Starface

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. Tyga played the film repeatedly in the studio while recording the album.

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

After being questioned if Starface had been produced using artificial intelligence in an interview with Vibe, Tyga admitted using artificial intelligence (AI) to produce elements quickly, such as the synthesizer and guitar tracks, explaining: "I know people are going to be mad about me saying this, but it's where technology is going. It's no different than when Auto-Tune came out." Tyga stated that he performed the vocals and wrote the lyrics.

Starface is a concept album that has influences from synth-wave, pop, R&B, and funk. 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". He also said he drew inspiration from musicians of that time, namely Prince, Michael Jackson, Hall & Oates, Rick James, The Police, and Tom Petty. The album's 1980s-inspired aesthetic and use of an alter ego drew comparisons to Tory Lanez's 2021 concept album Alone at Prom, with The Source writing, "The similarities are clear, from the alter ego and vocal transformation to the synth-heavy production and vintage visuals."

Starface was released on July 31, 2026. Five songs were released as singles to promote the album in the same year. The first was "Gave U Racks", released prior to the album's release on July 3. The second single, "Affection", was released on July 10. "Freezing" became the third single, released along with the album. "Just Us Tonight" and "Last Forever" were the fourth and fifth releases, on August 7 and August 20, respectively.

Tour

Tyga announced the "$tarface Tour" in August 2026, consisting of two shows in Los Angeles and Brooklyn in September 2026.

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. 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". 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". Anthony Fantano, who usually rates albums on a 0-10 rating scale, gave Starface a score of "Not Music/10".

Tyga's response

Following Pitchfork's 0.0 rating of the album, Tyga addressed the review in a video call with TMZ, stating: "I don't really know what Pitchfork is. All I know is that the devil uses a pitchfork."

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.

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