New Jersey White Boy's Rap of the Week: Tyler, the Creator

Irreverent. Scary. Thought-provoking. Weird. Homophobic. Misogynistic. Amazing. Horrible. Depending on who you ask, that’s what you’d get if you asked someone to describe Tyler, The Creator. And, they’re kind of right. Sort of.

Founder and most successful member (although Frank Ocean is challenging that) of Odd Future WOLF Gang Kill Them All, usually shortened to Odd Future or OFWGKTA (who will get their own feature at some point), Tyler is generating a lot of hype, especially given the fact that he’s only 21. He pretty much does everything for him and his group; he produces, raps, makes all of the album art, and directs a bunch of their videos. He even designs some of their non-Supreme and non-Fucking Awesome clothes (although I do think his clothes are fucking awesome and supreme). He’s built himself up quite an empire, and gave a lot of people a platform to launch their own careers – Frank Ocean, Syd the Kid and Hodgy Beats all have got the attention they have because of Odd Future (along with their own natural talents). OFWGKTA, for an angry rap group founded by a kid who was in high school at the time, has become a strong force in the rap game.

He writes frequently about rape, murder, foot fetishes, and necrophilia, and frequently employs homophobic and misogynistic lines in his songs. However, he does touch some real and personal topics on various tracks. BASTARD, his first album, also dealt with a lot of his feelings about never knowing his father, although he does mention it a few times here and there on later releases. GOLBIN, his second album, focused more on the new-found fame he’s gotten, and the depressing changes surrounding that. It adds some weight to the otherwise funny, angry and “I don’t give a fuck” tones of the rest of that album. But expect to hear a lot about murder and rape. A lot of murder and rape.

However, there once again is an overarching story (yeah for my consistent taste in albums!). The story is set up in the opening track of BASTARD, where Tyler is sitting down with a therapist, Dr. TC. The first and last song bookend the visit, while the rest of the songs are supposed to be what he’s discussing with the therapist. In GOLBIN, he takes that to a new level by having Dr. TC come on in between tracks to further the story or introduce a song. He even starts the album with where the last one drops off. I won’t ruin the ending of either one, but things get real at the end of GOLBIN, and is heavily foreshadowed throughout both albums. And it sets up a fantastic and interesting ending, and I’m excited to see where he takes WOLF.

Tyler also likes to rap in characters. Currently, he’s got Wolf Haley (the evil white counterpart to Tyler, and is naturally a ginger), Ace (his depressed, suicidal lovelorn teenager), Tron Cat (the evil voice in Tyler’s head telling him to kill people, burn shit, and fuck school), and occasionally will rap as himself. It’s pretty obvious who’s rapping at the time. He’s done stuff outside of those guys, and Young Nigga, a Lil B-style rapper who loves expensive pasta. He is also airing an Adult Swim show called Loiter Squad with 3 other group mates, and looks to be a mix of 4^th wall breaking madness and low-budget sketches about random, stupid topics (i.e. hilarious, especially if you’re a AS regular). That said, Tyler, the Creator is actually a character itself, created by Tyler Okonma. Which means that the character of Tyler is making characters, and has made characters for his various songs, most notably “Sarah”, an analog for a girl who turned him down for prom, and “Dr. TC”, Tyler, the Creator’s therapist. This rabbit hole goes deep, and it’s hard to tell what’s real. But that’s the point; what’s in his head is what comes out in the songs, and who knows how much of his mind is grounded in reality.

We’ll see a departure with his next album, WOLF. It’ll focus more on the beats and less on the rapping, and be less about all the stuff I just talked about. Which may or may not be a good thing; we’ll just have to wait and see. But for those who call his “shit a bunch of horrorcore”, it might be a welcome change. But for now, we can enjoy the mosh pit, serial killer Tyler.

So peep his Yonkers video, which is probably one of his best songs and a fantastic video.