Tyler, the Creator & The Art Of Being Yourself.
Wallstreet Journal. 2019
Usually, a rebrand for an artist is caused by a continual negative reaction from their audience. The persona of the artist is critical for sales and promotion; if the audience is “annoyed” or “angered” by their theatrics; they will usually respond by no longer participating in giving the artist their hard-earned cash. The artist and their team would then brainstorm about how to reinvent said artist either through various interviews, name changes and sometimes, a complete overhaul of the artist’s perceived look. Sometimes, when an artist’s personal life becomes public for the wrong reasons, they attempt to salvage what’s left by running what’s deemed as an “apology tour”. This is to apologize for the DUI or the domestic abuse or the drug charge or whatever felonious charge they’ve been hit with. This becomes very difficult for an artist striving to be themselves within the constantly judgmental industry. Enter, Tyler, the Creator.
If there is an artist who deserves to be crowned “King Of The Rebrand”, it’s Tyler. He’s gone from shock & awe rap that critics at the time would call “horribly offensive and promotes sexual assault against women” to putting out an album that’s been critically widely accepted as his best to date, and he did it all while staying himself. The self-proclaimed leader of the rap group OFWGKTA, Tyler was known for his harsh lyrics and larger than life personality that begged for anyone to notice. He and his group would be compared to the likes of Wu-Tang due to their large number of members in the group, but not all members where rappers like Tyler. The group featured an acid jazz-influenced group, The Internet & the ever-mysterious R&B crooner, Frank Ocean. Tyler would also inform media outlets that OF has more members than the visible 11. This would include kids involved with photography, skateboarding, and clothing design. The original idea for OF was for it to be a magazine and for it to be a collage of what Tyler admired, featuring his talented friends.
Tyler has always been an advocate for believing in yourself regardless of what others think. He has stayed consistent in this thought process and it has been the key ingredient to his success. On the opening of his first album, Bastard, Tyler address all the blogs and reviewers who haven’t given his music an actual chance or have mislabeled his music as “horrorcore”. From making the beats to creating the cover and all the aesthetics for his album, Tyler alone, at 17, has created and accomplished more than his peers have at the time and have been met with reviewers calling his work “hard to listen to” and “desperate and immature”. Tyler responds in saying that they don’t listen to his songs for the meaning, just for the shock raps, claiming there’s something deeper to it.
Tyler has a knack for getting under people’s skin and some would say it’s due to Tyler’s inability to be comfortable within his own. Throughout his career, Tyler has written about his depression and suicidal thoughts. Tyler uses his first two albums, to unload all of his problems with himself, his hate towards his living situation and the idea of being accepted for who he is. Between the release of his albums, Bastard and Gobin, Tyler, as well as his group, had garnered an incredible cult following and recognition across the world. This success, coupled with the new admiration from fans, Tyler slowly chipped away at the financial toll that added to his depression and found new inspiration on his third album, Wolf. Wolf would be Tyler’s most ambitious album since his introduction. Closing the trilogy of the storyline he created with Bastard, Tyler legitimately sounds happy and the album is a reflection of that.
After a few successful ventures with clothing and entertainment brands, Tyler would release an experimental rap album, Cherry Bomb. The album wouldn’t say much thematically and would sonically serve as an experiment for the type of music Tyler was consuming at the time. But the biggest and possibly most important album of Tyler’s career would be ScumFuck FlowerBoy. It was released in 2017 and would cover a topic Tyler has been rapping about since his inception, his sexuality. The main problem with Tyler’s music when he first started was his graphic depictions of sexual acts and the incessant use of the word “F***ot”. “Blow” & “VCR/Wheels” are the pinnacle of said lyrics. Frequently being called homophobic and a possible rapist due to his lyrics, Tyler would consistently defend himself by saying he’s never assaulted women & isn’t homophobic; that those dark lyrics were the ones of an edgy 17-year-old vying for attention from the internet. And as the years passed, his love songs have matured as he has; But with Flower Boy, he revealed he still had some growing to do.
The Rap Community and soon the world would be talking about Tyler, the Creator “Coming Out.” In the album, Tyler states his sexual preference as bisexual and informs the listener he’s been experimenting with men since 2004, 3 years before his initial release of “Bastard”. In the song Garden Shed, Tyler says he’s been struggling with his sexuality, how it affected him, how he wished his friends would “see the signs” and that he thought it would be a phase and would pass. In the wake of this news, people went back and found “the signs” Tyler was talking about.
Tweets from 2015 saying he attempted to come out the closet to no avail.
Art he drew that features a rainbow figure peaking out of the closet asking “is it safe” to come out.
Even in old lyrics where he criticizes himself and sees his preference as a fault.
Lyrics for “Smuckers”
Coming to terms with this side of his identity, Tyler found an entirely new perspective and freedom within himself and his music. The theme of being yourself has never left it’s been amplified in this new self-worth. With Flower Boy, Tyler fully embraces who he is not only an artist but a human. The album is as lush as the garden Tyler invites us into. A Far cry from the distorted drums of Cherry Bomb. Tyler is truly smelling the flowers and enjoying the life he often loathed and considered ending himself. After the monumental accomplishment that is his latest album, “IGOR”; Tyler has finally become what he’s always strived to be, himself.