![]() He pens songs for his lover (“See You Again”), leaves him voicemails (“Glitter”), and seeks comfort through contact. Flower Boy unfurls from this revelation and the subsequent romance. On “Foreword,” he raps, “Shoutout to the girls that I lead on/For occasional head and always keeping my bed warm/And trying they hardest to keep my head on straight/And keeping me up enough till I had thought I was airborne.” He later writes, “Next line will have ‘em like ‘Whoa’: I’ve been kissing white boys since 2004.” The album’s literal and figurative centerpiece is “Garden Shed,” an inward-looking sexual awakening turning an extended metaphor into a watershed moment. Tyler spends much of Flower Boy chasing his “‘95 Leo,” coming out in the process. These are hopeful and sincere songs about finding yourself and trying to find someone who values you completely. ![]() Finally, Tyler gets to the essence of ideas he’s been chiseling at all along: the angst of a missed connection, the pain of unrequited love, navigating youthful ennui. Conversely, Flower Boy is transformational, lovestruck and penetrating. Time had rendered his shock raps pretty toothless, and it was all sloppy. There were love songs, but they were immature and sometimes flat-out creepy. His raps were regularly empty games of juvenile one-upmanship, snooty hand-wringing aimed at homebodies and the working class, and vitriolic rant raps aimed at no one in particular. ![]() But it didn't completely shed Tyler’s old skin, enlisting a host of colorful collaborators (Roy Ayers, Leon Ware, Charlie Wilson, Chaz Bundick, and Dâm-Funk) for songs about jerking off and underage relationships. album, Cherry Bomb more or less imploded. “Tell these black kids they can be who they are,” he raps on “Where This Flower Blooms,” as he grows into the artist he’s always longed to be, and perhaps always was. Not only is Flower Boy Tyler’s most trenchant work, it’s his most inclusive: “ Find Your Wings”: The Album, gentle and liberating. He probes the things that shaped his psyche-loneliness, isolation, and disorientation-and focuses on outgrowing friendships, balancing the pull of nostalgia and the necessity for growth. Since WOLF, Tyler omitted exploring any alternate personas in his future music, that was until IGOR.Flower Boy (promoted as Scum Fuck Flower Boy) is Tyler’s course-correction, surprisingly meditative and beautifully colored, a collage of memories and daydreams that trades bratty subversion for reflection and self-improvement. This track plays a large significance in Tyler’s career, as he learns to find freedom in his own self by shooting and killing three of his alter-egos: Wolf Haley, Ace and Tron Cat. In 2012, Odd Future released the track “Sam is Dead” on their vol. Throughout WOLF, the two become one, as Tyler diminishes from his old, hurting past self, and adapts to Wolf Haley, a much more confident version of his character he wishes to undertake. This key character and Tyler are essentially inseparable. Tyler’s leading alter-ego in his first three albums is Wolf Haley. Sam is first introduced on WOLF, and is represented as an insecure, hostile character who attempts to omit Tyler from sharing any of his true emotions. Sam is an alter-ego of Tyler’s who is quite the opposite from Ace. Listeners begin to hear less of Ace’s violent behaviour and braggadocious comments as Tyler finds further freedom from letting out his built up aggression. Ace dominates his presence on Bastard, yet is rarely heard on future albums. TC, as he is a tool to help Tyler navigate his way through unpacking his deep childhood trauma in their intense therapy sessions.Īce is another one of Tyler’s characters, that he utilises to express his frustration and aggression towards society. Not only on Bastard, but in future albums, listeners continue to hear Dr. ![]() This character is better known as Tyler’s psychiatrist, who can be signified through his deep, ominous tone of voice. The opening track of Tyler’s first self produced mixtape Bastard immediately introduces fans to Tyler’s first alter-ego Dr. In his early discogrpahy, Tyler would use multiple fictional characters as tools to elaborate on his past family trauma, suicidal thoughts, difficulty fitting in, and the absence of his father. Tyler utilised his first three albums: Bastard, Goblin and WOLF, to introduce his fans not only his genuine and authentic persona, but to other versions he explores of himself. The alternating characters can oftentimes be signified through the hip-hop artist’s changed tone of voice. Tyler, the Creator has built himself a notorious reputation for exploring many of his different alter-egos throughout his discography.
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