Tyler, the Creator Brings Comedy, Fireworks to Coachella Set

Tyler, The Creator headlined the second day of Coachella on Saturday evening — a momentous event for one in all rap’s largest stars, coming 13 years after his Coachella debut as a member of Odd Future in 2011.

Tyler pulled out all of the stops for his present, bringing out a star-studded visitor checklist that included Infantile Gambino, A$AP Rocky, Kali Uchis and soul singer Charlie Wilson, the famed lead vocalist of The Hole Band.

“These are Epstein hours!” exclaimed the 33-year-old rapper firstly of his set, which he started at 11:40 p.m. on the dot. The stage was set to resemble a campsite exterior of the scenic Monument Valley. Dressed as a state trooper, Tyler opened the present by cooking fried eggs inside his makeshift camper trailer, earlier than ejecting himself by means of the wall. (He raps, he sings… he even does his personal stunts!)

Tyler began heavy on songs from his 2021 album Name Me If You Get Misplaced, delivering high-octane performances of “WusYaName” and “Lumberjack.” He carried out his 2023 Property Sale lower “Dogtooth,” then turned again the dial to 2019 and carried out “I Suppose,” the funkadelic quantity from his fifth studio album, Igor. Infantile Gambino, a.okay.a. Donald Glover, surfaced in a knit bucket hat to sing the melodic Igor ballad, “Operating Out of Time.”

“You realize what’s sick? I used to hate that n—!” mentioned Tyler to the viewers upon Glover’s departure, his timing as sharp as a stand-up comedian’s. “I don’t know, I needed to go to remedy to determine it out… I used to be in battle with myself. Now the tables ave turned and this n— barely returns my calls… I really like you, thanks for current!”

Per week earlier than his set, Tyler had unveiled a billboard on the freeway to Indio, telling festivalgoers that he needed to “see y’all’s faces, not your cellphone lights” throughout his present. Whereas that request predictably didn’t come to fruition — followers misplaced all sense of propriety as soon as A$AP Rocky hopped onstage to carry out 2017’s “Who Dat Boy” and 2018’s “Potato Salad” — however many of the crowd had no bother matching Tyler’s playful power. “You realize what’s loopy? I used to hate that n— too!” mentioned Tyler of Rocky.

Though rumors abounded of an Odd Future reunion — which might indicate a gathering of Frank Ocean, Steve Lacy, Syd and others — it by no means materialized. Nonetheless, Tyler soldiered on with some Odd Future-era cuts, like “Tamale” and “IFHY” from 2013’s Wolf — taking a beat mid-way to snack on a sandwich — and even pulled 2009’s “Odd Toddlers” from the vault, a tune he wrote when he was 16 years outdated. Tyler then ushered in “Uncle” Charlie Wilson to affix him for a young duet of his 2019 R&B hit, “Earfquake,” which integrated glimmers of The Hole Band’s 1982 quantity, “Excellent.”

And in her first efficiency since giving start to her child boy with Don Tolliver, Kali Uchis appeared to sing strains from their saccharine duet, “See You Once more.” Kali’s ethereal cameo, whereas appreciated by Tyler and his followers, was all too fleeting.

“I’ve 4 minutes left!” mentioned Tyler to the viewers, citing the upcoming curfew and a burgeoning wind storm. “To everybody who got here to see me, [and] to everybody who didn’t come to see me, and simply walked in… thanks for coming to see me. I’m so excited to wash my dick and fall asleep… In the event you do molly and you find yourself in an orgy, use safety, as a result of n—s is soiled.”

Tyler wrapped his set simply on the strike of 1 a.m., sending off Coachella with a bang — or a number of. Closing with a heated efficiency of his tempestuous 2019 tune, “New Magic Wand,” the rapper dodged firecrackers onstage as he ripped from verse to verse… solely to abruptly vanish in a plume of smoke. If Tyler was going to headline Coachella, he was certain to go away hundreds of festivalgoers laughing and scratching their heads in his wake.