Tyler, the Creator starts ‘Chromakopia’ tour in St. Paul in a dramatic way

With St. Paul the Opening City on Tyler, Creator’s tour, was Minnesota fans the first to see how the rapper would merge his more serious and dramatic new persona with the wild problem child of old.

Los Angeles’ second largest rap star in the 21st century (after Kendrick Lamar) found an innovative way to balance his past with his present in Tuesday’s kickoff date for his Chromakopia tour at the Xcel Energy Center. It was almost as if he performed two different concerts, each as impressive.

The 33-year-old rapper, producer and clothing designer born Tyler Okonma played to about 15,000 fans, his first sold-out twin-cities audience after a stable decade and a half ascension Avenue and the Soundset festival with his old crew Odd Future.

How odd future was raw and scandalous (and sexist), Tyler has grown into a more contemplative and mature if still sharp -edged artist. His latest album, “Chromakopia,” Dives into his family history with an alienated father from Nigeria. He also opens up his battles with fame, sexuality, relationships and two words that have killed many a rapper’s career: growing up.

Tyler opened Tuesday’s concert with a long assembly of numbers from the new record and nothing but. He played essentially the first half of it in order, starting with the overture-like “St. Chroma, “Where we hear his own mother tell him,” You are the light. It’s not on you it’s in you. “

The lights were not on Tyler at first, but instead on stage made of green shipping containers from which he appeared. However, he came into focus more and more as he tore through “Rah Tah Tah” and “Noid” what gradually revealed him dressed in a green, Usher-like coat and wearing the plastic mask and Grace Jones-Iian Angular Hairedo seen on the cover of The new album.

“Satellites, screenshots, paparazzi, ndas / privacy? Yes right, I got a better shot in the NBA, “he raised in” Noid, “one of the night’s most intense moments.