Thousands of people eagerly made their way inside Pechanga Arena on March 9 and 10 in a green swarm of Golf Wang, Golf le Fleur, old tour merch or whatever outfit that “Pinterest prowlers” would pin for future reference — all to show their appreciation and anticipation for rapper, producer and fashion icon, Tyler, The Creator’s “Chromakopia” show. 

“This is night one of two nights with you m*****f******,” Tyler says. “Let’s see how y’all sing this next song.”

Tyler Okonma, stage name “Tyler, The Creator,” is characterized by his rowdy personality and authenticity. The Los Angeles native began his music career in the late 2000s as a founding member of Odd Future, a rebellious teenaged alternative rap group. In 2011, Tyler became a solo artist with purposefully offensive and defiant albums such as “Goblin,” “Wolf” and “Cherry Bomb.” His success with his 2017 album, “Flower Boy,” propelled him to worldwide fame, winning a Grammy a few years later with both “IGOR” and “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST.” 

“Tyler, to me, is the meaning of an artist who genuinely cares about things that he makes or creates and you can definitely see it with all of his music, and especially this recent album,” Ailamae De Guia, a second year television, film and new media production major, said. 

Tyler’s loyal music following stems from his charisma and unapologetic creativity — strange, aggressive and at times nihilistic. His music has always been reflective of who he is and this brand and aesthetic is something Tyler has continuously built and refined over the years in his discography. 

This is especially true with Chromakopia which delves into themes of ageing, fatherhood and identity. 

“I think Chromakopia is really cool because it’s another layer of kind of seeing Tyler and his like reflection of his life,” Shrey Basu, a third year computer science major with a math minor, said. “I think it was really cool just seeing how open he is, how like openly critiquing he is of himself and the industry and everything.”

On a small rectangular stage on one end of the floor, the concert began with hip-hop duo Paris Texas as they performed a few of their most popular songs such as “FORCE OF HABIT” and “Lana Del Rey.” The crowd chants Lil Yachty’s name as he follows, taking the stage and opening with “Gimme Da Lite” and performing classic hits including “Broccoli,” “iSpy” and “drive ME crazy!”

The crowd starts screaming as the lights of Pechanga go out, leaving only the green lights illuminating the stack of green shipping containers that make up a larger stage — “CHROMAKOPIA” in its classic horned print, largely written across the front of one of the cargo boxes. 

Tyler’s name is repeatedly chanted by the audience and soon after the “St. Chroma” monologue starts playing. The audience then begins to chant “chromakopia” with the song as the venue darkens and the shipping containers under the “CHROMAKOPIA” sign begins to lift — revealing Tyler in his stoic mask, dual point hair and green military outfit, stomping in place.

Despite having no backup dancers, Tyler’s fans have no issue with keeping their focus on the performance through visuals such as lights, fire and cold sparks plus the rapper’s use of his stages, active dancing and overall body language

“He just knows how to perform,” De Guia said. “He knows how to put on a show and keep you engaged for the entire time.” 

Following “St. Chroma,” Tyler then goes on to perform “Rah Tah Tah,” “Noid,” “Darling, I,” “I Killed You” and “Judge Judy.”

As Tyler made his way to the sky bridge catwalk to travel to the smaller stage where Paris Texas and Lil Yachty performed earlier, he performed “Sticky” where he threw actual cash out into the audience, “Take Your Mask Off,” and an instrumental version of “Tomorrow.”

“He has a vision for everything that he does and he always makes sure to kind of execute it,” Basu said. “I think he definitely did that this time as well. [The concert] definitely exceeded what I was imagining just because I think he has a crazy cool vision. I think it was great.”

At the smaller stage, the set had transformed into what is meant to be Tyler’s house — white banners surrounded the stage with the outside of a home projected on it. When the stage lowers and the curtains lift, the crowd sees a couch, a bicycle, a piano, cube storage shelves that hold sneakers and other things typical of a bedroom.

On one corner of the stage is a stack of suitcases with a crate full of vinyls. He combs through them, eventually taking out an “IGOR” vinyl, walks across to the other side of the stage to the record player and “IGOR’S THEME” begins playing as the lights go out.

This was an aspect of the concert De Guia particularly enjoyed.

“I liked how he had a set design for it where it was like he was looking through his old vinyls of his old albums and stuff,” De Guia noted. “It was just really nice because it was like he’s almost like reminiscing about his old albums and growth.”

When the lights begin flashing again and transitions to a soft purple and pink, the start of “EARFQUAKE” begins to play and Tyler, now wearing a green “PETALER” hat, a Le Fluer button up with a white shirt base and tan trousers, makes himself comfortable in the makeshift room.

The audience sings the majority of “EARFQUAKE”’s intro before Tyler hops on the song. After using “A BOY IS A GUN” and “THANK YOU” as transitions and singing “I THINK,” he begins diving into his older works by performing “Yonkers,” “Tron Cat,” “She,” “Tamale,” “Rusty” and “IFHY.”

Tyler, then shifting to his tracks on “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST,” plays “LUMBERJACK,” “I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE,” “DOGTOOTH” and “SORRY NOT SORRY.”

Fun was at an all time high for the audience, especially when playing “DOGTOOTH” when the crowd began barking at Tyler even before the track started. 

“I like seeing the inspiration that people have,” Basu said. “It kind of bounces off each other and it kind of multiplies and has this echo effect. I think it’s really cool how that aspect of the performance and tour and vibe is just there.”

On the catwalk back to the shipping container stage, Tyler performs “Who Dat Boy” and “WUSYANAME.” 

“I’m conceited. I’m full of myself. I have a huge ego. My confidence has been through the roof,” Tyler exclaims at the main stage after rapping “Thought I Was Dead.”

The Grammy-winning artist adds, “I knew who I was at a very young age, I was four years old telling my mom that I was gonna be who I am today which means, everything I said that I was gon’ do, I did.”

After his declarations, he slowly begins again with “Like Him” and eventually picks up the pace with “THAT GUY,” an unreleased freestyle of Kendrick Lamar’s “hey now” track on his “GNX” album.

“See You Again,” “NEW MAGIC WAND” and “Balloon” follow, with the energy still high and the crowd happy and vibing. The night ends with “I Hope You Find Your Way Home” and an instrumental version of “St. Chroma.”

When the concert finished, all those around me, including myself, kept humming “chromakopia” under our breaths. We took home merch and memories and, although the night was over, the love fans will have for Tyler will carry over, anticipating when they’ll see him again.