Tyler, The Creator Returns Home From Chromakopia, Paying Homage As Hometown Hero

Hailing from Chromakopia, Tyler, the Creator sends out a beacon, calling himself home to Los Angeles. The artist who is proudly raised in Hawthorne is on a winning streak. Tyler’s eighth studio album was his best-selling opening week and was the third highest-grossing rap album of 2024. Now, with six shows that kicked off Valentine’s day weekend at the Crypto Arena; Tyler, the Creator’s tour is one of the most sought-after tours to experience this year. The hip-hop performer always attaches his new era [albums] with a distinct palette of color, whether that was hues of orange for Flower Boy or radiating pinks and blues for Igor, this time for Chromakopia, he went with bold, goblin green.

Inside the arena, the innovative rapper created a kryptonite-colored storage unit stage with Chromakopia’s cartoonish typography plastered in black front and center. Engulfed in smoke and pyrotechnics, the storage unit encasement opens cinematically, revealing Tyler, the Creator as the tyrannical sergeant full-of creative rage. He introduces himself with the opening track of the album, “St. Chroma” — he whisper raps the bars about his coming-of-age in hip-hop and once Daniel Caesar’s vocals are crescendoing to come in for “can you feel that fire…” Tyler, the Creator points his microphone forward towards the crowd and the entire arena fills the gaps, chanting each lyric back with clarity and confidence. 

Chromakopia is a manufactured space of liberation, experimentation, and community as Tyler fans’ united to celebrate the artist’s stratospheric success. Many of these fans range in age, either discovering Tyler, the Creator in recent years after the release of Flower Boy or those of us who have been around since his Loiter Squad days and are pushing 30-years-old. For his second track, “Rah Tah”, green siren lights flash sporadically as Tyler commands the audience’s attention. He is fully locked in and in character before he performs songs from his other popular albums much later in his almost two-hour set.

The devilish formation of Tyler, the Creator’s afro wig appears as if it jumped straight out of a Looney Tunes or Dr. Seuss picture book novel. On tour, his afro is much larger than in his current music videos which allows the crowd to see his performance silhouette in a more exaggerated, powerful way. The Chromakopia set is reminiscent of what Tyler, the Creator built for his fans who attended the listening party at the Crypto Arena earlier in October. On the jumbotron screen, his character’s coloration switches from the colorless tone of vintage, sepia tone cinematography to an electrifying green. 

Next, the African chanting cadence of “Noid” comes on, Tyler, the Creator reaches out to the crowd lit by a spotlight and red ambient arrangements, wearing his clean white gloves and that menacing imitation mask. An orchestrated line of flames burst out behind him, the audience shouts back words in Afrikaans in reference to the track’s climactic “Nizakupanga Ngozi” sample. Subsequently, “Darling, I” is heightened with background sequences from Love and Basketball as Tyler, the Creator slyly skips over the stage while the main characters of Monica and Quincy kiss each other.

Tyler, the Creator’s exuberant theatrics onstage showcase that the rapper is a full-faceted showman who needs no dancers or surprise guests. As Sexy Redd and Glorilla’s “Sticky” turns the crowd on even more, Tyler is standing on a high platform with orange light emitting from the surface. He looks like a total villain plotting for the audience to become musical minions entranced by his intentionally high-browed, incredibly boastful storytelling — yet we all love it. The latter songs (“Hey Jane”, “Judge Judy”, “Take Your Mask Off”…) of Chromakopia that really allow fans to dissect Tyler, the Creator’s personal life even more are presented with the artist closer to the audience with no distracting lights as he connects with the loyal community of fans who have supported Tyler his whole career.

The final parts of the concert, Tyler, the Creator sheds his military outfit entirely while a projection of an American home lifts him downward to the floor level. Under the home is a casual recording studio with all of the electronic gadgets, a piano, and synthesizing gizmos that gives Tyler the ability to play. He performs so many tracks from older records including “Earfquake” (Igor) and “Wusyaname” (Call Me If You Get Lost) and these remind you how sonically diverse Tyler, the Creator is when he has freedom to roam.

One of the special moments for Los Angeles natives was when Tyler, the Creator performed his early-aughts-inspired Youtube song “That Guy” that remixed Kendrick Lamar’s “Hey Now”. This was the first time Tyler played this track on the Chromakopia tour and he does it, rightfully so, in his hometown. The hometown hero sprinkled so much love and sweat into his musical offerings at Crypto and his testament to always putting on a damn good, clean show; illustrates the real love he has for his city and the pure joy that rap music brings him.