NEWS
Tyler, The Creator performs onstage during the 2021 American Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on Nov. 21, 2021 in Los Angeles.
Kevin Winter/GI for MRCAfter a recent interview with Tyler, the Creator made the rounds, fans and some media outlets began speculating whether the rapper might be considering changing his stage name. Now, Tyler is setting the record straight.
In a string of since-deleted tweets, Tyler roasted those who thought he would change his stage name to Tyler Okonma, his birth name. “I NEVER SAID I WAS CHANGING MY NAME, ARE YOU STUPID? YES,” he wrote early in the morning on Thursday (Dec. 30). “WILL EMBRACE MY LAST NAME MORE, LESS WOLF HALEY [referring to his alter ego], NEVER SAID I WAS GONNA CHANGE MY STAGE NAME, WHAT YO EARS ON BRO?”
The confusion came after a recent interview Okonma did with Fast Company, in which the rapper spoke about the MySpace origin story of his stage name. During the interview, Tyler called his stage name “dumb,” and spoke about the aesthetics of using his birth name for creative projects. “My full name, Tyler Okonma, in all caps just looks really cool,” he said. “So you might see more of that. I don’t know. I’m getting older and I think when people get older they start to realize s–t, you just start changing.”
When a fan asked Tyler for context surrounding his tweets, the rapper responded, filling him in on what he was seeing. “INTERVIEWER ASKED ABOUT MY STAGE NAME, I EXPLAINED HOW I GOT IT, I JOKED ABOUT IT BEING DUMB BUT KEPT IT,” he wrote. “TALKED ABOUT MY AFRICAN LAST NAME HOW I WANT TO EMBRACE IT NOW THAT IM OLDER AND HAVE A NEW VIEW ON IT. SITES SAYS IM CHANGING IT. FALSE.”
Before eventually deleting his tweets, Tyler noted that he wasn’t actually angry about the confusion, despite the all-caps text. “ALL CAPS MAKES YOU THINK THE PERSON IS MAD OR SOMETHING HA, WILD IT GIVES OFF THAT EMOTION JUST BEING UPPERCASE.”
After releasing his critically acclaimed album Call Me If You Get Lost in 2021, which topped the Billboard 200 in July, Tyler, the Creator is currently preparing for his upcoming 2022 North American tour. The shows kick off in San Diego on Feb. 10, and the tour conclude its 34-date run on April 8 in Seattle.
NEWS
David Lee Roth made an unexpected appearance at the Stagecoach Festival on Saturday evening, stepping onto the stage with Teddy Swims to perform “Jump,” the iconic 1984 hit by Van Halen.
During his Stagecoach set, Swims welcomed Roth after running through his recent single “Mr. Know It All” along with “Some Things I’ll Never Know,” both taken from his debut studio album I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 1), which arrived in September 2023.
This moment marked the third straight festival where the two have shared the stage. Swims previously invited Roth out during recent sets at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, where he introduced him as “David Lee Roth from the best band of all time, Van Halen,” before they kicked into “Jump” together.
The latest performance unfolded during a chaotic night at Stagecoach, as strong winds earlier in the evening led to a temporary evacuation of the grounds and forced several changes to the schedule, including removing artists such as Journey and Riley Green from the lineup.
The evacuation came after powerful gusts swept through the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, the site of the festival. An “emergency evacuation” notice appeared on screens across the venue, urging attendees to “move quickly and calmly to the nearest exit,” while alerts sent through the festival’s official app instructed people to clear the area.
The interruption impacted several stages, with the Mane Stage sitting between sets when the evacuation alert was issued. Wind conditions had been intensifying throughout the day, with stronger gusts arriving in the evening as part of a regional wind advisory.
Even with the disruption, Swims’ set ultimately continued, and Roth’s surprise appearance stood out as one of the biggest highlights of the night as fans returned once the festival resumed.
Stagecoach, one of the largest country music festivals in the United States, takes place every year at the same location as the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and regularly draws tens of thousands of fans.
