Tyler, the Creator, has assembled a truly impressive discography. His pro career over the past ten years has been intriguing to observe, from his early days producing wildly aspirational (and defiant) albums like Goblin as well as Wolf to more rhythmic (and financially viable) albums like Flower Boy and IGOR.
But despite all the talk about Tyler’s development, it’s not as if he fundamentally altered his preferences along the way. The inspiration for his most previous project, Call Me If You Get Lost, can be traced to his first solo mixtape, Bastard.
Call Me If You Get Lost was released a week ago, and since there has been a lot of discussion about how it stacks up against Tyler’s other album tracks, we decided to revisit his discography as well as rank all of his works. Here is a ranking of Tyler The Creator albums, from worst to best.
7. Bastard
Although Tyler frequently claims to have put out seven albums, although many people allude to Bastard as just a mixtape, we’ll follow his lead and add it to this list. Bastard, which Tyler produced wholly, is a precursor to many of his later works and gives us a glimpse of his lofty goals. At the time, Tyler was a young teen, and although his specialist expertise hadn’t entirely swept up with his concepts, he was already onto it special.
He instantly distinguishes himself from each other kids trying to post their tunes on message boards just at a time by talking to a therapist regarding his absent parent and inclination to be an outcast on the first track. Making music like “Blow” and “Sarah” at the age of eighteen while ignoring all fads at the time, Tyler always did exist in a world of his own. Though not flawless and with many undeveloped ideas, Bastard did an excellent job laying the groundwork for all that would follow.
6. Goblin
Some generations can still vividly recall when Bob Dylan first picked up an electric guitar just at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, Michael Jackson shifted his weight backward at Motown 25, or Britney Spears donned a schoolgirl ensemble that forever altered pop music.
We, however, are fortunate to be able to recall precisely which home computer we were using when we first observed Tyler Okonma, then 19 years old, gnawing on a cockroach. The “Yonkers” music video served as an accessible entry point into Tyler’s works as well as the bizarre, twisted, and absurd limits of Goblin, his first studio album. The mixtape offered a creative glimpse into the thoughts of a teen attempting to figure himself out artistically, notwithstanding being miles ahead of those who thought he could achieve what he did. It provided a soundtrack for skinny jean-wearing, tie-dye-loving kids to rebel too.
With songs such as “Bitch Suck Dick,” “Analog,” as well as the Frank-featuring “She,” Goblin has been unapologetically raunchy, a little bit demonic, and at the verge of alarming. Although Tyler called the album “horrible,” considering how talented he has since become, while not all of it got old, this Tyler The Creator album was still a stepping stone in a professional life that continues to astound—just with fewer words.
5. Cherry Bomb
It’s too simple to write Cherry Bomb Tyler The Creator off as a fad, the odd cousin of Wolf as well as Flower Boy, or a sharp departure from Tyler’s signature sound to the direction his following three albums would take. But this Tyler The Creator album goes far beyond that. Cherry Bomb can be seen as Tyler’s equivalent of the Noah’s Arc. Unlike the biblical figure, it’s not his responsibility to save civilization one species at the moment, but he still handled his third LP as if everything depended on it.
Instead of relying on preconceived ideas about his production abilities, he pieced together his ship before setting sail, using chords that were growing brighter, wackier, and fuller. And what did he want from Cherry Bomb that he could not include in his previous albums?
Few artists in 2015, however, had the charm or admiration for classic pop to greet Boyz II Men’s Wanya Morris on the hook, the guts to introduce a relatively unproven Kali Uchis to one‘s expanding fanbase via “Find Your Wings,” the pull to connect with heroes such as Skateboard P once more, or the pure power to get both Eazy’s on a track Tyler’s opportunity to get weird, and sang a little more, as well as make a hint that his innovative creativity was about to blow up with no detonator throughout sight was Cherry Bomb.
4. Wolf
By the time Tyler the Creator Wolf recorded, he had seen the world and was beginning to change his outlook on music and life. Though he started to eschew a lot of the shock-and-awe that characterized his first two works, Wolf nonetheless represented a relatively straightforward progression from Goblin. He continued some of the same plotlines and character types from the first two records with outstanding technological understanding.
It’s a superb fantastic album that captures Tyler’s best work in his formative years, with songs like “IFHY” as well as “Tamale” standing the test of time. A send-off to the characters as well as artistic sensibilities which described Tyler’s 1st three personal projects, Wolf was a perfect ending, right before he was about to take a turn with something new if you think of his first three solo works as a trilogy of sorts.
3. Flower Boy
At this point, you’ve probably noticed a trend: Our opinion is that Tyler’s albums have gotten better overall as his career has developed. The year 2017’s Flower Boy was the turning point for Tyler. Although he had previously displayed flashes of brilliance and his manufacturing was always flawless, Flower Boy was the initiative that depicted the ideal convergence of soundscape, audacious ideas, as well as sound execution. He exposes more of himself than we had heard mentioned on tracks where some claim he “came out” on this warm, introverted album.
Beyond that revelation, however, Tyler showed a degree of deliberation and wisdom that enabled him to advance from a potential artist to a recognized celebrity. His romantic endeavors, which had occasionally been disturbing in earlier works, became more relatable in the depressed “See You Again” with Kali Uchis. Tyler the Creator Flower Boy, which was a strong and deserving Grammy nominee, blurred the lines between rap and pop while still managing to appeal to a broad audience and signal the beginning of a new phase in his career.
2. IGOR
IGOR is a contender for the top place on this list, and this Tyler The Creator album arrives in a solid second according to our rankings, based on who you ask. Tyler’s 12-song album is a masterfully designed concept album that transports us inside his fertile imagination. It may be the most pleasurable album to hear from the beginning to end of Tyler’s professional life so far.
He demonstrates his shape-shifting skills throughout the album’s tracklist by effortlessly switching between hazy, grunge-inspired audio recordings and romantic love songs. He maintains the same blonde-haired, suit-wearing persona throughout, crafting a seamless plot suitable for a major motion picture. Tyler the Creator IGOR seamlessly incorporates superstars such as Lil Uzi Vert within its own unique universe while fusing fuzzy pop beats to rap as well as R&B. It also strikes the perfect balance between abstract elements as well as approachable sounds.
Tyler confirmed his status as one of the top “album artists” of his time, earning him a No. 1 spot just on the Billboard charts and a Grammy.
1. Call Me If You Get Lost
A few days upon Call Me If You Get Lost was released, Tyler went on Instagram Live and played “Massabeat “‘s for his followers. He repeatedly repeated the opening drum break while placing his hands over his face, looking directly into his phone, and shouting, “I’m so f***ing good, dude, it was so crazy!” He was being honest.
Tyler’s technical proficiency has increased on each song, and CMIYGL contains some of his best sounds. Although it’s not a fantastic album in the same way that IGOR had, Tyler managed to tie everything together with a single musical theme: it’s the Gangsta Grillz project he’s always wanted. With some assistance from DJ Drama, Tyler manages to put some of his most potent songs onto the same tracklist as his most intimate storytelling to date.
Some people mistakenly describe CMIYGL as an edge rap album because it follows the relatively melodic IGOR, but this Tyler The Creator album is a narrow perspective. Tyler combined all his musical abilities into one project, and we’ve done so at a higher caliber than in the past. Yes, there is rap throughout this, but he made room for ten minutes of melodic extravagance as well as gave NBA YoungBoy an R&B record-friendly sound. From the lyrics to the guest appearances, this album is jam-packed with flexes, and Tyler is well aware of just how good he is correct now. The most considerable flex of all is that he seems to keep improving as he gets older. It’s unsettling to consider what he may have in store.
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