Get the latest gossip

Tyler, the Creator review – a fiery performance from a giddy rap god

Performing solo to a backing track, the rapper nevertheless generates extraordinary heat with his fluid and furious flow atop foundation-rumbling bass

Fireworks explode, flames burn, smoke engulfs the room and a screech erupts from the audience as a masked Tyler, the Creator emerges from a thick green haze to the gut-rumbling bass of St Chroma. It’s rare to hear such a frenzied response to new songs but it establishes the mood for an evening during which the LA rapper’s most recent work, from 2024’s Chromakopia, is received with the same level of adoration as old favourites. This section, while conceptually neat, can feel a little passive at points, with Tyler not always singing fully over the shortened songs, and it coming across more like a DJ set, or as though he is curating a mixtape of his own life’s work in real time.

Get the Android app