When Tyler, The Creator burst onto the scene, he was young kid from Los Angeles leading a bunch of other kids. These kids all loved to dress weird and all loved music, and they called themselves “Odd Future.” By early 2010, “Odd Future” had transcended local Los Angeles, and the group was known across the country as the weirdest group of cool kids who can rap. With Tyler, The Creator’s new album, CHROMAKOPIA, on the way, let’s take a deep dive into Tyler’s best songs from the “Odd Future” era (2009-2013).
4. “A–Milk” featuring Earl Sweatshirt
This was the song that introduced a lot of people to Earl Sweatshirt. The two traded bars and verses for almost four minutes, showcasing what we loved most about “Odd Future”: gory and clever lyrics and hardcore, evil beats. These bars were so sadistic that they likely would’ve been cancelled today.
Standout bars: “I’m not an a–hole I just don’t give a f— a lot/The only time I do is when a bitch is screaming, “Tyler, stop”/The big bad wolf to me you’re just a minor fox.”
3. “Yonkers”
For those who weren’t from California, most people’s introduction to Tyler, The Creator was the “Yonkers” video. Whenever you see someone eat a cockroach, it’s sure to get your attention, but “Yonkers” went so much deeper than the video. It showed that people can win being weird, a strategy that’s used in music today quite a bit. The Lil Uzi’s and Playboi Carti’s definitely took some inspiration from Tyler’s come-up and that was to be yourself, even if everyone calls it weird. Fourteen years after the song’s release and Tyler, The Creator is still king of the weirdos, except being weird is what’s actually cool now.
“I’m a f—–g walking paradox, no, I’m not/Threesomes with a f—–g triceratops, Reptar/Rapping as I’m mocking deaf rock stars/”
2. “Blow”
If an artist wants to paint stories about drugs and how they alter your mind, this is a masterclass on how to do it. On the song “Blow,” Tyler is painting a picture of how late serial killer Ted Bundy’s day would go. His decision making is horrific and downright terrifying, his thoughts are erratic, but yet he is smooth and charming. The lyrics get intense, even traumatic, but that is what made Tyler so popular during this time; he and his collective were the only artists willing to rap such statements.
“If this was a game/I would be considered a m—-f—ing legend/And I ain’t trying to gas you like Chevron/But I’m high as f–k, b—h, you really need to get on my leverage”
1.”B-stard”
If you want to know why Tyler, The Creator is the way he is, listen to the intro to his first mixtape, B-stard. the song starts with him going on a tangent about a blog that wouldn’t promote his music before he sits down with his therapist, Dr. TC (Tyler’s Conscious). Once the beat drops, he raps for seven minutes straight, releasing all his issues, shortcomings and insecurities onto his therapist, which is really him just talking to himself. By the end of his nine verses, you start to understand Tyler.
“My father’s dead, well, I don’t know, we’ll never f—ing meet/I cut my wrist and play piano ’cause I’m so depressed/Somebody call the pastor, this b-stard is so possessed”
