If there’s anyone who should perform in an art museum, it’s Tierra Whack. The North Philly singer and rapper introduced fans to her multiverse with 2018’s Whack World, where each 30-second song builds out a world of off-kilter characters that — like a Pixar movie for adults — embody a full spectrum of emotion. This month, her long-awaited debut album, World Wide Whack, cemented her as one of this generation’s most fiercely original songwriters. Whack hasn’t yet announced an official tour, but Bay Area fans have a chance to see her early at SFMOMA’s Art Bash, where she’s performing an hour-long set on April 24.
A bit more intimate than your standard concert setting, Art Bash is a fundraiser party for San Francisco’s contemporary art museum. And if you’re not a well-heeled art patron who can afford to donate thousands of dollars, the museum offers lower-tier ticket prices comparable to the cost of an arena concert. A $250 party ticket will get you in to see Whack’s entire set, and a $95 late-night party ticket will allow you to see the second half of her performance and then catch the rest of the entertainment.
Among art activations created specifically for the event, the offerings include a drag stage curated by storied LGBTQ+ club Oasis and DJ sets from some of the Bay’s best selectors: experimental online radio station Lower Grand Radio and genre-defying Latin music party Sazon Libre.
On World Wide Whack, Whack strips away the personas and lays bare her real, human struggles. Though her flows and song arrangements remain playful, she reveals the mental health challenges that accompanied her rapid ascent, and opens up about overcoming suicidal ideation and impostor syndrome. The archetype of the sad clown is ever-present. In the colorful, stylized music video for “27 CLUB,” off-puttingly happy cheerleaders dance around her as she takes off masks and sings about a deep depression. And in the visual for “TWO NIGHT,” she becomes an inflatable parade float crashing through a city while getting damaged and abused by townsfolk.
