Tyler, The Creator - Flower Boy


Tyler, The Creator
Flower Boy
2017
Spotify

The thing about Tyler, The Creator is up until this point, this album, He was always much more promise than actual delivery. His records were sometimes interesting, always weird and never painted him in what felt like an authentic light. It was forced weirdness, a caricature of being a rapper and a reaction to almost everything rap stood for. Yet it was idea, now on Flower Boy it is a reality. Things are slowed down; "When This Flower Blooms" featuring Frank Ocean has Tyler leaning back until he cannot anymore, He allows the song to unfold rather than forcing it open and it works so incredibly well. The song itself is a quite beautifully played piano line coupled with just a hit of hip hop bass. Tyler used to get upset when Hip Hop publications wouldn't write about He and other Odd Future rappers, but He always missed that perhaps it might have been him. This album is in no way normal, and still has all the features which make Tyler himself, they are just done much better here. "See You Again" is this sort of dreamy electropop-esque number, but it has all this little flourishes that in the past might have just felt out of place, but on this record they make the tracks all the more endearing. The themes on the record go from unrequited love to self-improvement all focused on taking responsibility for your own shit, but colored with this really vivid and crazy palette. "Who Dat Boy" is the first overtly "hard" song, it comes when the album has been in a slow groove for awhile so it works quite well.

The one word you thought you would never hear when it came to Tyler, The Creator's music is subtle, but man He really uses such a light touch on this record. Anna of the North makes a cameo on two tracks "Boredom" and "911/Mr. Lovely" perhaps letting the world know that her album is rapidly approaching. Tyler has taken some heat for some of his more homophobic comments, and while He doesn't apologize for them he is able to more accurate articulate his thoughts rather than just say exactly what is on his mind. While there are a few times where Tyler allows songs to go to long on this record it is no where near how bad he used to be. I might even be bold enough to call this album "tight"? You want to say how Tyler has evolved and changed as an artist after listening to this record, but He still maintains his personality throughout He just has cut out all the bullshit and self indulgence that plagued his earlier records. Lil Wayne also brings a really great verse to "Droppin' Seeds" which has this almost Casio keyboard line that is just infections. Tyler has managed to create an album that is not only fun for his diehard fans, but capable of bringing in new folks as well. Just really well done stuff.

8.4 out of 10

Comments

Popular Posts