The rap auteur brings Splendour In The Grass 2022 to a close with a high energy, high concept one-man show.
Headlining the Amphitheatre on Sunday, Tyler The Creator's performance is all about the creativity and charismatic presence of the man himself.
Living up to a lineage of impressive Splendour rap headliners - dating back to Kanye West and Outkast through to more recent showings from Kendrick Lamar and Childish Gambino - the 75min spectacle showcased the Grammy-winning artist's depth as a performer, songwriter, and consummate showman.
The biggest thing that separates Tyler from those contemporaries his is strong visual language, flaunting some impeccably curated stage production that would make any film director proud.
Modelled on the Swiss Alps, his elaborate stage had the most grass seen at the festival all weekend. To a burst of fireworks and confetti, Tyler appeared atop the rolling green, dressed as a hiker in homage to his latest persona: the globe-trotting Mr. Baudelaire of last year's complex Call Me If You Get Lost.
A digital backdrop provides a variety of settings - comforting pink skies, a night sky panorama, and a digital marching band for Tyler to lockstep to. His music is just as dynamic.
A boundary-pushing producer behind the decks and a gruff, commanding voice on the mic, the 31-year-old's big strength is the diversity of his sonic palette.
His setlist benefits from his shape-shifting musical tastes, ranging from laidback funk grooves ('Boredom') RnB slow jams ('WUSYANAME?') through to tough bars and menacing beats.
The more hype moments get the sprawling 30,000 crowd hopping in unison, people bouncing and swaying for room in one of the biggest turnouts all weekend.
Many Splendour sets relied on hooks - special guest collabs, cover songs - Tyler stands out for needing none of that and yet providing his own sense of spectacle.
He's got insane rapport with the audience too, beginning with humorously deciding if he should address the crowd as 'Gold Coast or Brisbane?'
Responding to chants for a Shoey, he toys with the front row for a few minutes before declaring. "Okay, stop. A huge group of while people yelling at me is scary!"
He's funny and charming. Not just his impish banter but his animated movement, using his entire body and facial expressions to sell the punchlines and emotion in each song.
Crucially, he's having as much fun as the audience, and it's infectious.
Tyler Okonma (as he's know to #1 fan, his mum) is light years more entertaining than your average trap rhymer. That's been self-evident ever since his controversy-courting days fronting Odd Future, the blogosphere-era rap collective whose first Australian tour back in 2011 was a wild affair.
That reputation meant he was once considered banned from entering the country (kinda nuts in retrospect). But Tyler's star has only gotten bigger as he's evolved artistically. He's retained the OG fans of his antagonistic early solo records (like Bastard and Goblin) but his popularity has swelled in recent years and albums.
"I dropped this gay ass album that turned 5 two days ago," he says of 2017's lush, boundary-expanding Flower Boy, which receives roars of recognition from the Splendour crowd. He then rolls into the Rex Orange County-assisted 'Boredom' and '911'. (Hey, Splendour finally got Frank Ocean... in the form of a vocal sample.)
Later, he steamrolls through a sampling of "old shit", including sinister breakout hit 'Yonkers', before two big moments from one of 2019's most celebrated albums: the lovesick, cinematic synth-jams of IGOR.
He leaves the pastel suit and blonde wig of that alter-ego at home, but 'EARFQUAKE' provides one of the day's biggest boogie-alongs that morphs into a heartfelt a capella sing-along.
The explosive, cathartic 'NEW MAGIC WAND' is a standout too with pyro bursting front of stage, seeming to set the digital backdrop of a forest ablaze.
You don't have to be a devotee of his catalogue to enjoy the performance, but it's clear that most of the young crowd here are intimately across his three back-to-back ARIA Top 10 albums.
They bellow back every hook and chorus, relish every call and response, ensuring the atmosphere is magnetic throughout. And Tyler appreciates it.
"I stink, my legs hurt, I'm outta breath," he told the 30,000-strong hillside. "You know what that signifies? It was a great f**king show." Hard agree!
It was going to be hard to top Tyler's last visit Down Under - around a string of summer festivals in 2019 - but tonight was the new benchmark.
Like his idols Kanye and Pharrell before him, Tyler, The Creator takes stock in the power of wild creativity to shape culture. And he's arguably influencing the sound and direction of rap with as much impact as his predecessors.
When it comes to his live show - an unapologetically ambitious expression of his future-facing ambitions - Tyler, The Creator is in a league of his own.