It wasn’t promised that Tyler, The Creator would become a superstar. He starts his career as an unruly teenager that was extremely savvy on the internet. His rebellious nature saw him subvert a lot of the most common hip-hop tropes and poke fun at the establishment. It’s to the point, his edginess even banning him from the UK at one point.
Still, people adored Tyler, cockroach eating and all. Amidst all of his goofy (and occasionally problematic) raps, there was an artist with a distinct vision for luscious arrangements. He understands music on a granular level, a penchant for pillowy chords and how to highlight color and texture through his production.
Slowly but surely, Tyler, The Creator became undeniable. His craftsmanship shined on records like Wolf and Cherry Bomb. Then, eventually, that craft turned into hits on records like Flower Boy and beyond. Throughout all of this, Tyler always remained himself. It’s inspiring for any artist who believes that they have to fit some arbitrary mold to succeed.
With his latest album Don’t Tap That Glass marking his 9th album to date, Noisey decided to collect four of his best songs through Tyler’s vast catalog, from the album cuts to the big hits. As a rule of thumb, there is only one song per album. This allows us to get the fullest possible scope of his career. Additionally, picking only four records was extremely difficult to narrow down. Consequently, there were a lot of records that narrowly missed the cut. Here are some honorable mentions: “F***ING YOUNG/PERFECT,” “FIND YOUR WINGS,” “Answer,” “She,” “Darling, I,” “I THINK,” “SWEET/I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE,” “Boredom,” “BEST INTEREST,” “SMUCKERS,” “Tron Cat,” “Analog 2,” “PartyIsntOver/Campfire/Bimmer,” and “Peach Fuzz.”
Four of the Best Tyler, The Creator Songs of All Time
“2SEATER”
People woefully misunderstood Cherry Bomb as a whole. A large section of his fanbase was much more accustomed to his subversive rapping– though there’s still quite a bit of that on the album. As a result, the textural mixing and the soul and jazz standards threw a lot of people off. It didn’t sound like anything they had heard before and they were cold about it.
However, this felt like Tyler, The Creator at his rawest and purest as an artist. He captures the magic of early adulthood beautifully, love as a sweeping experience you could only grasp through Wanya Morris and Charlie Wilson crooning and Leon Ware and Roy Ayers assists on arrangements.
“2SEATER” feels like the amalgamation of everything Tyler had been building to as an artist. The strange synths laser through the windy chords and robust drums, the horns almost act as lead vocals at certain points. The strings delicately glide after the hook as he croons about late night drives with the roof of his car open. Then, he’ll make a silly ‘Hakuna Matata’ reference and recall days of skating. If anyone needed a cliff notes of the Tyler, The Creator experience, “2SEATER” makes a strong case to be that record.
“Treehome95”
On October 12th 2011, Tyler tweeted, “‘Always On My Mind’ By Brandy is The Music i Really Wanna Make. S**t is Awesome.” “Treehome95” is the closest he’s ever come to achieving that desire. It’s remarkably low stakes but it’s so sweet, so buttery. The gorgeous chords recall that levity and daintiness Brandy crooned over on her 1994 record. The composition is so addicting because it’s so childlike in its nature. It’s a tender song about sleeping over in a treehouse, laying intimately underneath the covers with a special someone, their eyes sparkling in the light. Tyler, The Creator often oscillates between these kinds of records and absurdist rapping on Wolf. “Treehome95” always felt more honest to the kind of artist he was.
“WUSYANAME”
“WUSYANAME” is Tyler, The Creator at the peak of his hit-making powers. It definitely helps that he leans on the power of 90s R&B to send it over the top. Looping the sweet, angelic pads on H-Town’s “Back Seat (Wit No Sheets),” he recalls gruffer rap verses on all the best hip-hop/R&B crossover songs over the years. Think G-Unit’s Marvin Gaye sampling “Wanna Get To Know You” or Jay-Z’s smooth talking “Excuse Me Miss.”
Tyler thrives in this pocket, catcalling someone with bulletproof bravado and tons of promises to travel. All the lavish extravagances that come with going overseas– Cannes trips, France discos, the finest french toast, and the wind blowing through their hair. He’s so awestruck by this person’s beauty, their name hardly even mattered. He has the means, the money isn’t a second thought.
YoungBoy Never Broke Again follows a similar thread in his sweet southern crooning. It’s refreshing to hear him in this context, imagining the Baton Rouge superstar as a charmer that’ll sweep a woman off her feet because he moves fast. This is something Tyler, The Creator has always specialized in; a visionary with a million ideas on how to make the most out of an artist on a song. “WUSYANAME” is one of the strongest examples of it.
“Like Him”
Modern virality works in such strange ways. A record like “Like Him” is not your traditional hit by any stretch of the imagination. Usually, the centerpiece of an artist’s most personal album doesn’t become one of their biggest songs ever. But TikTok can give life to records you couldn’t imagine, even if they’re just mere slices and moments of a song.
“Like Him” still proves to be a massive tearjerker, even if you listen to the record in TikTok contexts. However, it proves immensely valuable when digesting the song as a full experience. Tyler, The Creator starts the record by stripping everything bare. The chords are tender and sparse, his voice incredibly fragile, channeling his inner child looking up at his mother wondering about his father.
Eventually, the drums soar and the synths sear, his angst bursting out of his skin. All he wants is to fill in the empty spaces, wonder what parts of him reflect the man he didn’t have in his life. Then, when the song buckles under all the pressure and completely explodes, that’s where the golden viral moment kicks in. The bridge melts back into the massive hook, insisting that he’s going to be okay with whatever answer he does or doesn’t receive. It’s masterful, everything in Tyler’s life and artistry building to that moment.
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