Every few years, something comes out that truly breaks the mold. Something that stops you, turns your head, and makes you think “What label agent or executive in their 80’s coke-addled brain greenlit this tomfoolery?” and 2026 has disgracefully put Tyga firmly in that spot. Creating what is essentially an alter ego to Tyga’s normal self (remember when Nicki Minaj became ‘Roman’ randomly in songs?), $tarface manages to regurgitate something so vapid and meaninglessly bad that it’s probably going to get some sort of critical acclaim because of the morbid curiosity set forth by the 0.0 rating from Pitchfork, their first in 19 years.
Starting off with the AI usage – according to Tyga in an interview with TMZ, the only AI present is for some synths and guitar solos. In any other circumstance this is an automatic detractor, and while it is still a laughable and grimace worthy admission, the fact that Tyga conjured up something so soulless, wasteful and ultimately worthless without the bulk of lifting being done by AI is a feat all in itself. When the headline read “The world is a worse place for this being made” it was difficult to comprehend that (afterall, I’m a black metal and grindcore guy. I actively seek out bad sounding stuff), but on the other side of several listens to this atrocity it’s easy to say that life before this album was probably better.
Dragging us through 30 minutes of shoddy synth leads and the lyrical equivalent of reading the tag on a mattress, Tyga embodies the persona of the titular character and tries (emphasis, TRIES) to recreate 80’s synthwave anthems and ballads, while having whoever coached Future how to sing on the sidelines, telling him he’s doing great. Every song is about money, cocaine, love/sex, or a bastardized combo of the three, and feels more like Tyga’s 80’s experience was conjured from late nights of playing Grand Theft Auto and an uptight person’s edgy version of a wild Vegas trip. The only value brought to the table is the assurance to amateur artists globally knowing that they’re not going to produce something quite this terrible in their lifetimes. This album deserves every bad review it gets, and we should all await Tyga’s apology for releasing this un-masterpiece.
Rating: lmao/100
Notable songs: none of them
PS – the album art doesn’t even have a $ for the ‘S’ in $tarface despite being branded that way everywhere else, and that’s just a gross oversight in its own right.
