This past Halloween, Tyler, the Creator stormed Boston with a surprise pop-up concert, performing his just-released album Chromakopia on the roof of the Converse Flagship Store at Lovejoy Wharf. Having an unparalleled ability to marry music, fashion, and audacious creative direction, Tyler, the Creator appeared atop a green shipping container emblazoned in black lettering reading Chromakopia. Dressed in an all-green getup and mask that he took off halfway through the song, he went into tracks off his latest album for the entranced crowd who answered the call of his same-day Instagram post that read,
“Don’t be late. The show will start on the dot.”
The moment was electric for fans like Vincent Medina, a UMass Boston student who paid for a resale ticket.
“I couldn’t believe it,”
Medina said, having missed class to attend.
“I just feel so lucky. I can’t stop smiling.”
Sold originally for $5 a piece, tickets to the event became the hottest commodity, with fans lining up around the block as word of the performance spread.
The crowd’s fervor was juxtaposed in a social media uproar of another nature, involving fans of Taylor Swift– “Swifties.” In the wake of Chromakopia’s triumph, the Swifties dusted off lyrics from Tyler’s 2011 debut album Goblin, namely a few offending lines in the song “Fish.”
“B*tches running ’round down, p*ssy take a trip /
Make her strip, got my d*ck harder than the unzip /
Tyler swiftly slips his d*ck inside of Taylor Swift’s slit /
Round trip in that p*ssy, here comes a ticket.”
Earlier in the album, on “Nightmare,” he goes,
“Love? I don’t get none, that’s why I’m so hostile to the kids that get some /
My father called me to tell me he loved me /
I’d have a better chance of gettin’ Taylor Swift to f*ck me.”
Those lyrics explicitly called out Swift and were part of the shock-value aesthetic Tyler wore on his sleeve at that juncture in his career- an era of uncommonly dark, sometimes off-putting humor and themes. The backlash from Taylor’s fanbase got this kind of song trending on social media again, begging the question: Should these songs be scrutinized now that Tyler is popular?
Tyler didn’t hold back in addressing the controversy during his show in Boston. Embracing the criticism, he called on fans to pay attention now to where he was and the artistic growth that he had undergone because he had moved past that early approach. “Sht is crazy.”
“I got Swifties all mad at me with their racist a*es bringing up old lyrics,”
Tyler told the audience.
“Btch, I don’t give a fck. Go listen to Tron Cat.”
His comments picked up where the set list’s themes of growth left off, illustrating his desire to move on from the past and even those lyrics that remain in his catalog while he remains proud of the man and artist he has evolved into. Chromakopia, released on October 28, has seen widespread critical acclaim from critics and fans alike for its experimental soundscapes and introspective lyricism. The album represents Tyler’s eighth studio effort, with reviewers marking the disc as another milestone in his evolution, wherein he explores deeper emotional themes while continuing to push the boundaries within a genre.
Songs like “Noid,” which was already up to No. 6 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs chart, offer evidence that Tyler can surprise his audience with imaginative beats and verbal feints. The Boston pop-up marked the kickoff of Tyler’s Chromakopia world tour, which is set to make a highly anticipated July 8, 2025, stop at TD Garden in Boston. And fans should prepare for special guests Lil Yachty and Los Angeles-based hip-hop duo Paris Texas, two artists handpicked by Tyler to amplify the eclectic spirit of the album.
