photo courtesy of the reporters

By Jell Bakkedahl and Dean Kanninen

Tyler, the Creator is an artist that needs no introduction. Of course, I will give him one anyways, but has influenced music and pop culture enough that most people know him by name. 

Flower Boy is an acclaimed 2017 album by the musical artist, which expresses Tyler now “blooming” into a new style of music. Flower Boy was also a rebound from his prior album, “Cherry Bomb”, which wasn’t entirely well received among listeners. This album shows how Tyler is growing into his own individual style, and growing as a person. 

Compared to his prior albums, this album evokes a much calmer, sweeter, and flowery feeling, while still having that signature Tyler style, as he showcases his vast range of musical talents. Flower Boy holds themes of rejection, love, “missed connections and the resulting depression.”

  Tyler himself states how he thinks of this very different than his prior album, Cherry Bomb. In an hour long video titled FLOWER BOY: a conversation, he states, "For Cherry Bomb, I purposely was like 'I don't wanna get personal at all,' like, 'I'm just gonna make songs,'" "And in this, I was like, 'Alright, let me write down every feeling.'"

He also views this album as a self reflection, and not as depressing or dark as his prior ones. "A lot of people mix up depression with self-awareness. Like someone's like, 'Dude, this album's depressing,' and I'm like 'No, I never said I was depressed.' I'm lonely, but I'm having the most fun of my goddamn life."

Though this album holds many great and fun songs to listen to, our personal favorites were I Ain’t Got Time, 911/ Mr. Lonely, Boredom, and See You Again. 

For starters, I Ain’t Got Time is one of the less popular songs on the album, and it is also one of the most unique. It is more similar to Tyler’s previous albums than some of the other tracks, but still carries the themes of his succession and how he is growing from it. 

I Ain’t Got Time expresses Tyler’s opinions on other people demanding more and more from him, and idolizing him. It is more upbeat compared to the other melancholy and bittersweet songs on the album. 

In a much different tone, 911/Mr. Lonely is a two parter track with much different themes. 911 expresses heartache and difficulty to manage without a special somebody and wanting to have someone with you. 

Mr. Lonely is a lot more depreciating compared to its other half. Mr. Lonely is self reflective while also self depreciating, but the two songs both hold themes of loneliness which makes them work incredibly well together.

Featuring both Rex Orange County and Anna of the North, Boredom is a more mellow track than the rest on this album. It covers how it feels to seemingly lose your way in life; more specifically, an immovable feeling of boredom mixed with a strong sense of isolation/loneliness prevents you from finding any goals to move towards. 

Any person can relate to the song to some extent making it easily accessible to most people. I personally have had many times in my life where it feels like everything I do is just gonna add up to nothing in my future, so I feel for the sentiment of this song particularly strongly.

Undeniably the most popular song by ‘The Creator’ is See You Again, featuring the melodic vocals of Kali Uchis. The popularity of this song is certainly warranted and makes a lot of sense, as it well follows the structures of an easily digestible song while also being extremely unique in its lyricism and melody. It’s definitely the type of song you can get stuck in your head easily. 

The lyrics are about Tyler being in love with someone that only exists in his mind. On a more surface level and less literal sense it could be interpreted as longing for someone you can never pursue, or even just longing for someone to love at all. Like Boredom, this song is easily relatable to a lot of people, especially those who rarely fall in love with people who like them back.

Flower Boy is a striking addition to Tyler, the Creator’s discography. The unique and relatable songs all blend together in such an enticing way, and is certainly an album everyone should experience at least once in their life. 

If you enjoy his other albums, we highly recommend checking out Flower Boy. Despite its difference in tone and music, it still showcases his range as a creator. 🐾