Tyler, The Creator

One Liner: Very odd rapper, singer, and weirdo

Wikipedia Genre:  Alternative hip hop, jazz rap, R&B, neo soul, horrorcore
Home: L.A.

Poster Position: HEADLINER!
Day: Sunday at 8:30 on the Lady Bird Stage
Both Weekends.

Thoughts: Real name is even Tyler!  Tyler Gregory Okomma.  He came to fame through the Odd Future collective (among many others, Earl Sweatshirt and Frank Ocean were part of this), but then went also started releasing solo stuff in 2009.  He took his name from a MySpace page he created to post his work.  He taught himself to play piano at age 14, which is pretty wild.

I never got on board with Odd Future, and likewise have never cared much for this guy.  I feel like I have repeatedly tried his stuff on, because others act like he is the greatest thing around, and it never clicks with me.  

Like, as an example, his most recent album CALL ME WHEN YOU GET LOST.  Right after it came out, I was in the Chick Fil A drivethru with my kids and middle kid asked if we could listen to the new Tyler, the Creator.  After mentally debating pulling up an album I'd never heard before that might have some bad stuff going on it, I went for it.  The first few songs kinda bang!  And then the album shifts into 48 other styles and it loses me entirely.  The hit so far is one of the wack ones that's half R&B.  "WUSYANAME"

It's kind of funny, telling her she looks malnourished and all, but it very much sounds like some mid-90's Boyz 2 Men track.  Don't love it.  But, like "CORSO" brings the thunder both in the beat and the rhymes.  "LEMONHEAD" too.  Of course, Pitchfork gave this album an 8.4 and Best New Music.  One weird thing about the disc is that most of the songs are super short, except for two bloated tracks that are 8:35 and 9:48 long.  Blech.

I previously reviewed his last album, 2019's IGOR.  This one has some cool things sonically, like the way album opener "IGOR'S THEME" kinda sounds like Outkast finding a synth and making something freaky, but then forgetting to actually rap over it.  But then when he goes with the rest of the album, its a little too much singing, and not enough good rapping, reminds me of the newer Childish Gambino tracks.  The top track is "Earfquake," which has a whopping 504.3 million streams!

I have no clue why people would want to hear that track 500 million times.  The rap in the middle isn't Tyler, I don't think (comments on YouTube say it is "carti," but he gets no credit in the titles on Spotify, so I dunno) and that rap is terrible.  The singing is sort of pretty I suppose, but it isn't amazing.  Weird stuff.  I don't much like the album overall.

I also reviewed 2015's Cherry Bomb.  Like I said, I've been trying to wrap my head around this dude for years.  The critics love it, so I feel weird never understanding why.  But my review of that album was that it is really uneven.  Some of his stuff is interesting and fun, but a lot of this album is too convoluted and becomes hard to listen to a second time.  I have yet to really get into any of the guys who came out of the Odd Future group.  Here is the second-most listened-to one from the album (likely because it includes Kanye and Wayne), called "Smuckers."  60.1 million streams.

I listened to the disc a few times back then, and concluded that I just don't want to hear it again. Pretty poor recommendation right there.

I tried his first album - Goblin - from 2011 - and it starts out with a terrible track that lasts 6:48 for some reason.  Just Tyler talking to the devil over a boring beat.  Wikipedia says that people called him "horrorcore" after this debut, and that he denied being horrorcore, but I have no clue what that genre is about.  What I do know is that I dislike most of these songs.  They are stressful.  The hit from here is "Yonkers" with 149.7 million streams.

His delivery kind of reminds me of Eminem.  And watching him make himself puke on camera and then hang himself also reminds me of that shock value guy.  That being said, that is a pretty damn good rap.

That leaves 2013's Wolf and 2017's Flower Boy as the two I haven't written about yet.  But "I Ain't Got Time" from 2017's Flower Boy samples DeeLite's "Groove is in the Heart," and that is dope.  That album is pretty okay.  I tried Wolf and don't care for it.  Like Goblin, it's stressful.  Also, waaaay too long at 1:10.  Nuts.

I think I'll probably wander over to see the end of his set, once Duran Duran are done doing their thing.

