It’s official. Tyler, the Creator is finally coming to Brazil. The 2018 Lollapalooza show was cancelled, but this year the rapper reassured the Brazilian fans during the Red Carpet from the Actor Awards: “I won’t be able to go to the Oscars because I’ll be on tour in South America.”
The show will be held on the last day of the festival: Sunday, 22nd of March. The artist will close the night at the Budweiser Stage, and will also end a chapter in his life. The festival will mark the end of the CHROMAKOPIA tour and the beginning of a break in his career.
The beginning
In Hawthorne, California, Tyler Gregory Okonma learned to play the piano in his childhood and, inspired, created a social media account to post the music he produced. After moving to another city with his mother in 2007, Tyler found, along with his friends, the Odd Future, a hip-hop community group. The group counted with many other names who later became a success in the industry: Earl Sweatshirt, Hodgy, and Frank Ocean.
In 2008, the group released their first album, The Odd Future Tape, followed by Tyler´s first solo album, released in 2009, titled Bastard. The hit of the group came in 2010 with the album Radical, which caught the media´s attention, especially on Tumblr and Twitter, with its punk-rap aesthetic. It led them to a performance at the MTV and VMA 2011, where Tyler won the Best New Artist prize from the “Yonkers” music video.
In 2012, the group released what would be their last album together, called The OF tape Vol. 2. In the same year, due to the growth of the group, a comedy program was created with the members: Loiter Squad. The program has 3 seasons and can be found on HBO Max and Prime Video.
Later in May 2015, Tyler announced on Twitter that the group had disbanded, due to the different agendas and solo careers of the members. But in the future, they might collaborate again.
The solo Tyler, the Creator
During his first solo era, Bastard, the album was first heavily criticized due to the violence and sexual content. But after the explosion of Odd Future, the album was selected as one of the 50 best albums released in 2010. His solo pursuits grew, and he signed his first contract with XL Records. Sharing this conquest with his group members, he also made his first appearance on the TV program Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
The first album Tyler, The Creator released after the end of the Odd Future was Cherry Bomb (2015) with 13 tracks. It debuted at No. 4 on the US Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. It was during that era that Tyler introduced a new version of himself: the once aggressive lyrics and aesthetic gave way to a more mature style. In the beginning, the fans of the old Tyler criticized the changes to the now Jazz-like vibe of the artist, but soon, the choice turned out to be another success.
His next album in 2017, Flower Boy, marked not only his return since the last album but also an era where Tyler Okonma decided to explore more of his personal feelings in his songs, while expressing his opinion and criticism towards society. It was during that era that he came out as bisexual and used his songs to talk about his struggles and anxieties.
The track “See You Again” featuring Kali Uchis became a TikTok trend in the year of 2024. In reviews, the public describes the song as nostalgic, even being a song about longing for a loved one, the romantic vibe breaks through the lonely mood of the other songs from the album.
On his next album, Igor (2019), Tyler presents one of his alter egos, who follows the narrative of a boy who’s in love with a male friend who is already dating another person. The album debuted at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 with 165,000 copies sold. By the next year, he won his first GRAMMY in the category of Rap Album of the Year. Collecting wins, in 2022, he won another GRAMMY in the same category with his album Call Me If You Get Lost (2021)
In a break from music, Tyler starred in the Marty Supreme movie, about the life of Marty Reisman and his history with tennis playing. He stars alongside Timothée Chalamet, Odessa A’Zion, and Gwyneth Paltrow. Where Tyler plays Wally, a taxi driver friend of Timothée Chalamet’s character.
CHROMAKOPIA (2024) broke the rap scene, being the album with the highest opening week of the year. Debuting with 299,500 copies sold and 85 million streams on Spotify by the first day. The track “Like Him” blew up in the media and became a trend – the song is about a boy who grew up with an absent father that he never met, and wonders if he’ll become like him once he gets older. The album won the GRAMMY Best Album Cover of 2026.
His performance at the GRAMMY award ceremony began with the song “Thought I was Dead”; he was dressed in the CHROMAKOPIA costume, giving orders in a theatrical act that was set in a gas station scenario. After a change of clothes, the “Like Him” performance featured the actress Regina King as an attendant. The conclusion was the dramatic explosion of the gas station scenario, with Tyler falling from the stage, coughing up smoke.
Now with 39 million listeners on Spotify, his last album released was Don’t Tap the Glass (2025). The artist left the fans wondering: What is the hidden meaning of the album? The most popular theory is that Tyler is criticizing the social media intrusion into artists’ lives. Don’t Tap the Glass is a warning to not disturb the animal inside a cage, the barrier between the cellphone screen and real life.
Due to the music video of “Sugar On My Tongue” and the exclusive track “Down Bad” that was not released on digital platforms, another theory was created: Tyler made that album so people could dance and have fun; he wants them to leave their phones aside and resist the urge to film and interrupt their experience. You should be free and express yourself, dance without fear.
Golf Wang fashion
The Golf Wang brand was released in 2011. The name was born from his relation with the Odd Future – Wolf Gang, by switching the letters W and G. During that time, the brand created the trend of the donut stamp and inside jokes among the Odd Future members. It quickly became the uniform of the fans.
In 2013, their first collaboration with Vans was born. The sneakers took the Era model, transforming it into colourful versions that went to the stores until 2016. Tyler often appeared using them and created outfits to promote the Golf Wang. He broke the contract with Vans after saying that the brand was stopping him from chasing his growth. Subsequently, Golf Wang developed greatly in the months that followed.
Tyler Okonma created a brand of streetwear, a comfy fit made especially for skaters. Wanting to promote to every gender, most of the clothes are unisex. In 2016, the first fashion show of the brand occurred in Los Angeles, Tyler released the Golf le Fleur shoe line, and counted on the presence of Kanye West and Kendall Jenner sitting in the front line of the audience.
In 2017, Tyler, the Creator signed a contract with Converse All-Star. The partnership led to another model of sneakers, including the traditional Chuck 70 from Converse, helping to promote his last released album, Flower Boy. During that time, the first store of Golf Wang opened on Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles.
By 2026, the brand had already passed through a lot. Tyler, the Creator cultivated the brand and his career and flourished with both, since the phase when he was seen as delinquent to now, where he’s older and mature.
Tyler claims to have the freedom he wants, he’ll change when he wants to, will express his opinions through his arts, and will keep doing what he likes. Producing and directing all of his works, the name Tyler, The Creator represents what he is – A Creator.
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The article above was edited by Isabelle Bignardi.
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