On Christmas day of this year, Tyler, The Creator shared a picture on his Instagram story taken from inside a screening of Call Me By Your Name. The photo shows Timothée Chalamet as Elio Perlman smoking a cigarette, leaning forward. In the scene, Elio is watching the object of his desire – Armie Hammer’s Oliver – dance with a woman at an outdoor bar. Elio is surrounded by his friends, but he’s laser focused. He’s been observing Oliver and considering his attraction to and annoyance with him since the moment he arrived at his parent’s house in the Italian countryside. A few days after this scene takes place, Elio’s mother reads him a story about an unaddressed, unrealized love between a princess and a knight. The knight eventually asks the princess, “Is it better to speak or to die?” Elio says, “I’ll never have the courage to ask a question like that.” His father responds, “I doubt that.” The next day, Elio shows that courage and chooses to tell and show Oliver how he feels. On Tyler, The Creator’s 2017 studio album Flower Boy, which is so thoughtfully compiled it plays out like a story, we see someone in reflection. Tyler considers his success so far and questions what fulfillment is for him. We’re let in on a love unspoken. He wonders why his friends have gone silent and expresses doubts in his fans’ commitment to him as a changing, growing artist and person. He celebrates his change and his artistry, yes, but there’s a gnawing. Isolation, the unhealthy kind, the kind your mother picks up on, is a theme throughout the album. As the story of the record unfolds, Tyler reaches an impasse – his to speak or to die moment. This kinship between Flower Boy and Call Me By Your Name isn’t forced; it’s in the texts. The hazy, languid boredom. The falsity of material fulfillment. The love unspoken and the fear of its unreturn. It’s there.
In the album’s first track, Tyler considers fulfillment, saying, “How many cars can I buy ‘til I run out of drive? How much drive can I have ‘til I run out of road?” and “How many raps can I write ‘til I get me a chain? How many chains can I wear ‘til I’m considered a slave? How many slaves can it be ‘til Nat Turner arise? How many riots can it be ‘til them Black lives matter?” Rex Orange County sings, “I’m gone, and I’m finished. And I ain’t seen my friends in a minute. Guessing nothing lasts forever. Yeah, nothing lasts forever. Nothing sticks together. Sick of sitting in doubt. Please let me figure this out.” This existential itch starts the record.
“Where This Flower Blooms” is Tyler, proud, embracing growth. He talks about sleeping on people’s floors and Rent-A-Center calling to collect. “Now I skrrt, skrrt, skrrt, skrrt in toys I only dreamed that I could afford,” he updates. “Went from statistic to millionaire. CNN doubted ‘cause my skin is dark.” Financially, Tyler’s good, but we get a hint that there’s insecurity elsewhere. “Ain’t nobody fucking with T, but that just may be my ego.” Still, he says, “I rock, I roll, I bloom, I grow.” Fans and critics agree – Flower Boy is a different side to Tyler. In an interview with Stephen Colbert before performing “911,” one of maybe three times he’s given an interview about this era, Stephen asked him, “Some critics say this is the maturing of Tyler, The Creator. Are you growing up finally, Tyler?” Tyler responded, “Probably, but it’s moreso that I just wanted to produce and have people sing and that’s all I wanna listen to. So, I kinda didn’t wanna rap a lot on it, so I kept all my rap verses short and everything I said I made sure was really ridiculously important. I think that’s what people kinda like about it this time around because it’s like nothing funny on it.” Essentially, what he’s saying on this record, contrary to some fans who cry “he’s trolling” at any drop of sincerity, he really fucking means. That’s important.
