Pitchfork has given Tyga's latest album, $TARFACE, a shocking rating of 0 out of 10, the first such score since 2007. Released on July 31, this album is Tyga's ninth studio project and showcases the rapper under his alter ego, Starface.
Inspired by the 1983 film "Scarface," $TARFACE includes ten tracks that blend 1980s sounds such as synth-pop and funk. Tyga described his creative process in a recent interview, revealing his use of vintage analog equipment and the incorporation of artificial intelligence, comparing it to auto-tune. He elaborated that some instrumentals were generated using the AI service Suno.
“We definitely used AI as a tool. I know people will be upset by this, but technology is heading in that direction,” Tyga remarked.
The album has drawn considerable criticism, with reviewer Drew Millard calling it "slop-pop". In a creative experiment, he used an AI generator to produce a track that sounded similar to $TARFACE without labeling it as AI-generated. Furthermore, music critic Anthony Fantano labeled the album as "not music" in his analysis, bypassing a numerical score altogether.
