Tyler, the Creator Artist Review
An Overview of the Musical Career of Tyler, the Creator
Tyler Okonma, famously known as Tyler, the Creator, has been a force to reckon with in the music and fashion scenes over the course of the past decade. He is one of the most original creators the world has seen in recent years, as well as one of the most inspiring. Tyler’s journey from being an amateur musician to becoming one of the most beloved rappers and designers has been very interesting to observe. Growing up, I first discovered Tyler through his affiliation with Odd Future, as he was one of the founders of the rap group. Odd future was a very polarizing group as well, due to their immature behavior and explicit music. However, as a 12 to 13-year-old middle schooler, I found them to be fun, relatable, and entertaining. I even felt inspired by how they just did whatever they wanted, and rebelled against being normal or conforming to the standards of the music industry. They showed younger people around my age that we could be ourselves and still achieve our dreams at the same time. Tyler’s earlier career was heavily influenced by his peers who were in Odd Future with him, and their various styles. As shown in his first mixtape: Bastard.
Bastard
In the first twenty seconds of the intro to the mixtape, you already know you’re getting yourself into an interesting project. Especially when you hear the first lyrics, “This is what the devil plays before he goes to sleep.” Which, is probably true. This is a dark mixtape. Everything from the production, the lyric content, to the delivery Tyler gives on each song, provides a monstrous and rebellious atmosphere. Throughout the tape, you can tell Tyler is trying to test his boundaries. He simply did not care what people thought and was mainly trying to explore his capabilities. Most songs on here honestly have decent instrumentals, and the performances from Tyler and the Odd Future members are entertaining as well. You can tell they knew how to flow, construct decent rhyme schemes, and express their talent in a unique fashion.
The only issue is, even if the lyrics aren’t true, and they are simply meant to be “art”, they’re very hard to listen to. I’m not going to list every offensive or shocking lyric from this mixtape, because that would take too long, but if you ever listen to this project just expect some extremely messed up lyrics. Even though I’ve heard Tyler in interviews try to defend his reasoning behind including such lyrical content in “Bastard,” it’s still hard to understand how a guy, who is now known to be bisexual, displayed so much hatred towards the homosexual community in his songs back then. Even if he wasn’t trying to target them, it can’t be ignored that people would definitely perceive such lyrics as hurtful. As a concept mixtape, however, this is still pretty good for someone who created it when they were around 16-18 years old since it was created over the course of a couple of years.
The best way to listen to this album is to understand it as more of a concept, rather than a reality, even if it’s hard to separate those lyrics from personal morals and beliefs. When it is seen as a concept, it is a pretty good “horrorcore-esque” rap mixtape. It is definitely inspired by Tyler’s Odd Future peers at the time as well, as they all said pretty messed up things on most of their songs, and had a rebellious attitude towards their music and overall public image. I also think this was a way for Tyler to take out the anger and angst he may have been feeling at the time, by creating a character he could use as a sort of pathway for his emotions. There are many lyrics on his first few project that display signs of emotional baggage he was carrying at the time. My personal favorite songs are Odd Toddlers, with its MF DOOM instrumental and excellent performances from Tyler and Casey Veggies; Blow; and, Inglorious. I would give this mixtape a 5.5/10
Goblin
Well, this album is even more of a monstrous beast than Bastard was. “Goblin” is seen as Tyler, the Creator’s legendary, and very controversial commercial debut as an artist. With an hour and 22 minutes of pure rap-punk darkness, this album is hard to get through.
By the time you finish the song Radical, the third song on the album, you’re wondering if you should even continue. Although it is made clear in the song that the lyrical content is “fiction”, it’s still just not a great song. I mean, it’s seven minutes long and never gets interesting. It’s clear Tyler is trying to tear through even more boundaries on this project, like with his famous/iconic song Yonkers, where he clearly wants to explore the character he created on “Bastard” by mentioning he doesn’t think his therapist, the character known as “Dr. TC”, isn’t working for him. This character is explored even further in the song “She”, featuring Frank Ocean. This song might be my favorite song on the album, as it is ironically the easiest to listen to. Even if the song is about Tyler’s character, Goblin, stalking a woman he’s attracted to. Frank Ocean’s beginning verse, and his hook, are extremely catchy, though. Tyler does a pretty good job matching the vibe as well and shows a vulnerable side of his conceptual character. It’s like a scary crush song you’d hear in a strange indie horror movie.