The first hint of the unspoken love story of this record starts on “Sometimes…,” an intro that features Shane Powers taking a song request from a guy who chooses not to identify himself. Shane asks, “Um, okay, well, since you want to be Mr. Fucking Secret Agent, what song you wanna hear?” There’s a crackle, and then, “The one about me.” Immediately after the requester – the subject of the next song – finishes speaking, we’re dropped into “See You Again,” the stunning single featuring Kali Uchis. Tyler says, “My infatuation is translatin’ to another form of what you call it? Love.” It’s that realization – “Oh, that’s what I’m feeling.” On Twitter, at the start of 2016, Tyler changed his Twitter bio to say, “he exists behind my eyelids.” The line, in less specificity, is included in “See You Again.” He further says, “You don’t understand me, what the fuck do you mean? It’s them rose-tinted cheeks. Yeah, it’s them dirt-colored eyes. Sugar honey iced tea, bumblebee on the scene. Yeah, I’d give up my bakery to have a piece of your pie.” It’s a big, cute pop love song. When Tyler heard it on the radio for the first time, he cried, as documented in his and his friends’s social media. It’s a song of realization and adoration, but not confession. That comes later.
On “Pothole” with Jaden Smith, we return to Tyler’s discontentment with just material possessions. He says, “All my friends talk about their hoes and tenderonies, but all I can show ‘em is a couple cars and more things.” We don’t know why, precisely, Tyler has the distance from his friends with their love, but we can gather, especially with the song that follows, “Garden Shed.” Because of its title and its content, when Flower Boy leaked two weeks ahead of its release date, this song received the most press. This, to many, was like Frank Ocean’s note on Tumblr. Hypnotically, Estelle sings, “Don’t kill a rose before it could bloom. Fly, baby, fly. Out the cocoon.” To love itself or to a person exploring a love they maybe didn’t think they could, this message that comes floating in atop the track is an encouragement, a permission. Tyler sings, “You don’t have to lie. I can smell it in your eyes that there’s something more to say, baby.” He repeatedly says he’s terrible at singing. As a lover of vocalists and their performances, if he’s choosing to sing, there’s a reason. His delivery specifically on “baby” here is of note. He’s a fan of soul and R&B songs about love. This is his attempt. The rap he delivers on this track is startlingly honest and is so economic:
Garden shed, garden shed, garden shed, garden shed
That is where I was hidin'
That was real love I was in
Ain't no reason to pretend
Garden shed, garden shed, garden shed
Garden shed for the garçons
Them feelings that I was guardin'
They couldn't read the signs
I didn't wanna talk and tell 'em my location
And they ain't wanna walk
Truth is, since a youth kid, thought it was a phase
Thought it'd be like the phrase; "poof," gone
Polka dot nose, how it goes
Had to keep it on the subwoofer
A couple butterflies wanna float
But I was always like, "Eh"
Barely interested, but bagged just to brag to my boys like, "Bruh"
This is a crucial subject matter
Sensitive like cookin' batter
'Til the temperature that's risin'
Steppin' on that ladder, tryna
Grab the rings of Saturn, I'ma
Planet by the time you hear this
Shit and chatter 'bout the heat
It will not fuckin' matter
In “Garden Shed,” Tyler says it real. This phase wasn’t one, and he’s accepting, “That was real love I was in.” As we see across the album, he feels a disconnect from his friends. They’re not aware of what he’s going through, and they’re not trying to be. Tyler, in turn, doesn’t want to have to be the one to start the conversation. As if anticipating the Reddit comments, he warns, “This is a crucial subject matter.” It makes his words on Colbert’s show mean a new thing. “Garden Shed” is the acceptance, the admission (if we want to use that word) to us, sure, but mainly himself. His rap is intense, but with Estelle’s lines, we’re given hope that what was hidden is becoming allowed, okayed.
