Shirt, formerly known as T.Shirt, is an American rapper and conceptual artist based in Queens, New York City. He is known for the music that is a blend of rap music, appropriation and performance art. Shirt has produced works of writing, video, painting, public installations and performances around the world, as well as made internet art and produced clothing. He released his debut album, Wild Thing, in 2009. In 2018, Shirt released an album titled Pure Beauty, produced in partnership with the independent label Third Man Records run by Jack White of The White Stripes. Pure Beauty was met with positive reviews from Pitchfork, The Guardian and Loud and Quiet.
Music career
2009-2012
Shirt released his first album Wild Thing online in 2009. His second album, Tan-Face Children, was released in 2010. In a press release for the announcement of Tan-Face Children, the 8-track EP executive produced by Shirt and Darvin Silva, was described as being inspired by the Walt Whitman poem "Pioneers! O Pioneers!".
In 2011, Shirt released the album I Should Just Chill, leading with the single "Ode To Raekwon," which received the stamp of approval from Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon.
Shirt's fourth studio album, The Fuck, was released in 2012. HipHopDX gave the album 4 out of 5 stars and lauded its "rich production full of beating drums and haunting high-end melodies." A hard drive containing studio sessions from the album was purportedly lost before its release. A single from the album, titled "Southside Phantom," produced by Maker, was featured on HBO's Silicon Valley soundtrack.
2013-2015
The album titled Rap was released on February 12, 2014 with no warning. The thirty-minute album plays as one long track, and is available free on the artist's SoundCloud page. The album titled MUSEUM was released in 2015 and was available for a limited time on the artist's website.
In 2015, Shirt released his fifth album, Records. The album consisted of a collection of previously released songs such as "Bengal Tiger" (2015) and "Cuba (2015)," as well as new songs that explored Shirt's romantic relationships, friendships, and further bouts of introspection.
Shirt released the 6-track EP, Rap Money, to digital streaming services in 2015, a week after Records. The Chicago-based indie label, Closed Sessions, signed on to distribute the work, making Shirt the label's first non-Chicago based artist to release music with the CS stamp of approval. The EP features fellow Queens-native recording artists Nina Sky on the song "Let It Go."
2016-2018
On February 9, 2018, Shirt and Third Man Records released Pure Beauty to digital streaming platforms. The project's lead single, titled "Flight Home" was produced by San Holo and released with the announcement that Shirt would be the first rapper to sign to Jack White's record label. The album received mixed reviews. Pitchfork cited the opening track "Snowbeach" as filled with "the same street-smart, razor-sharp flow that Raekwon himself perfected on the fabled "Purple Tape" and gave the record a 6.3 out of 10 rating. London's Loud and Quiet gave the record an 8/10 saying it was "triumphant work over neo-boom bap beats and immaculate samples" and likened the breadth of Shirt's catalog as part Kanye West, part Nas and Jay-Z.