Tyler, The Creator - Flower Boy

Let me paint a little picture for you all.  It's 2011, Rap is becoming a little stale for little old me.  Then, out of nowhere I come across this truly twisted and quite frankly seriously unsettling Mixtape cover which featured a picture of a group of Children's school picture.  However, the picture was edited to have some of the children's eyes missing, upside down crosses and Anarchy symbols on others foreheads, among other deformities.  The mixtape simply read "Bastard", and it was by Tyler, The Creator.  Things got even more unsettling as I worked my way through this Mixtape, as Tyler painted the most warped and twisted autobiography you're going to hear.  "Bastard" illustrated Tyler as someone who thought Rape was sexually attractive, was seriously homophobic, and may or may not be a necrophiliac.  During all of this, Tyler incorporated fake interviews with his "Therapist", that gave this album a very real feel as well.  Needless to say, Tyler didn't hold a single punch back.  On top of that, the beats were Low-Fi and all had a demo sounding quality, and they had such a quiet and cold sound to them, making this Mixtape more of a horror movie than anything.  Needless to say, as revolting and disgusting as this project is, critics loved it, the internet loved it, and it's become one of my favorite Mixtapes ever.  It's almost like watching "A Clockwork Orange" or "The Last House on The Left", it's awful and disgusting, but you can't seem to stop watching, or in this case listening.  Shortly after, Tyler released the gigantic "Goblin" album.  Tracks like "She" (featuring Frank Ocean) and "Yonkers"  immediately got Tyler a whole new fan base being big singles.  But this album when you look deeper had a whole lot going on.  It showed Tyler as the same, despicable character (which he explains early in the album is just that, and not actually his views or actions).  It showed Tyler as anarchistic on "Radicals" and more pissed off at fame and his father on "Goblin".  But at the same time, in a weird way, Tyler was becoming more human and showing feelings, in his own disgusting way that is.  Take for example, on "She" Tyler comes off as truly head over heels in love with someone to the point where it's kind of adorable.  Until you know, there's that line about him killing her and wanting to have sex with her dead body.  But there are some other oddly human moments on "Goblin" as well.  I don't think it's nearly as concise as "Bastard", but it's still a very good rap album.  Then, in 2013 Tyler shocked a whole lot of his fans with the much more subdued and somber "Wolf" album.  Tracks on here like "Awkward" dealt with relationships, while "Answer" continued with Tyler's obsession with his Father.  Sure, there were ballsy and vicious and over the top tracks like "Trashwang" and "Pigs" to keep his older fans pleased.  But overall, this was a totally different side to Tyler, a much more human side to him, and he was certainly showing off a much bigger range of emotion.  So far, Tyler's career has been gigantic and pretty damn flawless.  But his 2015 album "Cherry Bomb" left me scratching my head.  This album showed Tyler at his most creative so far, incorporating elements of Rock and Soul in his usual over the top Shock-Rap.  But to be honest, this album while it was 100% Tyler's vanity project, seemed to me to be all over the place.  While tracks like "DEATHCAMP" and the short but intense "RUN", other tracks like "BLOW MY LOAD" and "PILOT" just seemed a little too out of control.  The production was sketchy, the ideas were messy, "Cherry Bomb" just wasn't for me.  Tyler is back, and my goodness have these new singles been ridiculous.  I don't wanna say anything else about this album let's just dive right in.

