A mainstay of Chicago's juke/footwork scene, DJ Earl is a member of the Teklife collective along with genre pioneers DJ Spinn, DJ Gant-Man, and the late DJ Rashad. Like those artists, his tracks combine jittery uptempo rhythms and heavy bass with manipulated soul, jazz, and hip-hop samples. He has numerous hard-edged tracks which celebrate drugs and sex, but he also has more reflective, ambient moments. He's produced abstract hip-hop with artists like Nick Hook, Wiki, and Aakeem Eshu. His lengthy discography includes numerous singles and EPs, as well as the official full-lengths Open Your Eyes (2016) and Bass + Funk Soul (2020).

Earl began participating in dance battles in 2005, and started making music in 2008 after meeting Rashad and Spinn. He joined their Ghettoteknitianz collective, appearing on their eponymous 12" EP and Bangs Works, Vol. 2, both released by Planet Mu in 2011. He released numerous digital albums and EPs, including collaborations with Heavee and DJ Manny. Ghettoteknitianz morphed into Teklife, and Earl appeared on Rashad's acclaimed 2013 album Double Cup (Hyperdub), in addition to releasing his debut 12" EP Blue Summer (on Lil Pitch) that year. Following Rashad's untimely death in 2014, Earl appeared on Teklife's Next Life tribute compilation, as well as two of Hyperdub's tenth anniversary compilations. He also collaborated with Lee Bannon and fellow Teklifers DJ Paypal and DJ Taye. In 2016, Teklife released Rashad's Afterlife (which Earl contributed to), as well as Earl's Open Your Eyes LP, which included collaborations with Oneohtrix Point Never, Moondoctor, and Suzi Analogue, in addition to cover art by Shepard Fairey. Earl also released a cassette EP on Analogue's Never Normal Records, and the two collaborated under the name WORKFLOWW.

In 2017, Earl collaborated with Nick Hook on the Fool's Gold-issued experimental hip-hop album 50 Backwoods, which included appearances from Wiki and MeLo-X. Earl's digital album W3rk Dat appeared on Never Normal in 2018, and he continued issuing archival collections as well as newer material. Black Dobson, a collaboration with rapper Aakeem Eshu, appeared in 2020. Earl's second LP, Bass + Funk Soul, was released by Moveltraxx in 2020, with a deluxe edition appearing online the following year. Teklife issued his limited flexi-disc single "Bass Hittin" in 2021. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi