Earl Sweatshirt Showed Terminal 5 How to ‘Live Laugh Love’

I never thought of Earl Sweatshirt being the, “fans scream his lyrics” kind of rapper. It’s not that he’s not great; I think you could argue he was the best rapper alive in 2025. It’s just that his voice is thick, his rhymes dense, and his beats dreary — not exactly the “throw your hands up” kind of guy. But there I was, next to a 20-something-year-old shouting Earl bars toward the Terminal 5 stage last Tuesday night. 

Holding things down for about two hours, Earl showcased all the rhythms and wit that made folks start an ill-advised, but kinda funny “Free Earl” campaign 11 or so years ago. What kind of surprised me was the liveliness of it all; he’s rapping some existential, metaphysical stuff, but he engaged the crowd with jokes and his delivery was energetic and he was at home AF running through his recent catalog, including Live Laugh Love and more. There was a levity to it all. Real “Live, Laugh, Love” s**t, if you catch my drift. 

My favorite part was El Cousteau popping out to perform “Words2LiveBy” with Earl. The beat sounds like some sleeker Mad Max soundtrack, and Earl and Cousteau get bars off in the most stylish way possible. It was definitely a moment that called for some shouting. 

Watch some of Earl’s performance for yourself below: