Flower boy Tyler the creator review

When I was 13,( so three years ago) I listened to tamale by Tyler the creator and back then my music taste was pretty basic. I listened to zero lyrics and was focused on the beat which isn’t a bad thing but you are unable to understand the song and why it was made and maybe why it is so aggressive it’s sad. Anyway now I’m 16 and I listened to IFHY from his album wolf and FUCKING YOUNG/PERFECT from Cherry Bomb. I realised Tyler’s creative genius so when I heard flower boy was coming out I saved it on Apple Music awaiting its full release. So the release date comes and I procrastinate the living day light out of listening to that album until I meet with my friend Monica who really encourages me that it’s a great album. So on the way to the airport I  listened intently to the album in order. So I’m gunna comment on everyone song on the album and talk about my favourites.

Foreword:

Ok foreword is the first song on the album and an amazing opener for the album. The first few lyrics already convinced me I wasn’t making a mistake listening to this album. The way Tyler linked together similar words as if playing word tennis really drove in the point that nothing is infinite. Such as the lines “How much cooler can I get until run out of fans?How many fans can I have till they turn on the AC?If the AC blow up, then I’m TNT, I’m gone”. These are also really cool lines as they hold a double meaning. At first glance it may seem as if he is just talking about fans and air conditioning but with careful thought it can be interpreted in a way that makes it seem as though Tyler is questioning how much ‘cooler’ as in how long will it take for him to lose all his momentum and fire before he loses all his fans. Also if the AC blows and he is gone then he will be forgotten in the Music industry. Rex Orange county’s vocals in the song are soothing to listen to even though the lyrics he is singing aren’t exactly positive. For example “if I drown and don’t come back, whose gunna know?” All in all foreword is a great start to the album

Where this flower blooms:

I actually grew to like this song. I really like it at the moment. It has a really cool summer vibe that’s great to listen to on a sunny day in the car with friends or for me in the car with my mum with my ear phones in. This song has really light hearted feel and frank oceans voacls really add the to summery feel of the whole song. From this song I really understood Tyler’s message of letting your garden or sunflower grow and not letting anyone kill it from the lyrics, “I rock, I roll, I bloom, I grow.” The garden could be a metaphor for your ideas and your personality traits and the flower could possibly be the listener.

Sometimes:

Sometimes is a nice lil interlude to listen to when listening to the full album as it helps the songs to flow nicely into one another. It is also quite funny when the voice on the line says “since you wanna be mr fucking secret agent “. It is a really good transition into the song see you again as the when the caller is asked about what song they want to hear they reply with “the one about me” and it can be thought that the song see you again could be about someone.

See you again:

Seee you again is one of my favourite songs on the album and the opening line “ok” seems like a response to the man speaking in the interlude just before. It’s also a cute little song to listen to and the change after the chorus into the verse is really cool. Kali uchis is always a great ft on any of Tyler’s songs and she didn’t disappoint as per usual. Her voice added the whole , day dream vibe of the chorus in a similar way to Tyler’s. The mixing of the chorus and verse styles at the end brought the two almost contrasting styles together causing a beautiful ending. Who dat boy:

Who dat boy is the first song on the album with a high tempo and hyped exterior. It’s shows off Tyler’s Frequently aggressive tone that he has used in songs such as Yonkers from goblin.  This song fts A$AP rocky, who doesn’t fail to make this track better especially when he increases the speed of his flow mid verse. A really memorable line from the song is “stand out guy he don’t need no chair” and this is cool as it is a play on the word stand up guy but instead Tyler is talking about how he stands out from other rappers in the indurty. Who dat boy is one big rhetorical question and whether Tyler is questioning himself or someone else is difficult to determine.

Pothole:

Pothole has a really chill feel to it and it makes it really easy to listen to. A pothole is a hole in the road and this can be an obstacle for cars, so it can be thought that maybe the song is dealing with obstacles that Tyler is facing or will face. This thought stems from an early warning from Tyler’s mother that he shares with us in the opening lines ” my mother warned me that some niggas ain’t my right hand”. Maybe there are people in his life that have stopped or are trying to stop him from reaching his goals, therefore acting like a pothole. Jaden smith ft on this song and his monotonous vocals carry the seriousness of the lyrics while the instrumental carefully disguises Tyler’s troubles from those who fail to listen closely. Originally this was a favourite of mine but the track all though good was slightly forgettable and not the most amazing on the album.

Garden shed:

Track 7 is garden shed and this song was the most talked about on the album but not due to its amazing production and talented vocals but due to certain lyrics. This song is a really different vibe to Tyler’s usual but is beautiful to listen to. The term garden shed can be thought as something Tyler is hiding in as it is almost secretive. It can be thought as maybe Tyler’s version of being in the closet and that is why there was a lot of speculation around the track. There was also a misheard lyrics that really convinced listeners that Tyler was coming out. The misheard lyrics was “truth is, since I was a youth kid thought it was a phase. Thought it would be like the frank, poof, gone.” Due to frank ocean coming out a few years ago Tyler’s listeners believed he was doing the same but Tyler clarified that he said “phrase” not frank in his lyrics. With or without the speculation surrounding the sound it is beautifully produced and constructed and estelles lyrics are sung melodically.