And just in case you feel like disliking the guy, here is his Wikipedia entry's Controversy section in its entirety:

Okonma has been criticized for his use of homophobic slurs, in particular, his frequent use of the epithet "faggot" in his lyrics and on Twitter.[86][87] He has denied accusations of homophobia, stating, "I'm not homophobic. I just say faggot and use gay as an adjective to describe stupid shit,"[88][89] and, "I'm not homophobic. I just think faggot hits and hurts people."[90] However, he later said in an interview with MTV about the slurs, "Well, I have gay fans and they don't really take it offensive, so I don't know. If it offends you, it offends you. If you call me a nigger, I really don't care, but that's just me, personally. Some people might take it the other way; I personally don't give a shit."[91][92] Notably, Okonma was among the first to openly support fellow Odd Future member Frank Ocean after Ocean publicly revealed a past relationship with another young man.[93] Lyrics on the album Flower Boy led to speculation that Okonma himself was coming out as gay. The tracks in question were "Foreword", "Garden Shed", and "I Ain't Got Time!"[94][95] Okonma further fuelled the discussion when he seemingly revealed in an August 2017 interview that he had a boyfriend when he was 15 years old,[96] though he later tweeted that it was a figure of speech.[97][third-party source needed]

Okonma has also been criticized for his graphic depictions of violence against women and lyrics that observers have called misogynistic.[98][99] Brent DiCrescenzo of Time Out Chicago writes that rape is a "predominant theme" of Okonma's 2011 album Goblin[100] and Hermione Hoby of The Guardian writes that Okonma's "rape and murder fantasies (are) graphic enough to send the vomit rising along with the bile."[101] The Fader tallied 68 uses of the term "bitch" over Goblin's 73 minutes.[102] The music critic Allison Stewart wrote that "critics (read: mostly white guys) have largely given [Okonma] a pass" for the album's many "homophobic and misogynistic slurs and rape and murder fantasies".[103] An open letter questioning the lack of media condemnation of Okonma's lyrics,[104][105] written by Sara Quin of the Canadian pop duo Tegan and Sara shortly after the release of Goblin, spurred additional debate and provoked comments ranging from supportive of Quin's message to labeling her as racist.[103]

The commentator Emma Jane describes the harassment of two Australian activists critical of Okonma's lyrics, spurred by Okonma naming them on Twitter. Fans of the rapper targeted the women with rape and death threats in response to reports that they sought to have Okonma barred from the country, in what Jane cites as exemplary of "the way high profile figures are able to incite – either intentionally or otherwise – large fan bases to engage in mob attacks on named women".[106]

A series of three commercials for Mountain Dew directed by Okonma created controversy in May 2013, accused of using "racial stereotypes" and "making light of violence against women". In the spots an energy drink-loving goat character called "Felicia the Goat" is consecutively being "scapegoated" in a diner, in prison, and on the road. During the 60-second ad in prison, a battered white woman on crutches examines a police line-up consisting of several African-American men and one goat, while the goat antagonizes the woman. Syracuse professor and social critic Boyce Watkins stated that the ad was "arguably the most racist commercial in history." PepsiCo pulled the ad and apologized. Okonma released a statement claiming that the ad was not meant to "spark a controversy about race" and that "it was simply an, again, admittedly absurd story that was never meant to be taken seriously."[107][108]

On March 15, 2014, Okonma was arrested in Austin, Texas for inciting a riot after telling fans to push their way past security guards at his South by Southwest performance. Due to this incident, Tyler faced up to one year in prison and a $4000 fine.[109] Tyler's lawyer, Perry Minton, argued that the riot charge was overblown and perpetuated misconceptions of his client, who has no previous arrests. These charges were later dropped.[110]

On August 26, 2015, Okonma revealed that he had been banned from visiting the United Kingdom for three to five years, which forced him to cancel a string of tour dates supporting the Cherry Bomb album, including the Reading and Leeds Festivals. The reason for the ban comes from lyrics dating back to 2009. His manager Christian Clancy said they were informed of the ban via a letter from then-Home Secretary Theresa May.[48] May cited lyrics from the mixtape Bastard as the reason for the ban, although Okonma had toured multiple times in the UK since its release.[49][50] Okonma later said that he felt he had been treated like a terrorist and implied that the ban was racially motivated, stating that "they did not like the fact that their children were idolizing a black man."[51] According to the BBC, it is believed the ban was lifted in February 2019,[111] concurring with a scheduled performance in London to promote his fifth studio album, Igor. However, this show was forcibly cancelled by police due to safety concerns: the venue was claimed to be "overcrowded" and "too rowdy."[111]