Tyga's AI-Assisted Album Earns Zero-Star 'Pitchfork' Review, Publication's Lowest Score in 19 Years

Tyga's ninth studio album, *$TARFACE*, received a zero-star review from Pitchfork, the publication's first in 19 years, after the rapper confirmed the album incorporated AI. Pitchfork critic Drew Millard called the album a "piece of shit" and said it "places the listener in their own personal David Cronenberg film." Tyga defended the use of AI, comparing it to Auto-Tune, while artists like SZA have condemned AI's role in music.

Tyga https://www.complex.com/tag/tyga is making history with his new album https://www.complex.com/tag/albums . This week, $TARFACE , the Decaydance Records alum’s ninth studio album, earned a scathingly crafted Pitchfork assessment https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/starface-tyga-starface/?utm source=twitter&utm medium=social&utm campaign=dhtwitter&utm content=null from Drew Millard that now stands as the publication’s first zero-star review in nearly two decades. To be clear, this means the album, which has been confirmed by Tyga himself to have incorporated AI https://www.complex.com/music/a/jaelaniturnerwilliams/tyga-suno-suno-ai-album , earned exactly zero stars. None. Zilch. Nada. Bupkis. $TARFACE , to quote Millard’s review, is a “piece of shit” that “places the listener in their own personal David Cronenberg film.” To boot, it’s also “smug and complacent,” thus landing it squarely in zero-star territory. “All I can say is: Tyga, you really earned it,” Millard later added in an X post. At the time of this writing, Tyga does not appear to have publicly addressed having given Pitchfork an opportunity to dole out this rare dishonor. In a recent interview https://www.vibe.com/features/editorial/tyga-starface-album-used-ai-as-a-tool-1235182068/ with VIBE ’s Mikey Fresh, Tyga conceded that he and his team “definitely used” AI on the album, further arguing, albeit erroneously, that such programs are akin to Auto-Tune https://www.complex.com/tag/auto-tune . Alternatively, many artists have taken a defiant stance against generative AI’s infiltration of the industry, SZA https://www.complex.com/shop/artists/sza among them. Upon learning in June that hundreds of her songs had been used to train AI models, the seven-time Grammy https://www.complex.com/tag/grammys winner called any musician who supports “degenerate shit” of this variety “ disgusting https://www.complex.com/music/a/treyalston/sza-musicians-disgusting-ai-music .” “There’s nothing you could ever say to me to make this okay,” she added at the time.