At this point in the story of Flower Boy, we’ve received a lot of information about Tyler’s interior, his dilemmas. On tracks, “Boredom” and “911/Mr. Lonely,” we get a vivid and further look into Tyler’s isolation. Recruiting Corinne Bailey Rae, Anna of the North and Rex Orange County, Tyler says, “My friends suck. Fuck ‘em. I’m over ‘em. “Hi, y’all, y’all ain’t hit me all day. What the fuck is the problem? Is it me? ‘Cause I’m not solved I’m …. bored.” The pause and not using the rhyme we expect says something by literally not saying it. He hovers and hints but never names. It’s a tease, and it’s great. He says, “I’ve been in this fuckin’ room so long my eyeballs are turning to dry wall” and, “Bored and getting desperate as hell,” and “My stomach angry and yellin’. I need some food. I could order, but I hate eating solo. Need someone. We can loiter in parking lots as sun sets at the border… I can’t be alone. I been starting to feel like I don’t know anyone.” It’s a brilliantly crafted song, creatively employing the casual tones of all the guest vocalists. Tyler shows us his desperation further on “911 /Mr. Lonely” with Anna of the North, Steve Lacy and Frank Ocean. He’s blunt: “My thirst levels are infinity and beyond.” He says, “Crowd wild out but don’t matter ‘cause you not front row,” and, “Five car garage. Full tank of the gas. But that don’t mean nothing, nothing, nothin’, nothing’ without you shotgun in the passenger. I’m the loneliest man alive, but I keep on dancing to throw ‘em off.” Tyler seems to have a person in mind he’d like in that front row and in that passenger seat, and his desire is getting, yeah, dire. He’s feeling incredibly isolated, lowering the veil, saying, “They say the loudest in the room is weak. That’s what they assume, but I disagree. I say the loudest in the room is prolly the loneliest one in the room (that’s me.)” After dancing around the issue, he explicitly states something he’s exploring throughout Flower Boy. “Crashed the McLaren, bought me a Tesla. I know you sick of me talkin’ ‘bout cars, but what the fuck else do you want from me? That is the only thing keepin’ me company. Purchase some things until I’m annoyed. These items is fillin’ the void. Been fillin’ it for so long, I don’t even know if it’s shit I enjoy. Current battle as an adult. My partner is a shadow.” At the close of the track, the music drops out as Tyler says, “Check in on me sometime. Ask me how I’m really doin’ so I never have to press that 911.” He’s tweeted about how he hates when people approach him with phones before starting a conversation, immediately seeking a photograph and not a word of hello. After his performance for NPR’s Tiny Desk Session, someone in the crowd asks, “What’s on your mind?” Tyler inquires who said it, points to her, and says, “I respect you ‘cause not a lot of people say that to people. Sometimes you just gotta, ‘Hey, what’s on your mind?’ Just talk to people. Some people don’t take the time out to ask somebody what’s on their mind.” He asks her name and says, “I respect the fuck out of you. You on my team during the zombie apocalypse.” He’s interested in that – that authentic, two-way exchange and connection. On Flower Boy, he cries out for it.
On “I Ain’t Got Time!” and “November,” Tyler flexes and reflects on his career. He says, “Had my boys in this bitch, looking like a seminar,” and, “Seven figure conversations with Converse finalized,” and, “Nat Turner would be so proud of me ‘cause all these motherfuckers got they style from me.” Tyler’s aware of the way he’s emulated and, for a realer term, copied, even calling those who follow a little too closely in his footsteps “clones.” Seemingly disconnected, he declares, “Next line will have ‘em like, ‘Woah!.’ I’ve been kissing white boys since 2004.” Now, obviously, this line headlined the articles writing about his sexuality upon Flower Boy’s leak. To casually slide that into a song that is otherwise bragging, rightfully, about his accomplishments and leadership of a legion of fans and imitators is kind of incredible. It’s a, “You’ve been buying my shit and I’ve been making this money and you’ve been trying to be me for years, and the whole time, I’ve been doing this, I’ve been this.”
