Tyler’s Latest Creation
The Renaissance Man's Newest Inventions
It’s been almost ten years since LA-based artist Tyler, The Creator (Tyler Okonma) released his debut mixtape The Odd Future Tape alongside fellow rappers Hodgy, Left Brain, and Casey Veggies. It wasn’t until 2011 however, when Tyler’s presence was felt in the mainstream with the release of his visually jarring music video for his song “Yonkers.”
In the years following, the 27-year-old has been anything but unproductive. Leading the rap collective Odd Future, releasing three solo albums, starting a fashion line, acting and directing in his own TV show Loiter Squad, and a number of collaborations with big name musicians are just a few of the accolades on his résumé.
His latest solo album, Flower Boy, earned Tyler his first nomination for best rap album of the year at the 2018 Grammy Awards, only losing out to Kendrick Lamar’s “Damn.“ While his album dropped back in July of 2017, the music video for his new single, “See You Again,” already has over 6 million views since it’s release last week.
The video, which was directed by Tyler under one of his many pseudonyms, Wolf Haley, features talented Colombian-American singer Kali Uchis. Compared with his earlier works, “See You Again” and many of the other songs on Flower Boy are notably milder and less brash stylistically. While you could argue that this is a result of a maturation in Tyler’s sound and self (he was only 20 when Yonkers came out), we can also see the milder, almost romantic sound on Flower Boy to be an exploration of other facets of Tyler’s psyche.
That is to say, while “Yonkers” and his earliest album Goblin are certainly touched with moments of passionate anger and dismissal of authority, the change of pace doesn’t mean that Tyler doesn’t still host these feelings. Rather, like any great artist, he chooses to express what he feels he has to say at the moment. Time and time again, Tyler doesn’t hold back when it comes to expressing what he sees as beautiful or messed up or beautifully messed up in the world.
As if directing, acting, rapping, designing, and goofing around on the internet weren’t enough, Tyler self-made music festival Camp Flog Gnaw is coming to Dodger Stadium on November 10th and 11th with superstars Kanye West and Kid Cudi performing together for the first time! While we may never know what Tyler might do next, we can’t help but hope he continues to keep us on the edge of our seats with his creations.
