Camp Flog Gnaw
Andy Degrasse / Editor / USD Radio
Tyler, the Creator’s 8th annual Camp Flog Gnaw ended in bizarre fashion last weekend, with the biggest rapper in the world being booed off the stage. Since then there has been much debate about what actually occurred on that fateful November night. Luckily, I am here to set the record straight with the unabridged, uncensored story of what really went down.
From the moment that Tyler, the Creator took the stage, the energy was electric. His sweaty, exhausted hordes of fans, who had been at the same stage for up to 7 hours, were suddenly rejuvenated and screamed in excitement. This was the moment we had been waiting for. Due to a combination of internet speculation and word of mouth gossip, the entire crowd now held the unified belief that they would be seeing Frank Ocean in a matter of minutes. Was there any concrete evidence? Of course not. But that didn’t stop the festival’s attendees from gleefully taking up the mantle of amateur detectives, piecing together every minuscule scrap of evidence to create a theory that seemed very plausible, especially after spending 6 hours in a packed crowd with minimal food or water. Despite these theories, I think it is important to note that while Frank was the frontrunner in most people’s minds, we did not have a Frank or bust mentality. In fact, I specifically remember having a conversation with a person who said they would be satisfied with Drake being the surprise performer. That would change by the end of the night.
As the cheers of the crowd died down, Tyler asked the question we’d all been waiting for: “Do y’all mind if I bring a friend out?” Before we had time to start chanting Frank’s name, the first notes of LPFJ2 by A$AP Rocky began to play. Without a second thought, the entire crowd began to mosh uncontrollably. Rocky played Praise the Lord next, and then made a surprisingly early exit. As he walked off stage, Tyler quelled our anger and surprise by asking permission to bring out another friend. Once again, the crowd erupted as Lil Uzi Vert walked on stage. This was a personal highlight for me, as I have been a big Uzi fan for years. Uzi continued the pattern established by Rocky, playing a couple of his biggest songs before retreating backstage. At this point, the hype had reached its peak. We knew the next artist would have to bigger than Uzi or Rocky, so Frank seemed definite at this point.
From the moment Drake took the stage, it was chaos. The majority of people were positively overjoyed, screaming their lungs out and dancing harder than they had all night. But at this point the first signs of real dissent in the crowd were obvious. Although scarce, there was definitely a small group of fans (likely the artsier crowd) who were too cool to appreciate Drake. As the concert went on, Drake seemed to sense the splitting of support and responded in probably the least effective way possible: by asking the crowd’s permission to keep performing. This move made him seem significantly weaker and increased the crowds’ disdain. He also implied multiple times that he was only supposed to do a couple of songs. These two factors in combination led to fans becoming more and more confused and frustrated with Drake until the infamous booing occurred. Booed offstage, Drake later teased on Instagram, “Plot twist, I just signed a 10 year residency at Camp Flog Gnaw. Sorry kids – see you EVERY SINGLE YEAR ’til you are 30.”
Please note, I am not justifying the boos, just contextualizing from experience.