“November” is a different mood entirely. Tyler shares his insecurities and worries about his career, wishing for a simpler, happier time. He says, “What if my music too weird for the masses, and I’m only known for tweets more than beats or all my day ones turn to three, fours ‘cause of track seven.” (Track seven is “Garden Shed.) On the last minute of the song, there’s a switch. Over a more sparse, bare background, Tyler says:
I wrote a song about you, I want your opinion
Opposite of my heart rate, it slows down at the ending
'Cause the love I got for you has exceeded appearance, the lyrics are
Matter of fact, I'ma just call you, so you can hear it
If you do answer, I'll play it to state facts
Although I already know the response you gon' say back
At that point I'll hang up, disappear and just stay back
And if you don't, I'll leave a voicemail with the playback
A phone rings, and no one answers. The voicemail kicks in, and we’re on to Tyler’s message. This – after learning about his love and his isolation and his worries and his pride – is our “to speak or to die” moment. He speaks. He sings, actually. “You’ve been on my mind. I’m losing my mind because I hope that we can be more than just friends. Fireworks, I feel like glitter, and every time you come around, I feel like glitter. You’re the one that I needed in my life.” He says, “Baby doll, I hope you agree.” There’s a playful, hopeful bounce to the first half of the song during this gushy confession. Halfway through “Glitter,” though, the song deflates. Tyler loses confidence. He says, “Yeah, look at my face. Look at that joy. This is one-sided,” and, “I’m caught in your quicksand. Please don’t save me.” After a repetition of, “How ya feel?” and, “Scum Fuck Flower Boy,” we hear the recorded voice of a woman saying, “We didn’t get your message, either because you were not speaking or because of a bad connection.” The last word spoken on Flower Boy is an exasperated, “fuck,” from Tyler. A rhythmic instrumental, “Enjoy Right Now, Today,” closes the record.
Flower Boy is an exquisite body of work. Tyler’s musicality is on display like never before. His production choices are so interesting, and his implantation of all his featured talent shows such care and love. He’s someone who very clearly obsesses over and immensely enjoys constructing music. On sound alone, the record is an achievement. Thematically and lyrically, it’s a gift and a full, generous story.
Flower Boy leaves us thinking the one he loves never hears his message. The voicemail didn’t go through. Looking at his Instagram and listening to verses he’s dropped since the release, it seems that’s no longer the case. In multiple posts, we see a guy with those rose-tinted cheeks and dirt-colored eyes Tyler spoke of in “See You Again” and “Glitter.” This same guy joins Tyler on tour, capturing live performance footage with a camera. In the rare times Tyler goes live on Instagram, he’s in the background, eating Oreos or having objects thrown at him by Tyler. It seems that “unrequited” is no longer the accurate descriptor here. In a freestyle over Jay-Z’s song “4:44” that he calls “Ziplock” that he released following the charting of Flower Boy Tyler says:
What's the point of bein' rich when you wake up alone?
What's the point of goin' home when it ain't nobody there?
Fuck that, I grab my bike and phone home in the air
And I pedal through the city with the wide frame steer
With that tall pale boy that I met last year
Grape, that's what I call him, love, that's what I fall in
Fell in, I ain't like sports growing up, but now I'm ballin'
I guess I'm a late bloomer
In interviews about his book Call Me By Your Name, André Aciman speaks of his intentional dismissal and non-use of labels. He receives criticisms for that. People say Tyler, too, needs to use labels, to specify. People still say “he’s trolling.” When performing live lately, Tyler adds a verse to the “Sometimes…” intro to “See You Again.” He’ll say:
Sometimes, I sit in my room and think about us
You got them long lashes, couldn't get the dirt in em'
Curls on your head look like waves, I'ma surf in em'
Wave at the camera, the paps ask your roll
I evade any answer, but if you ain't a dummy
Shit is laid in these stanzas
Kidnap my feelings, I ain't paying any ransom
Might, drive a n**** crazy but I'm, beepin' like, beepin' like, beepin' like pages on a hip waist strainer
Sometimes, I sit in my room
On November 2 of this year, Tyler tweeted, “this is the greatest year of my life.” It seems he’s happy with his choice to speak. For Flower Boy, and him, honestly, I’m glad as well.
