Tyler, the Creator continues to evolve at the Schottenstein Center

On Feb 28, 2022

Tyler, the Creator performs at the Schottenstein Center on Sunday, Feb. 27

Tyler, the Creator makes an appearance in the newly released “Jackass: Forever,” playing piano while a quartet tap dances on an electrified platform. The rapper is perfectly suited to the moment, having followed a career path similar to the “Jackass” crew: snotty, youthful shenanigans leading to mainstream success and then something approaching elder statesman status, their current ventures made all the more interesting by the way each has addressed the past.

Also like the “Jackass” crew, it’s been a sometimes-ugly transition, with Tyler’s early solo material creating such a backlash that it led to him being banned from multiple countries, including the entirety of the U.K., accused of promoting violence and homophobia with his music.

Much has changed from those early days, though, with the rapper now presenting as a model for how to gracefully evolve from internet-bred fame. In recent years, he’s earned a pair of Billboard 200 No. 1 albums and two Grammy nods, winning the award for the best rap album for Igor, from 2020. So, it’s understandable Tyler approached his headlining show at the Schottenstein Center on Sunday as a conquering hero, holding court on a stage outfitted to resemble a forested Swiss estate, complete with a 1939 Rolls Royce Wraith parked in the driveway. The vehicle paired nicely with the boat docked at the lip of the stage, which at one point whisked the rapper away to a grassy island in the middle of the arena for part of his performance.

In concert, Tyler drew heavily from his seventh full-length, Call Me If You Get Lost, from 2021, an album heavily rooted in his experiences growing up in the public eye. On “Massa,” performed early in the set, Tyler managed to pack 10 years of personal and professional evolution into four cathartic minutes. “Grew into my style, body and feelings, and fixed my hairline,” he rapped, a beat later adding, “I’m not that little boy ya’ll was introduced to at 19.”

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Part of Tyler’s appeal rests in his ability to consistently surprise with these ongoing evolutions. The last time the musician performed in Columbus, for example, headlining a 2019 show at Express Live, the rapper barely appeared onstage, instead ceding the spotlight to Igor, his alter-ego instantly recognizable by a bleached-blonde bob haircut and colorful, tailored suit. While Igor didn’t appear onstage in this go-round, his presence was still felt in a handful of tracks performed off his namesake album, including “I Think” and “Earfquake,” on which the rapper pleaded for a lover to stay with him.

Everything about the show was outsized, from the arena-worthy production design, which placed Tyler within the lap of luxury that surfaced in lines about tax loopholes and expensive cars (“Rolls Royce pull up, Black boy hop out,” he repeated on “Lumberjack”) to the musical production. Throughout, Tyler rhymed over lush beats that tended to be bright, ebullient and booming, bass and drums hitting with floor-shaking authority.

Yet, somehow, the concert’s most compelling moments were often its smallest, Tyler occasionally dropping his guard to reveal the fractured human at the core of everything, rapping: “Everyone I ever loved had to be loved in the shadows”; “Can I get a kiss? And can you make it last forever?”; “I can’t be alone.”

At times, Tyler blew out these intimate revelations into big-screen drama. Such was the case on “IFHY,” where the rapper vacillated between love and hate, his turbulent emotions captured by the stage lighting, with flash bulbs flickering and cracking the dark, mimicking the look and feel of a massive storm blowing through. That the tempest unfolded on a private island just a short boat ride from a mountain chalet further highlighted a concept entwined within the concert’s DNA: money can buy plenty of things, but it can’t make a heart feel full.

The evening kicked off with a pair of divergent performances from Texas rapper Teezo Touchdown, who took to the stage swinging a chainsaw and with nails threaded in his hair but couldn’t get any of his half-baked songs to stick, and Vince Staples, who impressed without gimmicks, wisely adopting a simple setup (one man, one mic) that kept the focus on his effortless flow and vivid storytelling.