Earl Sweatshirt finally found his way to the Tonight Show stage Monday night to promote his new album Sick!, performing the not-quite-nostalgic single “2010.” Ironically, it was just after 2010 that Earl’s rabble-rousing crew Odd Future first made their own television debut on The Tonight Show (albeit minus Earl, who had been shipped off to boarding school in Samoa by his protective mother for his troublemaking activities), menacing host Jimmy Fallon and the audience in a performance Questlove was sure would get the show canceled altogether.
Fortunately, it wasn’t canceled, leaving the path clear for Earl to make his own appearance a little over a decade later. While his performance this time was much more self-contained, with just Earl, his DJ, and the projections on the screen behind him, Earl proves to be sufficient by himself to capture and hold the audience’s attention as he narrates the tumultuous time that led to his absence when Odd Future took over with their unique brand of anti-establishment chaos.
Watch Earl Sweatshirt’s Tonight Show performance of “2010” above and catch earl on the NBA Leather World Tour with Action Bronson and The Alchemist.
Sick! is out now via Warner Records.
Earl Sweatshirt is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