    This album starts off with “Foreword”.  As far as the beat goes, this is pretty standard for Tyler.  But I think easily the star here are these lyrics.  These are some of Tyler’s most introspective and self-examining lyrics in years, and honestly, I love it.  We always knew that Tyler had a serious soft spot in him deep down, even though it was always shrouded over by this character he played.  But “Forward” is completely next level for Tyler.  Obviously, this is some of Tyler’s most personal material that I’ve ever heard him touch by far.  Production wise, Tyler has come such a long way since the clunkier days of “Goblin”.  But the eerie synths and funky licks in the background certainly give it a more Tyler feel.  I actually really love this very sweet and infectious introduction.  Not to mention, that sung hook comes off really strong as well.  The very sunny and sweet atmosphere of this album continues next with “Where This Flower Blooms” featuring Frank Ocean.  I continue to really love some of these very elegant instrumentals Tyler has put together.  This one certainly has a little more of a banging beat to it and all, but it’s far from explosive or anything like that.  Frank’s contributions are solid and all, but I would have maybe liked a little more from him.  But the material we do get from Frank, however, is certainly decent.  But the continuing story here is just how interesting and biographical Tyler is coming off.   We’ve known him for years, we’ve slowly gotten to know his life for years, but now it’s all just pouring out of him and it’s a wonderful thing.  Up next we have a sweet sort of interlude, “Sometimes…”.  It certainly moves things along nicely.  But this easily could have been tied on to the end of another track.  “See You Again” is up next, and the sung hooks continue to be a seriously huge selling point for this album.  Like, I can't remember the last time I heard so many catchy and ear grabbing tracks from Tyler all in one place.  “See You Again” is borderline a straight up R&B tune.  To be honest, it actually comes off as a really sweet sentiment from Tyler.  The fact that this is even the same artist that produced such shocking albums as “Bastard” is beyond stunning.  Even the rap verses on “See You Again” are expertly crafted, and are booming just enough to make this one pop.  It’s not my favorite track here, and there are a few elements that I wish were just a little more aggressive.  But overall, this is still pretty damn good.  Out of nowhere though, we get “Who Dat Boy” featuring A$AP Rocky, and just hearing this track makes me feel like I’m back in the “Goblin” days of Tyler.  I love the very unnerving, cry beat to this one as well as the very sinister sounding strings.  As far as a banger goes, this is the wildest and most aggressive track here.  It’s intense, it’s angry, it honestly sounds like Tyler when he first started coming up.  Rocky’s verse is a little different for him, I’m honestly used to hearing him on hazier beats.  That being said, I think he actually pulls off his verse really well.  As far as a balls out, aggressive banger, “Who Dat Boy” is fantastic.

    When I hear tracks like “Pothole”, I really do have to sit and just think a second and realize just how much Tyler has grown as an artist.  The beat here is totally smooth and almost Jazz influenced, and Tyler’s very bouncy verse over it comes off very fresh.  I honestly can’t remember the last time I heard Tyler this animated and in your face   As far as the lyrics go on this one, this easily has some of my favorite wordplay of the entire album from Tyler.  I just can’t seem to get enough of how sweet and infectious this all comes off as.  It’s a serious change of pace for Tyler.  Plus, I have to use this word, but this might just be the most “Alternative” sounding Hip Hop Tyler has brought to the table in years.  The very Neo-Soul edge to this album continues right into “Garden Shed” featuring Estelle.  Hell, this track is a straight up slow jam.  But the very icy production obviously makes this still a Tyler track.  But hell, for an icy slow jam, this track comes off seriously classy.  Then, let’s talk about this damn singing from Tyler.  It’s something he’s tried to do for years occasionally, and it’s never been too flattering.  But to be honest, some of his bars on “Garden Shed” seriously come off wonderful, and show him putting a ton of effort into it.  And the result is seriously smooth and addictive.  Outside of that, this is one of the more patient tracks of the album, with the verse not hitting until the last minute or so.  But man is it ever seriously memorable.  “Boredom” featuring Rex Orange County and Anna of the North continues on with a whole lot of the same vibes.  But also continuing here are the seriously sunny and innocent attitude of this album.  I feel like listening to a lot of these tracks, I feel so youthful and like I’m falling in love for the first time.  But then we have Tyler’s verse here, which is almost paranoid and paints him as this seriously lonely individual.  And I mean he is SERIOUSLY lonely.  Like, you end up sympathizing with him big time, which is something I honestly thought I would never say about Tyler.  Then we have the instrumental switch-up in the last two minutes or so, which is seriously classy and quite beautiful within itself.  Tyler, you’ve outdone yourself.  Then, out of nowhere, we get another banger in the form of “I Ain’t Got Time”.  I love the seriously sinister synths here and Tyler’s super aggressive flow.  To an extent, I would say this almost doesn’t belong here.  But it ends up mixing up the album really nicely.  The production continues to be a serious standout for me as well.  I honestly don’t have a bad thing to say about “I Ain’t Got Time”.  I do feel like this track caters more to the “Bastard” era of Tyler, however, so if that was something you were into give this a listen.  But then we get a seriously huge blast of Neo Soul and Alternative R&B in the form of “911/Mr. Lonely”.  Now, Tyler’s word play for years now has been seriously stunning, I’ve always taken him down as a dude who really appreciates MF Doom.  Not so shocking, it continues here wonderfully.  But what also continues, is just how sad of a character Tyler continues to come off as.  We’ve known Tyler has had some issues for years. But here, he just sounds alone in the world, and it’s heartbreaking.  Frank Ocean’s contribution to this one is so much more memorable than his earlier feature here.  Overall, “911/Mr. Lonely” is seriously eye opening.  But I feel like, with each passing moment, Tyler just gives us more and more insight to how he feels deep down.  Which continues right into the more aggressive and fast paced conclusion of this track.  But as aggressive as it remains, it also remains emotionally conscious.  What a track. 

