Tyler The Creator and friends celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Camp Flog Gnaw with over 40 performances, carnival rides, fair munchies, and an Odd Future gallery exhibition. Tyler’s curated lineup of performers including Doechii, André 3000, Schoolboy Q, and Sexyy Red created an immaculate listening experience for all forty thousand camp-goers.
No surprise here that Camp Flog Gnaw 2024 was one to remember.
The Swamp Princess
At Flog Gnaw’s main stage, “Camp”, the audience (not so) patiently stared at Doechii’s everglade-esque set up adorned with mossy trees and vines. As the jumbotron illuminated with “Up Next: Doechii” faded to black, the crowd screamed for her arrival. Accompanied by the echoing outro of “BOOM BAP”, the swamp princess herself marched out clad in Miu Miu. Doechii grabbed her vine-enveloped microphone emphasizing “That a** a magnet, I get it”, carrying on with the rest of “BOOM BAP”.
Doechii truly was nothing short of a magnet. From blowing raspberries, to strutting in her wine red stilettos, Doechii had her crowd captivated from the jump. She addressed the audience of being fresh out of her recent tour for Alligator Bites Never Heal, and swiftly transitioned into the irresistible track “BOILED PEANUTS”.
Girly Guests Join the Swamp
Alongside Doechii was DJMissMilan, her partner in crime spinning all the tracks for her setlist. The two performers put on a show for “DENIAL IS A RIVER”, a deliciously catchy storytelling track. Of course, Doechii included the iconic breath routine with DJMissMilan to close out the track, leaving her crowd charged for the rest of her set.
Doechii followed with her 2019 banger “Spookie Coochie”, and transitioned into her next hit, surprising us with a feature nobody suspected. Out walks the glowing and fairy-like SZA, accompanying Doechii for their song “Persuasive”. The two serenaded the crowd with the words “How does it feel to be you?”. The feminine energy for this set was truly unmatched.
Doechii touched on a few more tracks from her mixtape Alligator Bites Never Heal, ultimately landing us at her top hit “NISSAN ALTIMA”. Rapping a verse a second, and having her DJ partner take off her stilettos, Doechii went IN on this track. It was evident that she really was just having her fun on stage. Doechii was shaking booty, giggling between verses, and skipping across her stage like she owned the place (she undoubtedly did). Her first Flog Gnaw performance was, to humbly put it, electric, bouncy, and empowering. Nobody can do it quite like the swamp princess…
3K Shares New Blue Sun
Performing on the rightmost stage on day two of the festival was the musical mastermind André 3000. Folks gathered around the “Gnaw” stage curious of what type of performance we could expect from André. His debut album, New Blue Sun was recently Grammy nominated for Album of the Year, as well as Best Alternative Jazz Album. André’s spiritual and ambient flute album created major strides in the music world. This challenged people’s perception of his rapping history, and showcased his mastery of instrumental flow and musical artistry.
His Flog Gnaw performance fell synonymous to the effect of New Blue Sun.
André peacefully walked out onto his stage furnished with drums, keyboard, xylophone, flute, and a handful of unknown instruments. Shortly after him, André’s band manned their instruments as he addressed the crowd “Welcome to New Blue Sun, live”. On the purple-blue lit stage, a plethora of sounds (both peaceful and ominous) melted into perfect harmony, André leading with his flute.
Musical Mastery at it’s Finest
The entire 30 minute set was a song itself, André and his crew taking only but a few breaks. 3K switched from flute to xylophone, xylophone to trumpet, and trumpet to gongs. His performance was absolutely mesmerizing, and a pleasant detour from the inherently wild energy at Camp Flog Gnaw.
André didn’t shy away from playing around with his crowd, whose mouths were agape given the whimsical jazz performance. He spoke into the mic an unrecognizable language, sounding of the utmost profoundness. Eventually stepping back up to the mic, André exclaimed, “Everybody I wanna let y’all know, from the bottom of my heart everything I just said, I completely made all of that sh*t up.” This was a palatable switch up from the show’s Jazz aura.
After the ambient serenade concluded, André informed the crowd that we would be the first, and the last, to listen to that specific musical composition, admitting that he and his crew improvised the entire set. He rightfully closed out his set with:
“The realest sh*t you’re gonna hear all year is us, and Future”- André 3000
Tyler’s Chromakopia
Swarms of people ran from the outer stages in hopes of positioning themselves with an adequate view of Tyler’s setup. Unfortunately, those who held loyalty to both Schoolboy Q and Tyler had 10 minutes to run from one stage to the next, a majority of the Dodger’s Stadium parking lot already flooded with Tyler fans who awaited his set.
Soon enough, the jumbotrons fell black, and the voice of Tyler’s mother proclaimed “You are the light, it’s not on you it’s in you…” which opened up his set. The chant “Chromakopia” ensued, and the crowd sang along as Tyler marched onto the stage amongst a green haze. Tyler, centerstage, recited his lengthy verse of “St. Chroma”, the intro to his new album Chromakopia.
He was dressed in his signature militant green suit, and his newly debuted mask. The crowd eagerly sang along Daniel Caesar’s vocals on the track, patiently waiting for the monumental beat switch of “St. Chroma”. The song’s climax was fittingly delivered to us by a ridiculous amount of smoke and fiery green explosions.
Tyler touched on more of his No. 1 Billboard 200 Chromakopia, including tracks “Rah Tah Tah” and “Noid”, revving up the audience with his ostentatious stage presence. With previous Tyler concert experience, it’s safe to say he brings an addictive swagger to any performance he’s at. He transitioned from screaming verses into the mic, to staring eerily into the audience during his sensational track about celebrity paranoia, “Noid”.
Retrospective Highlights and Killer Features
As Tyler continued, he payed homage to his earlier work, and ran his audience through snippets of his discography. He reminisced on tracks like “Yonkers”, “Who Dat Boy”, “I THINK”, and “WUSYANAME”. Truthfully, tracks from Flower Boy and Goblin created an emotional undercurrent in the crowd. It’s beautiful to be able to trace the growth of Tyler’s creative artistry, and the evolution of his musical excellence.
Eventually, he stared back at the crowd and said “This is a test run, because all the songs are so new.”… “The first four went great, can I continue to do some new sh*t?”
The stage turned a deep red, and the audience heard the whistles to “Sticky”. In a pearlescent bodycon suit, the track’s iconic feature, Sexyy Red, joined Tyler on stage for the pep-rally influenced track. Additional to Sexyy, Tyler introduced a few more of his friends that contributed to the making of his latest album. Schoolboy Q killed his verse in “Thought I Was Dead”, and Doechii made an appearance for the album’s bop “Balloon”. Doechii carried the song’s outro by promptly grabbing underneath her pleated skirt, turning to face the crowd, and yelling “I air this b*tch out like a qu**f”. This beautifully profane outro brought Tyler’s Camp Flog Gnaw 2024 show to a close.
