Earl Sweatshirt's Curation Prowess on Full Display: a Review of the 3L World Tour

Anyone vaguely familiar with Earl Sweatshirt’s discography might not be sold on the idea of seeing him live. Although he’s one of modern rap’s greatest writers, his work has long dealt with heavy, sombre subject matter. In his earlier projects, the then-teenage prodigy laid bare his struggles with anxiety and the psychic toll of growing up in the public eye, while later works offered more layered explorations of depression, loss, and grief. It wouldn’t surprise me if your average concertgoer, seeking a fun night and temporary relief from life’s stresses, was skeptical about seeing an artist with an album titled I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside. 

When the LA artist came to Beanfield Theatre in December for the Montreal stop of the 3L World Tour, however, Earl and his entourage delivered a night far more dynamic than this reputation might suggest. The tour follows the release of Live Laugh Love (LLL), his fifth full-length LP and first as a father and husband. This new chapter seems a positive one for Earl and guides much of the album’s overall tone: optimism, renewed faith, and a sense of inner fulfilment. The album’s energy was palpable on the night and seeped into Earl and co.’s performances.

Montreal’s Mike Shabb kicked off the show. I arrived slightly late but just in time to catch him closing out his set by bringing out his team and fellow Montreal rapper Trapmat Savior, another exciting local up-and-comer to watch. Together, they paraded Haitian flags and thanked the crowd for their support over instrumentals from Shabb’s latest project, an instrumental album titled Melted Faces, v1. It felt like a significant moment: one of Hip Hop’s most universally respected figures in Earl Sweatshirt endorsing not only Shabb, but also Montreal’s bubbling scene and rising status in contemporary rap.

The night continued with sets from the remaining openers, Cletus Strap, Niontay, Zelooperz, and Liv.e. Despite the sonically diverse lineup, from Liv.e’s neo-soul to Zelooperz’s zany experimental raps, the show never felt disjointed.  The sets flowed smoothly, propped up by the artists’ clear friendship and mutual admiration of each other’s work. They drifted in and out of each other’s performances, sharing ad-libs and occasionally acting as voluntary hype men for each other. Throughout it all, Earl hovered discreetly, sometimes popping onstage to help at the DJ decks or to just mouth along to his friends’ lyrics in the background. It didn’t feel like a typical hierarchical opener-headliner sequence, but rather a small community festival hosted by friends.

When Earl finally came out to his instrumental track “Riot!”, the outro of his critically acclaimed 2018 album Some Rap Songs (SRS), he was welcomed by an already jovial crowd. He dove straight into his new material, kicking things off with the first three tracks from LLL, ‘gsw vs sac’, ‘Forge’, and ‘Infatuation’. In doing so, he grounded the mood of the rest of the night in the project’s passion and excitement, feeding into the night’s already energetic spirit.

As a performer, Earl remains part of a seemingly dying breed amongst his contemporaries: he raps all his lyrics live. No backing track to lean on, just a mic, his DJ (producer Black Noi$e), and his voice. While I’m not mad at backing track-reliant performances for artists whose music and shows involve a lot of spectacle, Earl’s music, usually vulnerable and introspective, lends itself far better to his ‘traditional’ MC approach. He captivates crowds through the sincerity with which he raps every lyric, a sincerity he conveys well with his voice and stage presence. Throughout the show, he would occasionally grab the mic with both hands, his eyes closed, almost as if forgetting about the 1000+ fans in front of him and briefly performing for himself. This intimacy is where his strength as a performer lies, and what kept the room reeled in. 

In between songs, Earl would engage the crowd and show his light-hearted side. After performing his 2013 track ‘Molasses’, he jokingly scolded the crowd for reciting its chorus, where Hip Hop legend RZA raps “I’ll fuck the freckles off your face bitch.” “Damn Montreal,” he laughed, “that’s how y’all get down over here? That’s crazy!” It was a self-aware acknowledgement of the shock humour that characterized much of the output from his early Odd Future days, while also showing a clear sense of distance from it.    

While the night centred on LLL, Earl also performed cuts from his catalogue like the Alchemist-produced “E.Coli” and SRS fan favourite, “The Mint”. Both drew some of the loudest responses of the night as the room rapped every lyric word for word. He initially closed with LLL’s outro “exhaust”, but when he walked off stage, Beanfield erupted into cries of “Olé, Olé, Olé” – which I learned was not just a soccer chant but also Montreal’s version of calling for an encore. Earl obliged, returning to perform another fan favourite in “Power”, sending the crowd into its final frenzy and rounding off a concert that was, from start to finish, a warm, upbeat affair.