Every Tyler, the Creator Project, Ranked: Staff Picks

Year: 2011

On the intro to Tyler, the Creator’s debut album, the Odd Future frontman quickly explains how and why he became one of the most anticipated new artists of 2011: “‘Yonkers’ dropped and left their craniums mind-f–ked/ Now competition missing like that n—a my mom f–ked.” Picking up where his ’09 mixtape Bastard left off, Goblin continues Tyler’s conversation with a fictional therapist as he vents about his new found fame and the criticisms he’s received about language and musical content. He brushes most of it aside and then proceeds to do more of what he claims the masses hate.

You can see, or hear, The Neptunes’ space funk influence peaking through the album’s morose vibes, but the overarching influence on it seemed to be Eminem. Especially on songs like the aforementioned “Yonkers” where Tyler took aim at everyone from pop stars like Bruno Mars to his mother. He even took a few bars to diss music critics and his absent father, just like Em. But despite hewing so close to one of his rap heroes, this album proved to everyone that there was more to Tyler than just an angry kid with a keyboard, a microphone, and internet access . — DAMIEN SCOTT

Year: 2015

Before the days Tyler, the Creator fully realized his potential as one of the leaders of a generation and a critical darling, albums like Cherry Bomb served as a stepping stone in that laborious journey. Within the 2015 LP’s first six tracks, Tyler’s zags from funk to jazz and as he gives his best Pharrell impression behind the boards, however, the unbridled chaos isn’t as polished as the fleshed out ideas of Grammy-winning efforts like IGOR or Call Me If You Get Lost. This project showcases glimpses of the Odd Future alum’s brilliance, but today it’s probably best remembered for Tyler realizing one of his rap dreams when he clashes with hip-hop heroes Lil Wayne and Kanye West on the braggadocious “SMUCKERS,” in a bucket-list affair. — MICHAEL SAPONARA

Year: 2013

Two years after his horrorcore-vibed debut studio album Goblin, Tyler, the Creator released Wolf. And with this 2013 sophomore set, the already fearless 22-year-old wunderkind began the musical and lyrical leveling-up that now defines his innovative legacy as a rapper, singer, producer and arranger.

Through the character Wolf and other alter egos, Tyler delves into a confessional bag of emotions stemming from his relationships with his estranged dad (“Jamba” featuring Hodgy Beats), his cheating girlfriend (“IFHY” with Pharrell), his recently passed grandmother (“Lone”) his newfound fame (“Domo23”) and even his bicycle (“Slater” featuring Frank Ocean).

Vestiges of how Tyler’s music earlier drew the ire of the LGBTQ community and others remain — like one verse from “Domo23” (“So, a couple f–s threw a little hissfit/ … And said I was a racist homophobic”). But there’s no denying that Wolf’s sumptuous beats, guitar melodies, colorful horns, synths and jazz- and R&B-infused arrangements — alongside Tyler’s distinctive bass voice — presaged his promising future. — GAIL MITCHELL

Year: 2009

When Odd Future first came out, most people paid more attention to the shock factor provided by Tyler and his merry gang of misfits than the collective’s overall talent. Bastard didn’t really help that case with many being offended by the needlessly crass lines, but his first mixtape showed flashes of brilliance.

The title track is extremely jarring on first (or 10th) listen. That song dropped dead in the middle of the blog era and sounded different from anything that was out at the time. Tyler sets things off by dissing the popular rap blogs and spits horrorcore bars over piano keys and no drums way before that style became popular within rap’s underground.

“AssMilk” is another standout. He and Earl created so much hype with that song, mainly because of the blue language, but also because Tyler and Early were 18 and 15 years old at the time, respectively. They reminded fans of Eminem and the Gravediggaz. The two have since matured and currently operate at high levels in their respective lanes of rap, but listening to this makes you wish they never stopped making music together. — ANGEL DIAZ

Year: 2024

The debut single from Tyler’s seventh full-length was a pump fake of sorts. “Noid” is built around a discordant rock riff over that he uses to discuss the paranoia he experiences as a black superstar living in LA. Eventually the song gives way to an idyllic choir he’s employed many times before. For a second there we thought Tyler found a new sandbox to play in; new musical inspirations to draw from. Move onto the next track, “Darling, I,” however, and you realize he’s not done honing his approximation of early-2000s Neptunes. But, hey, there are worse altars at which to worship.

