The one album Tyler, The Creator refuses to perform live: “I don’t want to play that”
Tyler, The Creator is now eight albums deep into a storied career, including projects dabbling in horrorcore, alternative hip-hop, funk, R&B, and jazz. Still, just because he recorded certain music doesn’t mean he always wants to perform it live.
The Odd Future rapper is touring his Chromakopia album, which was released in October 2024, but some fans have wanted to hear some of his old material on the road. During his performance at the Kia Center in Orlando, Florida, they demanded Tyler perform songs off his Cherry Bomb album. But Tyler wasn’t having it and decided to respond to the plea.
Speaking on stage, he said, “I genuinely don’t know the logic of why you think that chanting that is going to sway my decision. I don’t want to play that. And most of the crowd doesn’t want me to.”
One fan took to X (formerly Twitter) to share a message with Tyler, revealing they started the chant and threatened to do it again. “I started that Cherry Bomb chant on Saturday and I will start it again tonight,” the fan said. “I need to hear DEATHCAMP live.”
In response, Tyler admitted he found it annoying and revealed there was nothing fans could do to make him perform music from the project. “chant all you want (i hope you dont, its mad annoying during the show) im not gonna play it, chanting doesnt make me magically wanna play it,” he wrote.
Released in 2015, Cherry Bomb debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 with 58,000 units. His fourth studio effort, the follow-up to 2013’s Wolf, included features from Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Pharrell, ScHoolboy Q, Charlie Wilson, Kali Uchis and others. Tyler once described it as his favourite album in 2018, despite thinking Flower Boy was his best.
However, while speaking to Jerrod Carmichael, he claimed that fans weren’t keen on the album. “I just knew if [Flower Boy] wasn’t good I would be fucked,” he said. “Some people would disagree, but I was like, ‘Man, I’m nothing right now.’ ‘Cause everyone hated it, except for, like, real music lovers who care about drums. I mean, I opened a rap album with a rock song. Most n*ggas is like, ‘Ugh!’”
He added, “For Cherry Bomb, I purposely was like, ‘I don’t wanna get personal at all,’ like, ‘I’m just gonna make songs.’ And in [Flower Boy], I was like, ‘Alright, let me write down every feeling.’”
The rock song he references is ‘Deathcamp’, one of the tracks his fans wanted him to perform on his current tour. The track has been compared to NERD’s debut album, In Search Of…, an inspiration for Tyler’s career.
Tyler was sued over the song in 2018, with Lela Weems accusing him of copyright infringement and asking for $750,000 in damages. She claimed it illegally sampled the 1971 song ‘Why Can’t There Be Love’ by Dee Edwards and Herman Weems. The case was settled that same year, and Weems is now listed as a co-songwriter.