not following them anymore, so now we’re training the robots, AI, to follow those rules since we’re not. AI content and algorithms are putting all kinds of stuff in your feed, in your face, that we’re not even interested in, and you end up distracted. Staying aware of that and making cool art about it is important.
Art should challenge the status quo and keep people curious about what’s happening around us. The beauty of being human is creating and coming up with cool things from our experiences — why are we taking that out of the equation?
The project, especially "Flavors of Karma" and "Godly," exudes a sense of spirituality and self-awareness. The music has a clear depth and consciousness, but it never feels preachy — it still carries that fun, energetic tone EarthGang is known for. How do you balance diving into profound, maybe even esoteric, themes while maintaining the vibrancy that defines your sound?
Dot: One of the best ways to be profound is not to think you’re profound — just have a conversation like you would with your homies over a drink, a blunt, or a game. When being profound becomes your identity, you lose the potency of the wisdom. It’s really about staying as true to your experience as possible.
Olu: Find the laughter in life. When we listen back to our songs, they’re just a random stream of jokes about life. I could laugh at his bars all day, and he could laugh at mine. It’s hilarious because it’s real. Some things we say might be very profound or spiritual to some people, and to others, it’s like, "These dudes are zany; they’re crazy." That’s why comedians have that special something — they’re going to say the truest things.
Do you feel EarthGang fits within the "conscious rap" label? This project reminds me of A Tribe Called Quest — it’s witty on the surface, but it’s really just life reflected in the music.
Dot: I have a theory that conscious rap is based on the drum selection. From my experience with DJing, you can take certain vocals and put them over trap drums, and it feels like a whole different type of song. If you listen to certain songs by Gucci Mane, especially his older tracks, he’s saying some real stuff — it’s just "conscious" hip-hop without the boom-bap beat. I can’t say Gucci Mane isn’t conscious; he’s got a big mind. He’s a smart dude, coming from the South with an accent and some trap drums, and y’all hear it in a different way.
Olu: One of my favorite songs by Project Pat is "This Life We Live." He says, "Gotta take the good with the bad, smile with the sad, love what you got, and remember what you had." That’s conscious to me. At the end of the day, I don’t look at music in those categories; I’m more concerned if someone is saying some real s—. You have to be conscious to make self-reflective music like this.
EarthGang's sound and efforts through the EarthGang Foundation, which focuses on climate justice, are undeniably part of the Afrofuturistic tradition. How are you using the nonprofit to envision and create a better city for ATLiens?
Olu: We're on a lil' Wakanda with our foundation. With our emphasis on climate change through the foundation, we want to put the experts in touch with the people who care and can make an impact. We're a conduit to share information, tools, and resources to help others imagine what they want this world to be.
EarthGang aren't the experts; we're not sitting around telling people this is what they should be doing. We're saying that there are people who have imagined what a healthy, sustainable future should look like, and we're empowering them.
What other messages do you think EarthGang serves as a conduit for throughout this album and across your discography?
Olu: Freedom of expression. If you're an artist or not, if you can't find a way to express yourself, be yourself, and be seen and appreciated by the people around you as you are, then you're living like a shell of yourself. In all our music and creative outputs, we want to emphasize that you are enough as you are, so go ahead and express that.
Let's talk about "Imagine," which closes the album. It feels like you’re looking ahead personally while envisioning a better collective future. What emotions or realizations influenced "Imagine," and how do they echo the journey EarthGang is taking?
Dot: Dealing with real loss, like close family members and breakups...
Olu: Not just romantic breakups, but friendships changing, people growing apart, and new people coming into your lives. It’s those moments where you realize you’re growing. Over the past four years, people have been forced to grow and reflect in the public eye since the pandemic and with social media. You have to find the right way to put words and creativity behind that to make it relatable and digestible. This album is that growth.
I'm stepping into a more creative and secure space. We've been in the public eye, and our personalities shine; people appreciate that. Now, we can focus more and put that energy into other endeavors like comics and our foundation's work, getting back to all the things we loved to do as kids rather than the fanfare of being an artist. We're taking a step back from the fluff.
Dot, you recently hosted the first-ever Punchanela comedy night and are working on a comic book series. How have these endeavors influenced your creative vision across these projects, and what can we expect from the comic book series?
