{"id":5666,"date":"2020-02-13T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-13T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scadradio.org\/?p=5666"},"modified":"2020-02-13T20:29:58","modified_gmt":"2020-02-13T20:29:58","slug":"tyler-the-creators-road-to-the-grammys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scadradio.org\/2020\/02\/13\/tyler-the-creators-road-to-the-grammys\/","title":{"rendered":"Tyler, the Creator’s Road to the Grammys"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tyler, the Creator<\/a> has gone through one of the biggest evolutions of any popular artist in the limelight right now. Recently awarded a Grammy for his album IGOR<\/em>, the 28-year-old rapper has been releasing music for over a decade. How did he go from a controversial teenage rapper to an artist that won music\u2019s biggest honor? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tyler\ntruly got his start in 2007 quickly becoming the star of the Odd Future hip hop\ncollective, which included many successful artists including Earl Sweatshirt\nand Frank Ocean. Though many Odd Future members have features on his self-released\nmixtape Bastard<\/em>, it marked his debut\nas a solo artist. After his Grammy win, many fans cited a line on the opening\nsong of the same name, in which he states, \u201cMy goal in life is a Grammy,\nhopefully momma will attend the ceremony with all my homies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Bastard <\/em>is not an album of hopeful successes and dreams. It is seething and aggressive, with Tyler expressing self-hatred and suicidal thoughts on the opening track, as well as anger towards his absent father (\u201cInglorious\u201d) and police officers (\u201cPigs Fly\u201d). Additionally, there are several mentions of rape, drug abuse, racism, and homophobia on Bastard,<\/em> creating a large amount of controversy around what Tyler stands for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“On \u201cRadicals,\u201d he goes so far as to add a disclaimer at the beginning of the song to protect himself from anyone being influenced by the chorus\u2019s chant of \u201cKill people, Burn sh*t, F*ck school.” <\/strong><\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Goblin <\/em>has many of the same hateful themes as Bastard<\/em> but allows listeners to see into Tyler\u2019s psyche that Bastard <\/em>didn\u2019t allow. The harsh beats match the lyrics while \u201cYonkers,\u201d the single and accompanying music video that launched Tyler into the public eye, was actually a parody of heavy New York City beats reminiscent of the Wu-Tang Clan. In both projects, Tyler speaks to the fictional Dr. TC, a therapist who he tells his darkest thoughts to, giving him a platform for his violent lyrics. On Goblin<\/em>\u2019s final track \u201cGolden,\u201d it\u2019s revealed that Dr. TC is a figment of Tyler\u2019s subconscious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Multiple statements in countless interviews note that lyrics from his early works do not reflect Tyler, and he\u2019s openly argued that he\u2019s not homophobic, racist, or sexist in any way. On \u201cRadicals,\u201d he goes so far as to add a disclaimer at the beginning of the song to protect himself from anyone being influenced by the chorus\u2019s chant of \u201cKill people, Burn sh*t, F*ck school.\u201d In 2015, UK Prime Minister Theresa May made the decision to ban<\/a> Tyler, the Creator from entering the country under guidelines of him being a potential terroristic threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2013\u2019s Wolf<\/em> received more acclaim than any of his previous work, debuting at #3 on the Billboard charts. After gaining popularity through controversy, Tyler shifted away from violent thematics and heavy beats, stating in an interview<\/a> that \u201ctalking about rape and cutting bodies up, it just doesn’t interest me anymore, what interests me is making weird hippie music for people to get high to.\u201d Wolf <\/em>is mellow and melodic, with songs like \u201cIFHY,\u201d \u201cColossus,\u201d and \u201cSlater\u201d demonstrating a more lowkey sound. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to the violent and angry lyrics, many have compared Tyler\u2019s work to someone he\u2019s admittedly a fan of: early Eminem. Ironically, \u201cColossus\u201d emphasized this comparison more than any song I\u2019ve personally heard of Tyler\u2019s, despite it being in his transitional period away from that type of lyricism. He\u2019s been accused of \u201cColossus\u201d being a nearly parallel story to Eminem\u2019s \u201cStan.\u201d In \u201cColossus,\u201d Tyler meets a fan at an amusement park who expresses how much Tyler\u2019s work has affected him, citing the similarities of their lives \u00e0 la the protagonist voice in \u201cStan.\u201d Both characters are unhealthily obsessed with their idols, going as far as using self-mutilation to prove their dedication. Despite Tyler acknowledging the parallels, he\u2019s denied the connection between these songs, stating that \u201cthe song is just a real-life thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Cherry Bomb<\/em>, Tyler frees himself from being \u201cjust a rapper\u201d- something that he\u2019s been straining against for basically his entire career. His production abilities go further than they ever have on his previous albums, and on songs like \u201c2SEATER\u201d and \u201cFIND YOUR WINGS,\u201d his composure and melodic beats are something that were touched on in Wolf,<\/em> but Cherry Bomb<\/em> feels like Tyler has finally found his passion. \u201cDEATHCAMP\u201d and \u201cBUFFALO\u201d are the only tracks that tie back into the sound fans were familiar with, while the rest is a shift towards the \u201cnew\u201d Tyler. While critics thought his rapping was the most disappointing part of Cherry Bomb<\/em>, Tyler makes it clear he’s so much more than just the angry kid everyone has always pinned him for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2017’s Flower Boy<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

