Tyler, The Creator has been one of the most highly praised artists of the 21st century. Coming from the lineage of Pharrell and Kanye West, he’s always been meticulous about studying the music he loves. Mix that with the formative edginess of Odd Future, and he built a devoted fanbase that has stuck with him through every era.
However, when Cherry Bomb was released in 2015, Tyler received less than stellar reviews. He was more focused on making bridges he loved and tinkering with chords he dreamed of for years. With time, though, he grew to hate the album as much as his fans did.
In a conversation on Instagram’s Ask It Anyways, Tyler, The Creator admitted he thinks Cherry Bomb is terrible today. But at the time, his goal was to prove to be the best producer in the world. “My goal on there was to prove to myself that I am the most diverse producer at the time. That I could do literally every genre,” he explained. “So production was my main focus. But because of that, the songs suffered because lyrics and structure came second.”
In the aftermath, he remembered lashing out at haters, telling them they didn’t get it. But the more Tyler thought about it, the more he questioned whether they were actually wrong or not.
Tyler, The Creator Has a Colder Relationship to ‘Cherry Bomb’ After Fan Backlash
“When you hear that stuff, you could be bulletproof… you could not acknowledge it. But being aware of it… I’m like hold on, let me take a step back,” Tyler continued. “What’s the disconnect here? Because these bridges are insane. These chords are crazy. These melodies are crazy… What’s the difference between the last three things I did? What’s the zeitgeist?”
Consequently, Tyler, The Creator went back to all the albums he idolized and studied for years. Then, he questioned why they worked even further. Afterwards, he put himself through a boot camp to relearn how to mindfully establish structure. By the end of it all, the Odd Future alum argued that fan backlash is what made him better in the end.
“That part of fame, when people are just on your head about something you hold dear, it’s seen as a negative a lot now. But that happening to me was actually one of the greatest things that could because it made me dive into my skill and my craft more and get out of my a**. I was so focused on this one thing and start looking at the big picture,” Tyler, The Creator said.
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