By DCist Contributor Dalton Vogler. All photos by Alex Schelldorf.

“Earl ain’t coming out tonight if ya’ll keep acting like this.”

Queens rapper Remy Banks wasn’t the first opener to playfully question the crowd’s energy level at the Fillmore Sunday evening, nor would he be the last. But the headliner’s challenge was much more direct than what Earl Sweatshirt would later announce.

Earl was originally slated to perform in D.C. in April, following the release of his third LP, I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside – but had to to postpone six tour stops due to illness and some necessary recovery time.

You can’t fault Earl Sweatshirt for being who he is.

Nearly four months later, Earl made his return to Silver Spring to a mostly packed crowd with four other rappers in tow. Fredericksburg local Cane kicked things off, blending a mix of the past and present with turntables and a MacBook to demonstrate how the creative process behind hip-hop works.

Silver Spring native Awthentik followed and lit into the rap industry on “Take a Bow,” calling out a plethora of rappers from Meek Mill to Lil Wayne and Drake. Then Remy Banks took the stage, delivering rapid-fire lyrics that incited a mosh pit, as well as a commendable a capella bit towards the end of his set.

The final opening act came to us courtesy of Los Angeles, a collaborating duo by the name of NxWorries (Anderson Paak and Knxwledge). Paak displayed an effortless blend of R+B vocals and quick-witted rapping set to the warm, reverberating beats of Knxwledge. It was a uniquely creative performance that served as a genre palette cleanser for what was to come.

“You’re doing a hell of a good job D.C., I respect that.”

That’s all the audience heard from Earl before he immediately dove into the set with two tracks from Doris, his second album. Unlike most rappers, Earl Sweatshirt isn’t known for hype-building tracks that involve glossy samples. I Don’t Like Shit finds the rapper experimenting with increasingly minimalist instrumentation.

Some argue that brilliant headphone albums don’t translate well on tour—Earl manages to avoid all that with outrageous energy at every performance, as if each show might be his last. Alongside his hype-man (and sporadic Odd Future collaborator) Nakel Smith, Earl kept the set fresh with stunning a capellas, an impromptu DJ set, and multiple end-of-song dance-offs.

But some tracks have an unignorable heaviness that suspended the audience in melancholy. His delivery speed and beats crawled along, while Earl paced around the stage exploring the intricate lyrics of his troubled past. On “Burgundy”, Earl raps “My grandma’s passing / But I’m too busy tryna get this fuckin’ album cracking to see her / So I apologize in advance if anything should happen.”

It’s this kind of scathing edge where Earl’s at his best, unabashedly presenting his true self without manufacturing a front. There’s no act here—and in the end it’s this quality that makes his shows some of the most raw, rewarding, and ultimately enjoyable events in modern hip-hop.

Filed Under: click click, Earl Sweatshirt, Fillmore, Remy Banks, vince staples,