This horror-movie-like atmosphere is displayed even more in the song Transylvania, where Tyler compares his character to Dracula and raps about misogynist fantasies. Then, things just feel like they get darker and darker as the album drones on. The instrumentals aren’t that great and aren’t helped by the lyrical content either. A prime example is Tron Cat, one of Tyler’s more infamous songs.
I know I keep saying this but, even though this is a concept album, it’s like I’m listening to one of the more disturbing horror stories I’ve ever heard. I’d compare this album to Silence of the Lambs, or a Clockwork Orange, or even the film Irreversible. This album is definitely horrorcore in my opinion. It’s as if Tyler wanted to paint the perfect portrait of a psychopath or something. I honestly couldn’t get through some of these songs. They made me feel horrible just hearing some of the stuff he says. It can be way too much. I think there are definitely better ways of creating dark art. Frank Ocean comes in again on the song Fish and gives us somewhat of a break from the nightmarish atmosphere of the album yet again, but still sings some strange lyrics. The beat on Analog is okay and has better lyrics, but still sounds a bit boring. Window has a pretty good ensemble of people, yet still comes out boring due to the monotone deliveries and extremely one-noted beat. Then on Golden Tyler confronts a lot of demons he has, and his character realizes his alternate personalities are all just him.
I honestly had to skip through a bunch of songs since I gave up on trying to make sense of this album. This has always been my least favorite Tyler project, the production isn’t really good at all, most of his performances are mediocre, and the lyric content is, like I’ve said a million times, just way too dark for me to like at all. I would give this album a 3/10, and my favorite songs are She and Yonkers.
Wolf
While reviewing these albums, I felt relieved to finally get to Wolf, as it is the first album by Tyler, the Creator that I heard and loved. This album is based on the concept of Tyler’s character, now named Wolf, at summer camp. So, overall this album provides feelings of nostalgia and fond recollection.
Tyler truly matures on this album, but still has a few raunchy/childish songs like Jamba, Domo23, and Tamale. He seems to be exploring his feelings on love with the storyline of the fictional love triangle between him, and the characters Sam and Salem. Tyler also raps about his feelings on loneliness, the absence of his father, how it was for him growing up on his own, and the pressures of fame. The song structures on this album are also much more mature and constructed in a way that most of the songs are listenable and enjoyable. The instrumentals are also so much better. I don’t know what happened between the making of Goblin and Wolf, but Tyler grew so much as a producer and overall as an artist while making this record. He’s so much more honest, and vulnerable, and shows more of his true self instead of hiding his emotions behind a concept or some characters like on Bastard and Goblin.
This is shown in songs like Answer, where Tyler provides details on how he feels about his dad abandoning him and his mom, and how he can’t forgive him, but hopes they can have a relationship someday. The hooks on this album tend to be pretty well made, too, and Tyler’s rapping sounds a lot better. The stories Tyler tells on songs such as Slater, 48, and IFHY, display his talent for creating more sensible, and understandable stories that are complimented by his very pleasant production and more stable performances. He even has Nas on the intro and outro of the song 48, which is interesting because Nas is an acclaimed storyteller as well. One of the best songs on the album, PartyIsntOver/Campfire/Bimmer explores more of the nostalgic themes, where Tyler talks about friendship and romance and gives us 3 chill jams within one song. IFHY is a dark romance of a song, where Tyler debates his love for Salem and happens to be co-produced by Pharrell. This song along with the song Pigs is great at building on the story of the love triangle, and Pigs provides a back story to the character Sam as well, and how Tyler/Wolf sympathizes with him, as Sam was bullied before they met. Then, on Parking Lot, which is one of the more confusing tracks for me on this album, as it feels out of place. It just sounds so bizarre on this album, as Tyler essentially just talks about Loiter Squad, a show he made with members of Odd Future. I don’t know why but this song is just weird for me.
Rusty, featuring Domo Genesis and Earl Sweatshirt, is easily the best song on the album, lyrically at least. Each verse sounds so hungry and displays each rapper’s talent to a tee. Domo has what might be one of his best verses ever, and is complemented by the dark and woozy instrumental. Trashwang, the song following Rusty, is a posse cut on the album, and should honestly be listened to as more of a joke, as the whole song is basically Tyler and members of OF just messing around. In complete contrast to Trashwang, Treehome95 is a slow R&B cut featuring Erykah Badu and Coco O, who both sing beautifully on this track.
