Tyler, the Creator - 'Flower Boy' Album Review

Tyler, the Creator – ‘Flower Boy’

Tyler, the Creator has always embraced the grotesque nature of his lyrics, the fact that he is banned from several countries and the immature way in which he presented himself on his previous records, and this is often what divides people’s opinions of this young rapper. People are either able to see past some of the grim lyrics and appreciate his talent, whilst others base their opinions on these lyrics. I for one am one of his fans, however, the question has always remained regarding about when he would finally mature and begin to explore the full range of his talents. He clearly attempted to do this on his last album; the N.E.R.D inspired ‘Cherry Bomb’. A record that ultimately disappointed due to its disjointed sound that ended up burying the lyrical ability of Tyler and simply served as an album that was quickly forgotten. Tyler seemingly abandoned the outside world for the vast majority of 2016, presumably to reconcile after ‘Cherry Bomb, making very little public appearances and ditching his social media accounts, and this therefore led to the huge shock of the surprise announcement of his 4^th studio album ‘Flower Boy’ (also known as ‘Scum Fuck Flower Boy’) earlier this year.

From first listen, it seems apparent that Tyler has finally cracked his psyche; he has finally begun to understand how to successfully merge the worlds of teenage angst, innocence & stupidity, and the world of maturity, love & adulthood. ‘Cherry Bomb’ was full of love songs, but they were love songs that were daft and immature and could even be considered as creepy due to their occasional ability to use rather abhorrent lyrics. Yet, on ‘Flower Boy’, the love songs are majestic odes that cleverly navigate the themes of unrequited love, the pain that love can bring, understanding the confusion of love and the angst of a missed connection. Tyler has also used ‘Flower Boy’ as a way of coming out, an idea that seems shocking when you consider some of his previous lyrics, yet it is an idea that conversely feels completely expected. On ‘Foreword’ he spits “Shoutout to the girls that I led on/For occasional head and always keeping my bed warm” and “Next line will have them like ‘Whoa’/I’ve been kissing white boys since 2004”. With this being the first track on this record, Tyler wastes no time in ensuring that his fans understand that he is coming out. However, despite his past of using homophobic slurs in his music, Tyler does not seem to be using ‘Flower Boy’ as a way of apologising but more of a way of wanting to be understood. He now feels mature and confident enough to untangle his complex emotions that he has kept hidden and is revealing them for all to see.

‘Flower Boy’ is certainly a selection of Tyler’s most respective and pensive tracks to date. ‘Garden Shed’ and ‘Boredom’ are both beautiful in their own ways with each of these tracks having their own gleefully transparent nature. On previous Tyler records there has also been a tendency to overcomplicate things, whether it be with confusing beats or with sudden shifts in sounds within songs, however, on ‘Flower Boy’, Tyler keeps things simple. It’s running time is a relative short (in relation to his previous records) 46 minutes with no 6 minute filler tracks, each song on ‘Flower Boy’ is straight to the point and beautiful. The standout songs ‘911/Mr Lonely’ & ‘Glitter’ are gorgeously opaque, they are difficult to understand on the face of it, yet in the core of these particular tracks is a broken soul desperately searching for acceptance.

‘Flower Boy’ is Tyler, the Creator’s transitional album. A transition from a youthfully innocent, occasionally idiotic individual to an emotionally complex human being. On ‘Flower Boy’ Tyler is well aware of his past misdoings and rather than apologising, he is searching for acceptance via confession, confession of a part of himself that he has kept extremely well hidden throughout his career, yet we’ve always had an inkling it was there, right? Tyler’s journey of self-discovery on this record is thoughtful, interesting, joyful and refreshing, words that I never thought I’d say about this young man.

Overall Rating – 9/10

Fave Tracks- ‘Boredom’, ‘Garden Shed’, ‘November’, ‘911/Mr Lonely’, ‘Glitter’, ‘I Ain’t Got Time!’

Least Fave Tracks- ‘Who Dat Boy’