ABOUT THE AUTHOR

“Victim, victim, honey, you’re my fifth one Honey on that topping when I stuff you in my system Rape a pregnant bitch and tell my friends I had a threesome” (Tyler, the Creator 1:23).

It was lyrics like this one, which was grabbed off of Troncat on Goblin, that initially grabbed my attention towards Tyler, the Creator’s lyrics, but it was the breadth and depth of his lyrics from his other albums that held my interest.

Tyler, the Creator has always been an artist I placed on a pedestal. I came in contact with him early in high school. I had never before seen such a stark contrast between an artist’s earlier work in juxtaposition with their current work.

To give you some more context as to what I’m saying, six years after the lyrics that I have previously quoted, Tyler, the Creator released this on Flower Boy.

“Tell these black kids they could be who they are Dye your hair blue, shit, I’ll do it too Look, I smell like Chanel I never mall grip with my manicured nails I coconut oil the skin I keep the top low ‘cause the follicles thinnin’” (Tyler, the Creator 1:09)

This portfolio will attempt to organize and describe Tyler’s transition from over-the-top and heinous lyrics to lyrics that inspire gay listeners into being more true to themselves and accepting of their personalities. To do this, this portfolio will contain the following: An annotated bibliography discussing the sources of information and inspiration that I reference in this portfolio, a genre discourse analysis of how Tyler, the Creator’s realization sexuality has shaped his music over his career, a brief bibliography of Tyler, the Creator’s life, a critique of Tyler, the Creators album “Wolf”, an album review of of “Flower Boy”, a concert review of a 2019 performance of his at Camp Flaw Gnaw, a genre discourse analysis on meta criticism, a genre discourse analysis on popism versus pessimism, and a collection of relevant discussions behind some of the previously covered topics.

Most of the outside information that was used in this portfolio was gathered from lyrics of Tyler’s songs, google searches, and information that I had previously known from being an active fan for the majority of my music listening experience. I will admit that the majority of the information provided throughout this portfolio is very opinionated and biased. To me, Tyler, the Creator is one of the greatest musicians of the last decade and I portray him as such.

This portfolio will also cover a variety of formats ranging from academic, and non-academic texts to a critical audio file that will be provided. The purpose of doing this is to reach a large assortment of audience members. I want to create an interesting discussion about Tyler, the Creator’s work rather than just inform about his latest doings, which means including readers from all levels of the academic spectrum rather than just catering to one group who would all most likely just discuss amongst themselves.

After concluding this project, I have probably listened to all of Tyler, the Creator’s albums several times, and in doing so I have developed a deep appreciation for both the productional and lyrical investments that are put into his work. I have also become extremely appreciative of his transition/breadth between all of his albums as he grew into his own and rose in popularity. Tyler, the Creator is often criticized as having ‘really white fans’. I am no exception. Fresh out of a white suburbia town in Illinois, which actually used to be a sun-down town, I now attend the University of Cincinnati where I study architecture. I play tennis and chess in my free time, which are like two of the most pretentious hobbies someone can have (although I believe everyone should try drunk chess at least once). My parents are both teachers and I believe that’s apparent in my mannerisms. I didn’t really discover a passion for music until around my sophomore year of high school, so I’m still discovering new tastes that I have.

Some of my favorite artists in hip-hop include Tyler, the Creator, Kanye West, Frank Ocean, Chance the Rapper, Childish Gambino, and Kendrick Lamar.

Outside of hip-hop, in no particular order, I really enjoy Pink Floyd, Vince Guaraldi, Nick Drake, Mac Demarco, Sales, and the Beatles.