    Now, up next we get a short track, “Droppin’ Seeds” featuring Lil Wayne.  As a whole, this one has a lot of the same feels within the icy synths and sweet instrumentals.  But then we have Lil Wayne dropping a completely out of place and quite frankly time wasting verse.  It’s a minute long, so clearly it’s over quick.  But I’m just not feeling it at all.  And I’m sure other people are going to be totally into this one-minute breakaway.  But I’m no Lil Wayne fan, so for me, this was a big waste of time.  But Tyler bounces back really fast with the steady and straightforward “November”.  Lyrically, Tyler continues to be aiming for some seriously introspective and interesting lyrics.  On “November”, Tyler goes down a list of questions about his fame and his time in the spotlight.  There are all things that Tyler has tackled before in the past, but never this clearly an deeply.  Numerous tracks later, and Tyler continues to come off so alone sounding.  “Flower Boy” remains and will probably always be Tyler’s most human release.  Then we have “Glitter”, in which the R&B sound hasn’t been stronger.  But man, this track to me is just seriously messy as hell.  The beat here really doesn’t work for me at all, and it sounds like it’s constantly trying to catch up with Tyler.  Then we have some of these vocals, which are really a huge back step for me.  The verses here are alright and all, but I wouldn’t say there’s anything about this that hasn’t been done on other tracks here so much better.  Not to mention, the entire last minute is completely unnecessary.  This album finishes off with “Enjoy Right Now, Today”.  Now, I don’t really want to dive too deep into this, because being an extended instrumental I really don’t want to paint a meaning where it’s not intended.  But for a sweet, sunny, 4 minute instrumental, it’s a pleasant way to end this album.  

Rating: 8.4/10

Give A Listen To: “Foreword”, “Boredom”, “Garden Shed”, "911/Mr. Lonely"

Overall Thoughts:  If you liked the more human, more sweet direction that Tyler's "Wolf" album was pushing towards, you need to listen to this pronto.  This is by far Tyler's most emotional and more telling album to date.  Even though we've felt like we've been getting to know Tyler for years, this is almost an intense therapy session, as he reveals his thoughts on a lot of his personal demons.  But it's done in such a really sweet, catchy way that it never gets too hard to listen to.  The fact that Tyler had this album in him in the first place is seriously incredible.   If you're a fan of Tyler, and want to dive deep into his mind like never before, this is pretty incredible.