Boredom:

Boredom was instantly one of my favourites because it is ridiculously relatable. It continues with the main motif of this album, loneliness, and with loneliness comes boredom. The song has a more light hearted feel and again is a very chill song which can be said about the majority of the songs on this album. Rex Orange County fts again and has the same effect on this song as he does on foreword. In this song it is repeatedly sung “find the time to do something” and “boredom got a new best friend”. It is thought that 1) Tyler is the new best friend of boredom and 2) that Tyler struggles to find the time to do things that prevent him from being bored. He confirms this in the next track.

I ain’t got time:

This song goes hand in hand with track 8 as it can be a response to the statement “find some time to do something.” I ain’t got time is again a controversial one and the second and last song with such a high tempo and possess strong similarities to main stream rap. Tyler has sections of the song with a faster and slower tempo and his lyrics differ due to there deeper meaning. This song is controversial due to the, long debated line ” next line I’ll have em like woah, I’ve been kissing white boys since 2004.” It is hard to say if Tyler is trolling as he has previously done or if this is the truth as he hasn’t come out to confirm or deny the lines.

911/Mr Lonely:

This is my favourite song on this album due to its upbeat nature, 80s funk feel and easily over looked lyrics. Sometimes the beauty of the instrumental distracts you from the lyrics but really what Tyler is singing about is slightly depressing and the motif of loneliness and sadnesss throughout the album can be easily be acknowledged after carefully listening to this song. It is thought that when Anna of the North and Tyler sing “call me sometime, 911” that Tyler is someone people only talk to in emergencies like 911 hotline and no one ever checks up on him as a friend which could be a cause of his loneliness. Tyler shares his experiences in the 911 part of the song and talks about how he has a “five car garage” but “it don’t mean nothing, without you shotgunning the passenger”. So he is saying money can buy you so many things but you can never share those experiences so eventually it all becomes meaningless. My favourite lines in the song are ” I am the lonelinest man alive, but I keep on dancing to throw em off, I’m gunna run out of moves cause I can’t grove to the blues.”  This line hits deep as Tyler illudes to the fact that he puts on this happy front but it’s not going to last because he’s going to crack one day.

The song then switches to the Mr Lonely half and this section is more depressing. The lyrics and the beat change drastically. Tyler starts it off by singing, ” I can’t even lie I’ve been lonely as fuck”. So he confirms the thoughts the listener may or may not be having while listening to this album. He then goes on to sing ” 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 probably the lonelinest one in the room”. Tyler is likely talking about himself as he in know for his loud and outrageous behaviour. I’m going to mention two more lyrics on this track as to me they are important to listen out for. 1) is ” crashed the maclarean bought me a tesla, I know you sick of me talking bout cars, but what the fuck else do you want from me that’s the only thing keeping me company”. This is one of he most depressing lyrics of the song but really shows how lonely Tyler is really feeling. He again talks about how materialistic items is what he attempts to use to fill the void  of being alone but it doesn’t work. Then 2) is ” I never had a dog, so I’ve never been good with bitches, cause I never threw a ball, Fetch, I never had a pet, that’s where it stems from I bet”. Tyler could be playing on the words that dogs are a mans best friend but because he grew up without one or a pet in general he has never been good with woman or keeping company.

Droppin seeds:

Is a 1 minute song consisting 90% of lil Wayne’s vocals. Droppin seeds can be thought to mean sowing and growing ideas in the garden that Tyler has encouraged us throughout the album to grow.

November:

Again November is one of my favourites on the album and Tyler reveals that he isn’t at his happiest right now, but a time he was happy was summer 06 and he calls happy times in his life ‘november’. He then mentions ” what if who dat boy” is rhetorical. So what if Tyler has lost his relevance and the question that seemed so humourous in the actual song, is actually a worry that Tyler has. This can be referenced back to his worry in the first song Foreword. November is filled with tons of Tyler’s worries and insecurities, he is scared he will lose all he has worked for and end up back where he started. Tyler then challenges the listeners to think of what there November is and as he slips into his own thoughts about his own November, a horn can be heard in the song. Then he says “what if I thought the brake was the gas, what if I crashed, what if these deep thoughts is my last, let me pull over quick and drive back to November.”  Maybe Tyler can get stuck thinking back to good times and it distracts him or maybe when he thinks of bad memories he needs to think back to his November. Another great line in this song is ” what is my day Ones turn to three, fours cause of track seven”. Track seven is garden shed and this suggest that maybe Tyler is scared that if he comes out he will lose his friends. He then has a really great interlude of scattered voices all sharing their Novembers. The song is beautiful and relatable due to everyone having their own insecurities. Tyler breaks the fourth wall between celebrities and us normals by reassuring us that famous people have struggles and difficulties too!

Glitter:

Glitter is the first song on the album that is directly about someone else who isn’t Tyler. It is thought to be about someone who makes Tyler feel good about himself after revealing all his insecurities and fears in the previous song.This person makes Tyler feel like glitter and throughout the song he explains how this person does that.

Enjoy right now, today

This is the final song on the album and it’s a great instrumental to end the song. It acts like a song where credits would roll and the title of the song encourages listeners to enjoy the present!

So these are all the reasons why I love flower boy. Tyler’s ability to share his hard experiences creates a beautiful piece of art that anyone can relate to!

Much love,

Sopexx

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