Artists only respond to critics when there is immense backlash to whatever they made. Mainstream acts, especially, never respond to a particularly thoughtful, favorable review. Instead, they’re merely in the business of amplifying the haters and making it look like it’s them against the world. In the case of Tyga, he released a record that the large majority of people are hating on. Even Doja Cat called him a “penis” for using AI on $TARFACE.

Naturally, Tyga’s first instinct was to deflect from all criticism. Talking to TMZ, he shrugged that he’s never even heard of the popular publication Pitchfork to care about their review. “I don’t know what Pitchfork is. All I know is the devil uses a pitchfork. Unfortunately, Gen Z can’t read,” he said.

Then, Tyga doubled down on how exactly he utilized AI in the making of $TARFACE, emphasizing its use as a tool. “I used AI-assisted things in the production. All the vocals are me. I wrote all the songs. When it comes to the 80s synths and the guitar solos, yes, I used AI for that. But I didn’t make a full AI album. I was in the studio for 3 months working on this,” he explained.

Tyga Claps Back at All The Hate Over His AI-Aided Album

In regard to Doja Cat, the Compton-bred rapper chuckled and pointed the finger back at her. “Listen, I love Doja, but she made a demonic album. But I still love her,” he laughed.

Pitchfork was especially cold towards $TARFACE, zeroing in on how, regardless of AI, Tyga is creatively bankrupt on the album. They rated it a devastating 0.0 out of 10, their first 0.0 in almost 20 years.

“But influence is a form of personal expression,” journalist Drew Millard wrote. “And it often elicits a feeling of connection in the listener, whether the reference is identifiable or subliminal. Not so with $TARFACE, an album that confuses loving music with prompt engineering.”

Tyga isn’t the only West Coast rapper intent on tinkering with AI. Fenix Flexin finally opened up about using Treblo for his song “RUBBERZ” after months of denying it. “Never said I didn’t use AI, I said it had nun to do with the recording process,” he replied to a fan on Instagram. “I didn’t even know what da app was till we mixed it and erybody started commenting. Ain’t nothing wrong with using new technology as a tool, keep up with the times or get left behind.”

Photo by Scott Legato/Getty Images

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