Despite the fact that musicians have comprehensively proven that they don’t like it when punters run up on stage unannounced and try to get physical with them, rapper Earl Sweatshirt was forced to deal with a stage intruder at a Sydney gig over the weekend.

According to reports on social media, the hip-hop favourite, who was in the country to perform at the recently concluded Splendour In The Grass, was in the middle of a song when a punter ran on stage and wrapped his arms around him, apparently trying to grab his mic.

Footage that has since surfaced online shows Sweatshirt retaliating by turning around and punching the stage-crasher before, security and Trash Talk’s Garret Stevenson intervene to push the man off stage, with Stevenson getting a kick in for good measure.

“I’m not a tough guy!” Sweatshirt later wrote on Twitter. “I don’t like my personal space breached just like you. Just respect niggas out here man not just me respect everybody… keep your hands to yourself and don’t sneak up on niggas in the middle of soul bearing.”

Sweatshirt performed on the Splendour In The Grass Mix Up stage last night and is now set to wrap up his latest Australian tour with performances at the Prince Bandroom in Melbourne tomorrow evening and Perth’s Villa Nightclub on Wednesday.