Earl Sweatshirt performs at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on Feb. 25, 2025.

SAN FRANCISCO — The crowd at Great American Music Hall erupted in cheers as Earl Sweatshirt emerged on stage to the iconic guitar loop of his hit song “Riots.” Clad in jeans and a trucker hat, the rapper, born Thebe Neruda Kgositsile, stood onstage, surveying the audience as puffs of smoke rose upward.

“My name is Earl Sweatshirt, and I feel like a pop tart right now,” he said.

Many rapped along with every word as he broke into his verses from The Alchemist tune “E. Coli.” “I wasn’t born, mama snatched me off the motherfucking stork on a Friday,” he rapped, mic in one hand, gesticulating wildly with the other.

His hypnotic flow, equal parts laidback and urgent, took full command of the room. Soon, he brought out opening act Navy Blue for “Nobles,” another track produced by The Alchemist, setting the tone for a set of deep cuts, obscure references and moments of raw emotional intensity.

The concert was the first of a two-night run was part of this year’s Noise Pop Festival. While Tyler, the Creator, Earl Sweatshirt’s collaborator in rap group Odd Future is playing Oakland Arena and Chase Center this week, Sweatshirt’s largely improvised set harkened back to hip-hop’s humble origins, with the opening acts and other members of his entourage posted up casually at the side of the stage, often rapping along with every word.

During “Unknown: Funny Games,” his rapping became more unpredictable and electric. Over a funky, washed-out jazz beat, he delivered rapid-fire bars. He dug into his 2019 EP, Feet of Clay, performing “74” over a track that shuffled with the sound of broken glass and metallic clanking.

Earl Sweatshirt performs at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on Feb. 25, 2025.

The set wove together elements of jazz, lo-fi pop and eerie, spacey soundscapes. A song featuring a “Twin-Peaks”-style synth wash had almost no percussion, while songs like “Grief,” from I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside, highlighted his masterful connection with the audience. During “Fire in the Hole,” from 2022 album Sick!, Earl Sweatshirt flubbed a line.

“What’s the bar? Why’d I say ‘tires’? It’s ‘fire in the hole!'” he said.

Near the end, he teased the crowd.

“It’d be so fucking weird if I walked off stage right now,” he said, switching gears to a discussion about films.

“We can talk about ‘Nosferatu’,” he said, mentioning last year’s vampire remake.

After the final track played, Earl Sweatshirt flashed a peace sign and walked offstage.

Navy Blue performs at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on Feb. 25, 2025.

Earlier in the evening, 28-year-old Los Angeles native Navy Blue (a frequent Earl Sweatshirt collaborator) performed a 20-minute set of laidback hip-hop tracks, including two of his most notable, 2021’s “Code of Honor” and “Slow.”

“Free Palestine!” he shouted at one point.

Before ending his set with “La Noche,” he instructed attendees to sing along to the chorus. When the part came, fans came together and harmonized for the track. To cap off the evening, Navy Blue paid homage to a friend.

“A dear friend of mine passed away recently, he gave me the strength to share my heart with y’all, because it’s not easy being up here. Don’t take friendship for granted, life is short and it goes by quickly.”

Opening the evening was 31-year-old Detroit rapper Zelooperz. He started his set with a string of hype tracks, starting with 2019 fan favorite “JayJay-Z.”

“I woke up today; I didn’t know I was coming here until they called me,” he announced, before continuing with 2020’s “Tryna Figure Out Where My Phone At?” and 2023’s “Bustin Jieber.”

He went on to perform several laidback tracks before shouting, “I’ma turn it up one more time before I leave!” That served as an introduction to newer track “WOA!”

Follow photographer Aaron Lee at Instagram.com/aaronxphotos.