Tyler, the Creator
Flower Boy

What makes an artist great? In my opinion, the greatest quality that shines through from a capable person is personal growth. I know, it seems trivial and clichéd, but I believe that witnessing human maturation (and in this case, artistic maturation) in a person in whom you have always seen great potential from the beginning is a great satisfaction.

Tyler Okonma, known as Tyler, The Creator, hasn’t even turned thirty yet, and yet in recent years he has pursued a decidedly unconventional artistic career: in 2009, with the creation of the now seminal hip-hop collective "Odd Future," he brought the "Do It Yourself" philosophy back to the rap community, along with a total lack of respect for everything and\or everyone. His earlier works are indeed concentrates of alternative rap with a taste for provocation taken to the extreme, always with a good dose of irony to bind the entire project together. Wholesome works and musically interesting, yet they are undermined by excessive length and often confused artistic choices.

The pinnacle of these uncertainties Tyler reached with the beloved/hated "Cherry Bomb" (2015), a kind of "bridge" between the old and the new Tyler, which with "Flower Boy" seems to have finally found the definitive maturation both musically and in content. Cherry Bomb, although derided by many, remains a fundamental album to delineate the path taken by the Los Angeles rapper.

So let's talk about "Flower Boy" (2017). In my opinion, this work represents not only the artistic peak of Tyler The Creator's career but also a possible contemporary classic of today's black music. Tyler almost completely abandons those dark and alternative sounds that characterized him in the past while not abandoning his mixing method, often deliberately made a bit raw and dirty yet enjoyable to listen to. In fact, the productions are the flagship of the project: in Tyler's music, his musical inspirations ranging from '70s funk to Pharrell Williams can be constantly perceived. In particular, the famous rapper, producer, and singer remains the primary influence on Tyler's music, who, precisely thanks to one of his songs, began to believe in a possible musical career.

Excluding the two "bangers" of the album, namely "Who Dat Boy" featuring A$ap Rocky (the only song musically speaking that refers to previous works) and the sparkling "I ain't got time" (a beautiful homage to the music of the N.E.R.D. where Tyler does a sort of not-so-veiled "coming out"), the rest of the songs maintain a precise mood, that is, a hint of nostalgia: every piece sounds slightly melancholic, which is due to the excellent production curated by Tyler himself, who enriches the songs with electric guitars full of delay and vintage keyboards and synthesizers: "See You Again" (one of the peaks of the album) is indeed a crescendo of sounds and melodies that slowly unfold into a compelling rap. "Boredom" and "Foreword" combine indie sounds (with the vocal addition of alternative musician and singer Rex Orange County) and classic rap, the former with a beautiful catchy refrain, the latter being a triumph of guitars and synthesizers that progress as the song goes on.
"Garden Shed" instead is the most interesting track, in a Pink Floyd style and at times quite psychedelic: for this reason, I consider it a unique gem in today's American rap.
In addition to these already perfect tracks in every aspect, we also find much R'n'B ("Where this flower blooms", "911\mr lonely", "Glitter") and more classic but sumptuous rap tracks in production ("Pothole", "November", "Droppin' Seeds" with a Lil Wayne in top form). The album ends with "Enjoy Right Now, Today", a funky instrumental that closes a memorable work worthily.

Introspection is another strong point of the album: finally, Tyler abandons the role of the brash and provocative kid and starts questioning himself, his fears, his emotions, the most important and unique memories of his life, and especially his sexuality, with a semi-coming out that has caused quite a stir. All this makes Flower Boy Tyler's most personal and introspective album so far and also his rap, once very wooden and slightly forced, has now become more fluid and melodic.

In conclusion, I would define "Flower Boy" as the first album of Tyler Okonma and no longer Tyler the anarchic and provocative bad boy, hence the first work of Tyler-the-person and not Tyler the character: a sumptuous work full of black culture in its productions and very introspective in its lyrics; without a doubt, this is one of the high points achieved by rap in recent times. With "Flower Boy," Tyler has officially entered among the "big" names in the scene, a well-rounded artist, aware of his artistic capabilities and thus a guarantee of quality work.