Tyler, The Creator has always been stretching the boundaries of his sound. Ever since he got his musical footing with Bastard (back in 2009), he has expressed—through his unique sound—that he’s not like the musicians around him. Throughout his career, Tyler has been fluid and ever-changing, making it hard for people to define his sound. There is no doubt that Tyler’s creativity spans across a number of different genres, and he’s able to use elements from each throughout his music.
His desire to be outside the box is evident throughout his entire discography. Extremely vulgar and crude lyrics were present on Bastard and Goblin (his first two projects), often backed by loud, bold instruments to help emphasize the energy. His second studio album, Wolf, featured a relatively cohesive story backed by jazzy, warped electronic production—with the sound of each track matching the story told by Tyler. Although his sound at the time fell into the category of rap, he began to further stretch some elements of his music outside of the genre. His 2015 Cherry Bomb album is a great example of this, as he began to expose his more vulnerable side while experimenting with heavy synths, loud and distorted bass, and a number of other instruments.
This shift in sound was further expanded upon with Flower Boy, released two years later. On his fourth studio album, he became more comfortable with his audience, opening himself up on topics regarding his love life and sexuality. IGOR followed Flower Boy, but was completely different from anything he had released in the past. Before IGOR’s release, he told fans that “this is not Bastard. This is not Goblin. This is not Wolf. This is not Cherry Bomb. This is not Flower Boy. This is IGOR. Pronounced EEE-GORE. Don’t go into this expecting a rap album. Don’t go in expecting any album. Just go, jump into it. I believe the first listen works best all the way through, no skips. Front to back. No distractions either. No checking your phone no watching TV no holding convo, full attention towards the sounds where you can form your own opinions and feelings towards the album. Some go on walks, some drive, some lay in bed and sponge it all up. Whatever it is you choose, fully indulge. With volume. As much as I would like to paint a picture and tell you my favorite moments, I would rather you form your own. If we ever cross paths, feel free to articulate what those moments were for you.” With IGOR, Tyler showed fans that he cannot be boxed into just one category, mixing elements of neo-soul, jazz, and pop.
Despite Tyler’s sound continuing to grow outside of the rap genre (and, IGOR only containing 41.5% of rap vocals, as reported by @HipHopNumbers on Twitter), people still try to constantly lock him in a “rap” cage. IGOR was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2020 Grammy Awards, even though it was the farthest project from the genre. Tyler was outspoken about this, especially after the ceremony, where he told the audience that he felt “half and half on [The Grammys voting process]. On one side, I’m very grateful that what I made could just be acknowledged in the world like this. But also it sucks that whenever we, and I mean guys that look like me, do anything that’s genre bending or that’s anything they always put it in a rap or urban category, and I don’t like that urban word, it’s just a politically correct way to say the n-word to me. So, when I hear that I’m just like ‘why can’t we just be in pop,’ you know what I mean? Half of me feels like the rap nomination was a backhanded compliment.” Throughout his career, Tyler has always gone against the grain, receiving heavy criticism for it during his earlier days. Even during one of the highest points of his career, he received—in his words—a “backhanded compliment” with Best Rap Album.
Rather than try to put Tyler, The Creator’s sound into a certain category, it’s important to define him as he defines himself: a creator. He is not just a rapper or a producer, he is a fluid creator and constantly changing. Constraining Tyler to one category only does a disservice to him as a creator, since he’s worked so hard to go against the status quo and be innovative with his music.
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