Mavi just dropped his first 2025 single, and Earl Sweatshirt is on it.
This new track, called Landgrab, is only the second time Mavi and Earl have worked together, after their “El Toro Combo Meal” collab back in 2019. For the first time ever, Mavi’s single actually features another rapper, and Hollywood Cole handled the production while Jesse Fox Hallen made the music video.
“It makes sense that Thebe [Kgositsile aka Earl Sweatshirt] is the first rap feature, as I’m forming into a new shape of Mavi, doing a bunch of stuff for the first time,” Mavi explained. “Earl was the first person to bring me out in a collaborative way, so it feels like, as I’m entering this new paradigm, I want him to accompany me through that door as he did before.” Sometimes, artists just know who should walk with them into a new chapter.
Fans think it’s cool when artists try new things with their music.
Mavi also shared, “My first few projects served as something like the preface to my story of me entering young adulthood and this industry, learning my powers in terms of rap, art, and business. Now, I’m manipulating the forces in a different way, having a lot more fun, with a lot more collaboration coming soon.” The way he talks, it sounds like he’s leveling up and just enjoying the process.
Last year, Mavi put out his album Shadowbox. If you want to read more about him, there’s a profile called “Mavi Is Making Introverted Rap for Black Liberation.”
