One of the more unlikely people to be playing a headlining slot at Coachella, albeit on a small stage on Friday night, is Odd Future’s Earl Sweatshirt. But that doesn’t mean that anyone who has been following the rapper’s colorful career should be in the least bit surprised.

Born Thebe Neruda Kgositsile in Los Angeles, the 19-year-old has been a fixture in the L.A. hip-hop scene for some time. After he was first discovered by Odd Future impresario Tyler, The Creator through his old MySpace account (the name he went by was Sly Tendencies) when he was only 15, Sweatshirt appeared on Odd Future mixtapes, even releasing his debut, Earl, as a free download on Odd Future’s website. It seemed like he was on the fast track to rap superstardom, until things screeched to a halt.

In 2010, Sweatshirt literally disappeared from the L.A. scene and stopped making music with Odd Future. He ended up at Coral Reef Academy, a therapeutic retreat school for at-risk boys in Samoa. In an extensive (and honestly a terrific piece) in the New York Times, Sweatshirt explained that he was sent halfway around the world by his law professor mother not because of his music or even his semi controversial lyrical content (at least as controversial as a kid his age could get) but because he was getting into trouble. Was it a bit extreme to send him so far away? That’s not for me to say because I’m not a parent or his parent, but after two years abroad, rumors were abundant that Sweatshirt returned to Los Angeles in early 2012.

Those rumors were confirmed when a snippet of a new song of his appeared on YouTube, with the promise that it would be released if he hit 50,000 followers on Twitter. Lo behold, his supporters rallied together and hit that mark, thus new material was released and he was off. He began to show up on Odd Future releases, beginning with The OF Tape Vol. 2 and appeared with the group at their show in New York in March of that year. He also appeared on OF member Frank Ocean’s channel Orange on the track “Super Rich Kids.” If that doesn’t provide enough of an outline or show Sweatshirt’s pedigree, nothing else will.

With his anticipated follow up Doris set to be released sometime this year, Sweatshirt has the music world excited about what’s to come. Judging by the runaway solo success by Odd Future members, it’s easy to see what the fuss is about. But Sweatshirt may be the most talented of the bunch, and that’s saying something.