Watch Earl Sweatshirt Bring “2010” to ‘Fallon’
After releasing his fourth album Sick!, Earl Sweatshirt appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to perform “2010”.
On Monday, Earl Sweatshirt made a post-Sick! appearance on The Tonight Show to perform album cut “2010”. While The Roots were amiss from the performance, it marked Sweatshirt’s inaugural performance on Tonight Show, having appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in 2013.
Backed by projected animations of cough syrup, visible bodily organs and blood cells, Sweatshirt’s performance seemed to replicate his pandemic-oriented explanation of Sick!
“SICK is my humble offering of 10 songs recorded in the wake of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic and its subsequent lockdowns. Before the virus I had been working on an album I named after a book I used to read with my mother (‘The People Could Fly’). Once the lockdowns hit, people couldn’t fly anymore,” said in a statement about the album. “A wise man said art imitates life. People were sick. The People were angry and isolated and restless. I leaned into the chaos cause it was apparent that it wasn’t going anywhere. these songs are what happened when I would come up for air.”
In November, Sweatshirt released a quarantine-based visual for “2010” directed and edited by filmmaker Ryosuke Tanzawa.
At the end of the week, Sweatshirt will embark on his 15-date ÑBA Leather World tour co-headlined with Action Bronson. The tour will also have sets from The Alchemist and Boldy James. In a recent Entertainment Weekly profile, Sweatshirt talked about newfound courage.
“I’m ready to embrace all of this,” he said. “I believe I’m ready to feel it. I feel fuller. I’m less confused. Like, ‘Yeah, let’s go to the studio. Let’s go on tour.’ I wasn’t developed enough to fit the mold all those years ago. I’m ready to be in the league now.”