Did I miss something? When did Tyler, the Creator become Tyler, the Composer? It's not a complete surprise, I saw glimpses of SCUM FUCK FLOWER BOY with 2015's Cherry Bomb but Tyler was going through a transition phase trying to evolve his distorted, raw production and affinity for controversial lines into something more palatable. 2 years later and we're listening to a different artist. His rapping and especially his production are light years ahead of his previous efforts. Instead of pushing the angry, introspective energy outward, he's focusing inward. Tyler has never lacked self-awareness, but in his previous releases, he would put those uncomfortable feelings and thoughts on the listener to deal with rather than confronting them. Now that he's completely out of his comfort zone and baring his soul, his music is on a completely different level. The flower theme is appropriate, as he's bloomed into a completely different artist.
The biggest surprise is the quality of the production. His vision seems to have expanded and his compositions are layered, expansive, and beautiful. The chord progressions, string arrangements, and mixing all blend seamlessly. From the bone rattling, make-you-nod-your-head bangers "Who dat boy" and "I Ain't got time" to the melodic, spacey ballads "November" and "See you again", everything here is polished and uplifting. Which, if you are familiar with Tyler's music, is quite the departure from the industrial sound and angry undertones that usually define his releases. Not only does everything sound better, but the songs are actually catchy. Tyler has been traditionally averse to catchy hooks and radio friendly, well, anything, but "Boredom", "911/Mr. Lonely", and "November" are catchy as hell and have been refusing to leave my head since I first heard them.
Even the features are better this time around. It sounds like instead of choosing artists first, Tyler made the songs then had his guests add flourishes where necessary. Lil' Wayne murders a verse on "Dropping Seeds" as does A$AP Rocky on "Who Dat Boy", Estelle, Kali Uchis, and Rex Orange County all add some beautiful vocals to a couple of tracks, and Frank Ocean sounds incredible as per usual. I even enjoyed the god damn Jaden Smith feature on "Pothole". That's how good Tyler is this time around, he got me to like a song with Jaden Smith.
Even though the artwork and track list make it seem like this album would have a cohesive "garden" theme, the concept is mostly just a springboard for Tyler to dive into whatever seems to be on his mind at the moment. A collection of short stories rather than a novel. Still, Tyler works best when his ADD-fueled imagination runs wild.
Lyrically, it sounds like Tyler has spent every part of the last two years perfecting his craft. He’s newfound self-confidence make him sound boisterous without the underlying insecurity and self-hatred. This album oozes personality, with Tyler singing without vocal effects and hilariously acknowledging his shortcomings on "911/Mr.Lonely" ("ay, can ya'll help me right quick?"), or endlessly boasting about his McLaren but having the self-awareness to realize he does it a lot ("I know ya'll sick of me talking bout cars"). Tyler's raps are more personal, harder hitting, and his flows are much more polished.
Unlike Cherry Bomb where the angry, bitter undertones were still hovering around, causing a noticeable disconnect between the lyrics and production and making the ballads clunky and awkward (looking at you "Perfect/Fucking Young"), SFFB is much more comfortable being lighthearted and vulnerable.
Which brings us to the giant gay elephant in the room. "Garden Shed" and "I Ain't got time" both contain direct references to Tyler's affinity for men. I could write paragraphs deconstructing why he's probably trolling or why he's actually gay or, more importantly, why the music media cares so much. But I won't because it doesn't matter. I'd rather focus on the music.
Despite the mountains of praise I've heaped on SFFB thus far, it ends on a weak note. The album starts so well and carries that momentum for 3/4ths and then just kind of trails off. "Glitter" feels like a leftover from Cherry Bomb, and not in a good way. And "Enjoy right now, today" isn't a bad piece of production per se, but it's stripped down feel doesn't match the quality of the music that came before it. The last two tracks could have been left off the album and it would've been just as good.
So here we are. It's 2017, Donald Trump is President and Tyler, the Creator is making beautiful, catchy, deeply personal, revealing music. Nothing makes sense anymore. This is a new high point for Tyler, the Creator's career, and as he continues to mature and focus more on the music and less on the controversy, his talent as a musician and songwriter is starting to really blossom. Tyler is finally embracing who he is instead of hating it, and the results are spectacular.