What could possibly go wrong, right?

If you thought Tyga was going to quietly move on from $TARFACE, think again.

The rapper has announced the first “REAL LIVE” shows for the controversial project, bringing his ’80s-inspired world to Los Angeles on September 10 and Brooklyn on September 12.

The announcement comes after $TARFACE became one of the year’s strangest album stories. Tyga confirmed that AI was used as a creative tool during the project’s creation, comparing it to Auto-Tune and arguing that new technology is often misunderstood before artists learn to use it.

Critics certainly had plenty to say. Pitchfork gave the album a brutal 0.0 rating, while $TARFACE also failed to appear on the Billboard 200 after moving fewer than 2,000 units during its first week.

Now, Tyga is taking the project somewhere streaming numbers can’t really measure: the stage.

I actually think this is a smart move. $TARFACE was built around a very specific ’80s-inspired aesthetic, and a live show gives Tyga the opportunity to turn that concept into something much bigger. The visuals, outfits, stage design, and overall atmosphere could potentially make the project feel more cohesive than it did as a traditional album. It will also let us know how much of himself really went into its making.

Even bad publicity is good publicity, and I can tell Tyga is soaking everything up. Good for him.

Quincy

Quincy is the creator of Ratings Game Music. He loves writing about music, taking long walks on beaches, and spaghetti that fights him back.