Dot: What’s funny is, our whole career, we’ve known people in the comedy space. I’ve always been interested in comedy and storytelling and hope to launch a comic by the end of next year. One thing I love about venturing into any new art form is the opportunity to experience a learning curve. I appreciate recognizing the muscle and mind memory that I’m gaining. I’m learning that I appreciate the rough parts of any journey. It reminds me of when we first started doing music and doing open mics. They weren’t always great, but the experience was. Comedy, for me, is the purest art form; it is what it is. The more honest it is, the better it does
The promo for Perfect Fantasy includes many references to Japanese culture, and you have a show in Japan this December. If you look left and right on your IG timeline, you’ll see many young Black people traveling to Japan. What’s driving your interest in Japanese culture, and why are we culturally so animated by it?
Olu: Japanese culture finds a way to make the seriousness of life beautiful, funny, and creative. If you go over there, you’ll quickly see that these are people who consider the small things; they’re very orderly. Everything makes sense. But creatively, they're all over the place. You have Harajuku culture. Then you go to nine-level arcades, you’ve got samurai culture, and then Japanese lo-fi with vinyl and stuff.
Creatively, they do whatever they want; there are no rules, and we're akin to that. We see that in Atlanta, too. When you go to Atlanta, you see Black people — but so many different types of Black people. People go to Atlanta and don’t know what to make of it; it’s so much going on creatively.
Japan meets Atlanta is the theme of this era. We went and shot the "U Gotta" video there; we spent five days in Japan shooting content. If you’re going to Japan for the first time, you have to go to the arcades and shop for the flyest fashion at great prices.
The production on this project — especially on tracks like "Red Flag" and "Zone" — presents a funkier and more soulful vibe. While you’ve always pushed genre boundaries, this seems like a departure from the sound of GHETTO GODS. What led you to explore the R&B, soul, and funk pocket more deeply for this project?
Dot: Honestly, if I hear a good beat, I just hop on it. I know that's not the most artistic answer, but if it makes me feel good, it will get some vocal treatment and a message out of me. I become a vessel once the movement is there.
When I first heard the beat for "Red Flag," it sounded like a country song, but who says R&B and country are really different? All these genre lines are based on race anyway. These beats were just wavy waves, and we wanted to wave with them.
On this album, you have production from Pharell, and features from Little Dragon, Eric Bellinger, and Snoop Dogg, but this is your second meeting of the minds with T-Pain on "Love You More." What draws you back to him as a collaborator, and how do you feel your sounds complement each other?
Olu: He has the most fun. He's super professional, but he's like a kid. He approaches it with the joy and curiosity of a kid, and That's what we always connect on. We get to do stuff that's crazy, and say 'fuck it" and try new things.
Let’s talk about yoga and your journey for a bit, Olu. Is there a song from the project that you’ve incorporated into your practice or feels particularly fitting for a flow?
Olu: Everybody's got a yogi in them. When you said that our lyrics were profound, it’s just us enjoying our self-awareness discovery. And that’s all yoga is — coming back to yourself. You don’t have to be somebody who does a flow every day, or you don’t have to have 500 hours to be considered a yogi; you just have to have a certain level of self-awareness that you’re tapping into. This industry is tough for me, especially when you’re so focused on creating and getting to the next step. Sometimes, you just don’t invest that much time back into yourself.
My journey started by saying, I’ve done enough for EarthGang and EarthGang fans over the last ten years; let me just focus on myself right now. We have so many songs that could be in a yoga flow — the "Deep Blue" record with Little Dragon, a lot of stuff from the Spilligion project, songs from Strays with Rabies, like "Masterpiece" you can do a flow to, and "A New Negro Spiritual."
As you reflect on Perfect Fantasy, what affirmation comes to mind that captures what you want listeners to take away from the experience?
Dot: Trusting in yourself. This project is big on us trusting in ourselves, doubling down on ourselves, and being doubt-free. Giving your all is more than enough; you just haven’t reached the end of it yet.
Olu: It’s about fully committing. Who cares if it works out? I gave it my all. That comes from the confidence in believing you’re more than enough—your creativity matters; your knowledge matters. Create the life you want.