Synopsis

Shot in stark black and white, the "Chum" video follows Earl Sweatshirt through a deserted nighttime landscape of empty streets, loading docks and barren lots. He drifts, walks and appears to float through the frame while giant frogs, skull-faced dogs, burning shopping carts and other unsettling images interrupt the performance. The camera repeatedly tilts or turns the world upside down, transforming Earl's already introspective verses about family, identity and alienation into a nocturnal, dreamlike journey through an uneasy inner world.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video premiered on December 4, 2012, the same day Earl announced that his debut studio album would be titled "Doris." It was his first official video since signing with Columbia Records.

• Earl's visual counterpart is a blue frog that appears throughout the clip. The frog was purchased for the shoot and later kept as a pet, with the name Frog Delano Roosevelt, or FDR.

• The production uses practical effects and simple visual manipulation rather than elaborate digital spectacle. Earl was filmed upside down for one sequence, with the footage then inverted to make the surrounding street appear wrong-way-up.

• Earl reportedly referenced a minimalist, one-shot King Krule performance video when discussing the visual approach. That preference helped steer "Chum" away from a conventional rap performance clip.

• The video was produced by Doomsday Entertainment for Columbia Records. Production credits include Jason Colon as producer, Larkin Seiple as director of photography, Isaac Hagy as editor and Max Orgell as art director.

• "Chum" was created during the first three days of sessions for "Doris." Earl recorded his vocals in one take, giving the song's restrained, confessional mood an unusually direct connection to the video.