With Flower Boy<\/em>, he takes even more of a step back from rapping to further hone his skills as a producer. Tyler started to think more in terms of intent rather than just his own abilities and signatures, and more singing was part of this vision. This is also true for his lyrics: probably the best and most insightful in his entire discography. \u201cForward\u201d and \u201cGarden Shed\u201d are both vulnerable, another change in direction from previous projects. In the past, he would insert a layer of separation from the larger than life personality of Tyler, the Creator by inserting disclaimers or by explicitly playing a character. Although there are many sensitive moments on this LP, he hadn\u2019t completely lost sight of his roots- \u201cWho Dat Boy\u201d fully embraces the \u201cold Tyler\u201d, and \u201cI Ain\u2019t Got Time!\u201d embraces the more stereotypical braggadocious attitude of a rapper. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tyler\nhad been criticized for using homophobic slurs, but since the release of Flower Boy<\/em>– and arguably before that- his\nsexuality has been under a great deal of scrutiny. Many of the lyrics suggest\nromantic interest in men as well as some quotes from interviews, but it\u2019s also\ndifficult to parse what is authentic and what is just meant to spark\ncontroversy. As of yet, he hasn\u2019t really officially come out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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IGOR<\/em> also hints at attraction to another man, telling the story of unrequited love on top of a beautifully composed soundtrack. IGOR really takes the listener on a musical journey, bending genres and flowing perfectly. Tyler was heavily involved in every aspect of the production, and the careful and detailed nature of the songs reflects how much thought was put into these tracks. It\u2019s a step forward for him musically and certainly in terms of creating a fully fleshed-out work of art with the albums accompanying live aesthetic- the suit and wig<\/a>, namely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“He’s always held an air of mystery about himself, though- it\u2019s a challenge to decipher whether he\u2019s joking or not, and that seems to be true to this day.” <\/strong><\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Prior to the album\u2019s release, Tyler was adamant that it shouldn\u2019t be defined as a rap release. Though his name is still synonymous with being a rapper, rapping is notably absent on most of the album. He commented on this directly after being awarded a Grammy- while remaining grateful and humble about the win itself, he criticized the award show<\/a> for pigeonholing artists like him to \u201curban\u201d categories, calling it a \u201cjust a politically correct way to say the N-word.\u201d It\u2019s a nuanced point about the nature of such categorizations and the limiting impact that preconceived notions the Grammys can have. But it also rings a little hollow coming from the guy that defended using the word \u201cgay\u201d as an insult or went as far to say that white people should be able to say the n-word. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tyler, the Creator certainly has certainly come to grow musically and emotionally. Having an immense amount of pressure on him at a young age to maintain a specific image and capture the attention of the public could have encouraged some of his more flagrant behavior in the past. He’s always held an air of mystery about himself, though- it\u2019s a challenge to decipher whether he\u2019s joking or not, and that seems to be true to this day. He\u2019s become a fashion icon, a director, a designer, an organizer, and a respected musical artist. Whatever he does next, the world is sure to be watching.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tyler, the Creator has gone through one of the biggest evolutions of any popular artist in the limelight right now. Recently awarded a Grammy for his album IGOR, the 28-year-old rapper has been releasing music for over a decade. How did he go from a controversial teenage rapper to an artist that won music\u2019s biggest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":5693,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[265,530,657],"tags":[890,663,889,680,887,576,129,662],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scadradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5666"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scadradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scadradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scadradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scadradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5666"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/scadradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5708,"href":"https:\/\/scadradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5666\/revisions\/5708"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scadradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scadradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scadradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scadradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}