The album then finishes off with the songs Tamale and Lone. Tamale is an insane song and is truly just meant for Tyler to mess around on and spit the absolute weirdest bars he can think of. Lone is a great finish to the album, as Tyler just raps to his fictional therapist Dr. TC about problems with fame, wanting to quit everything, and he talks about the death of his grandma. All while rapping over the song Jornada by Wilson Das Neves. Overall, this album shows Tyler was growing as an artist, and as a person. He was more comfortable with exploring more mature sounds, and he displayed his influences nicely. This album is also just way more fun to listen to than Bastard and Goblin. My favorite tracks are Awkward, Answer, 48, PartyIsntOver/Campfire/Bimmer, and Rusty. I would give this record an easy 7.5/10
Cherry Bomb
AKA Chur Bum
Cherry Bomb is one of Tyler’s most dividing projects when it comes to his fan base, as most people love it or hate it. Personally, I don’t think it’s as bad as a lot of people make it out to be. This was a time period where Tyler was separating himself from his previous image in some ways and wasn’t tied to members of Odd Future anymore. A lot of people say this album shows him shifting into different sounds, and experimenting with production as well as song structure.
Honestly, the production on this album saves a lot of songs, as the lyrics and song structures aren’t that amazing. Tyler comes off as very angry and brash on some songs, then very melodic and relaxed on others. Songs like Deathcamp, Pilot, and Cherry Bomb make Tyler sound very distorted and punk, with equally distorted instrumentals. The guitar riffs on Deathcamp, the intro track, make it sound like you’re about to step into a world of chaos and confusion. This confusion Tyler seems to have been feeling at the time is explained in the next song, Buffalo, where he addresses how he wants to be a leader and a role model despite all the controversy he has created around his image and name.
Further into the project, Tyler constantly hints at wanting to find himself and create a better future for himself and his music. He wants to be a better version of himself. This is seen in songs such as Pilot, which has beautiful vocal harmonies from Syd, and an instrumental that evolves nicely. Run, which to me sounds like an interlude on this album, doesn’t really work, even with its deeper message. It just sounds so irritating, with how the beat never changes and Tyler raps in a very annoyingly pitched voice. The first “chill” song on this album, Find Your Wings, gives us a nice break from the distortion and chaos, and allows us to feel the ecstasy of realizing we want more to our life than mediocrity, sadness, or anger. Which, Tyler seems to have been feeling at the time of recording this record. Most of the chill songs on this album make it a lot better to be honest and are my favorites to listen to.
Immediately after Find Your wings, Cherry Bomb comes in and blows up your eardrums. I cannot emphasize enough how insane this song sounds. The synths are extremely heavy, and every instrument clashes into a giant wall of sounds that never seems to smooth out. Tyler sounds like a true demon on this track as well. It’s a good hype song, but the production is a little too messy overall. Blow My Load follows and sounds like a complete contrast to the previous track. It's boring, doesn’t really go anywhere, and has nothing special to bring forward. And, the lyrics are just super weird to me. 2Seater comes next, and honestly, I really like this song. However, like some other songs on this album, it suffers from poor pacing. This whole album didn’t really need to be as long as it is, and this song is another example of a track that could have been greater if it was cut a bit shorter. The next song, The Brown Stains of Darkeese Latifah, is a decent hype track, but it’s overall just mediocre. Hearing ScHoolboy Q on it is cool, he and Tyler work together really well, but it’s just an average song in this album.
Another chill song follows, F***ing Young/Perfect, and this is still one of Tyler’s prettiest songs he’s made. Charlie Wilson singing along throughout the choruses makes this song sound so lush and charming. The lyric content is definitely a bit strange at points, but this song is just such a jam for me. The switch to the back half of the song is so satisfying, and the beat matches Kali Uchis’s vocals so well. She sounds incredible here. Getting near the end of the album, the song Smuckers plays next. This is still to this day one of my favorite Tyler songs. Everything about it is just so fun to listen to. Tyler raps his ass off, and so do Kanye West and Lil Wayne. The beat is also my favorite on this album. The album finishes with the songs Keep Da O’s and Okaga, CA, which are both just very boring and forgettable for me. I don’t have much to say about them.
This project is definitely a bit of a confusing listen, but it’s not terrible. There are a lot of quality tracks, but a few are very unlistenable. My highlights off this record are Buffalo, Find Your Wings, 2Seater, F’ing Young/Perfect, and Smuckers. I would give this album a 6-6.5/10.