That being said, lots of Tyler’s fans didn’t realize his sexuality prior to this album.įinally, “November” is one of the deepest songs on Flower Boy as far as metaphors with the concept of November at the center of the song. This isn’t the only time Tyler speaks on his homosexuality on this album, and he hasn’t hidden it in the past. It’s not clear if he’s just friends with Clancy, but he does say he “fancies” him. This is also where he brings up Clancy, a “white boy” whom he mentions a few times on the album. Toward the beginning of this track, Tyler also goes into some detail about how he doesn’t feel welcome to buy exotic cars, due to his race. Tyler compares various issues in his life and his career to the potholes in everyone’s lives. The song is centered around the phrase “watch out for the pothole”, which refers to the things in life that could be considered potholes.
“Pothole” is one of the songs on this album with a simpler message, but it’s told in many different ways. He speaks to how he wants to be “one of the greats” and go down in history, but follows with the line “what if my music’s too weird for the masses”, which could be a valid concern, because Tyler is anything but a traditional rapper or even a traditional musician. On this track, Tyler, the Creator speaks on how he isn’t like other rappers, and through some intense metaphors, he also talks about how he fears for the day his fanbase disappears.
Unlike his other albums, Flower Boy actually has choruses for a lot of its songs. This is true, however “Foreword” is probably the most information-dense song on the album. Tyler said that this album would have significantly less rapping on it and more vocals. The song “Foreword” is the first on Flower Boy, and could be considered a summary of a lot of the messages Tyler communicates throughout the album. Some main areas that the album focuses on include Tyler’s race (he’s African-American), his sexuality, and the fears he has relating his fanbase.
Flower Boy also takes some time to focus on issues Tyler has that are created only by his fame, among other issues. Tyler’s album Wolf focused on the critics of Odd Future, and his other albums too often talk about not only the hardships he’s dealt with in life, but also the hardships his fame has caused him. This means there’s often rap verse after rap verse with nothing in between. Previous albums from Tyler, the Creator can be much more “hardcore” if you will, and generally put Tyler’s ideas and messages above traditional musical ideals. However, all this isn’t to say that Flower Boy isn’t deep, or that there isn’t a lot to be heard and learned from the songs. Previous albums Tyler released often didn’t even have choruses for any songs, but were just him rapping. He mentioned in an interview that he wanted this album to be more about people singing, rather than more like his other albums. His second album Wolf was well-liked by reviewers, and debuted at number three on the United States Billboard 200, not to mention selling 90,000 copies it’s first week.įlower Boy differs from Tyler, the Creator’s other music in the sense that it’s actually less information-dense when it comes to just lyrics. Tyler released his first debut album Goblin in 2011, and shortly after signed a joint venture deal for both himself and his label Odd Future Records with RED Distribution and Sony Music Entertainment. Among various other things, Tyler has also collaborated with Converse to create his own shoe. In 2011, Tyler started the clothing company Golf Wang (a play on words for Wolf Gang), and even started an annual musical festival in 2012 called Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival. He also creates all the artwork for the group and designs clothing and other merchandise for them. He became popular as the leader of Odd Future (short for Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All) and has rapped and produced songs for almost all of the group’s releases. Tyler Okonma, also known as Tyler, the Creator was born in California in 1991. This is one of his more fun albums, and although none of the music really creates strong feelings of happiness just based on the way the music sounds, the lyrics are amazing, and the album has some deep messages. Flower Boy is the 5th studio album released by the artist Tyler, the Creator.