The production on Chromakopia doesn’t have the urgency of Call Me If You Get Lost — it’s not working as hard to impress. It’s comfortable. There are the same breezy, technicolor chords that’s colored most of his recent music. Certain standouts like “Sticky,” which features Sexyy Red, Lil Wayne and GloRilla, and sounds like a southern marching band conducted by Pharrell, show he can still surprise. Instead of the now-overly popular beat switch, Tyler’s production sometimes transmogrify like a kaleidoscope. 

More interesting, however, is the creative conceit: Tyler’s realization that the person he’s purported to be in public is perhaps not who he actually is. It’s not novel — we’ve seen many artists do their best Paul Laurence Dunbar impression. But it’s a welcome examination, especially when done by an artist like Tyler, who has the tremendous ability to build something that matches the immense scope of his vision. A lot of Chromakopia is Tyler wrestling with that very ambition; wrestling with the idea of fatherhood and wondering if putting anything above his love of music would make him happy.

It’s all messy and revealing, but that usually makes for the best art. And Tyler knows that. He also knows that, after all the self-examination, music will ultimately win out. “I’ll be lonely with these Grammys when it’s all said and done,” he raps on “Darling, I.” It’s a somber outlook for Tyler, but a bright one for his fans.  — D.S.

Year: 2017

Tyler transforms from rap’s immature provocateur to a blossoming genre-spanning auteur on his fourth album Flower Boy. He abandons the horrorcore aesthetic (except for the A$AP Rocky-featuring “Who Dat Boy”), mischievous alter egos and violent and vulgar lyrics of his past work and embraces gorgeous confessionals about love and loneliness over a kaleidoscopic production that blends funk, jazz, neo-soul and rap.

The tender Estelle-assisted slow jam “Garden Shed” is an extended metaphor about Tyler concealing his sexual orientation, a surprisingly earnest self-examination from someone who once spewed gay slurs and was even banned from the U.K. as a result. “Tell these Black kids they could be who they are,” he encourages on “Where This Flower Blooms,” and in the LP’s 46-minute runtime, fans hear Tyler grow into the artist (and person) he’s always meant to become.

The album earned him his first best rap album Grammy nomination in 2018 and the sweet sleeper hit “See You Again,” featuring Kali Uchis, experienced a resurgence last year — even debuting on the Hot 100 for the first time, peaking at No. 44. Seven years later, Flower Boy continues to bloom. — HERAN MAMO

Year: 2019

Though Tyler technically came out of the womb as an artist a decade earlier, his incarnation as a cold-blooded superstar truly began in 2019 when he deftly threaded together his masterwork, IGOR. Gone was the Odd Future renegade, who thrived off juvenile mechanics for jump scares, to this creative daredevil who tinkered with every crevice of his imagination. With a mélange of sonics ranging from funk to dance, Tyler trudges through the muddy waters of love and becomes a shape-shifter for everything he once detested. Transforming into the project’s protagonist Igor, Tyler unabashedly scripts love songs like “EARFQUAKE” while looking to evade heartbreak on “A BOY IS A GUN.” A Pharrell understudy, Tyler takes from his idol’s playbook and reimagines it for the modern era, with “I THINK” and “RUNNING OUT OF TIME” proving to be shining examples of his genius. — CARL LAMARRE

Year: 2020

After he bent genres with the Grammy-winning Igor, Tyler had to remind the game that he’s one of the best rappers out. He was talking crazy all over this album, and the production coupled with DJ Drama’s priceless contribution makes this one of the best rap albums of the last decade (and of all time). This was for all the people that don’t consider Tyler “real hip-hop,” like them old heads stuck in the past and the fans who think Tyler is still too weird for their taste. In 2010, he tweeted about how much he wanted a Gangsta Grillz tape, and now he has one of best ones ever made.

This project is so good, he may consider tapping into his Tyler Baudelaire side to remind people that he’s one of the best doing it right now. There are a bunch of standout tracks on this tape, but my favorite will always be “LEMONHEAD” featuring 42 Dugg. That linkup is as unexpected as Tyler using Drama to play narrator to his stuntasitc soundscape. What’s more, he then has NBA Youngboy on a love song alongside the croons of Ty Dolla $ign on the very next track.

Call Me If You Get Lost is a ride on a winding road on a beautiful day in a foreign whip — driving gloves on, hair blowing in the wind as [insert classic rap album] plays. Whatever Tyler makes after this really doesn’t matter that much, as his legacy was solidified once this dropped and he had officially delivered a stone cold classic.  — A.D.