Earl Sweatshirt has seen his personal life get off to a rough start after the passing of his father, Keorapetse Kgositsile. An educator, activist and poet laureate, Kgositsile passed away in South Africa at the age of 79. During this time of grief, it's only natural that Earl wouldn't have the strength in him to perform and, in a statement by Handsome Tours, previously booked concert appearances for the rapper have since been cancelled.
Earl Sweatshirt was originally supposed to be appearing in support of The xx when they hit Australia for some upcoming shows this month, but as the statement read on Twitter, the hip-hop artist won't be joining them on the road:
"We regret to inform that, due to the recent passing of Earl Sweatshirt’s father, he must cancel his appearances as support for @The_xx this month," Handsome Tours revealed. "We sincerely apologise to those affected by this cancellation and send our sincerest condolences to @earlxsweat at this time." There's no timeline as of yet on when Earl Sweatshirt fans might be able to see the talented emcee in concert next, but at this point, we can only hope that he and his family are doing as well as possible given the circumstances.
Earl recently thanked his social media family for all of the kind thoughts and love that he has been shown in the past week, which has sure helped him cope with the tragic loss of his father. There's no word on whether this development will put a delay on the new music that he teased towards the end of 2017. Our thoughts remain with him and his loved ones.