Tyler, the Creator released his fourth album titled Flower Boy July 21. It is an album that discusses many topics, such as his roots and love, while using nature as a metaphor in many of his songs.

Flower Boy has a mellow, alternative type of sound mixed in with a couple of intense, fast songs. Between many instruments, synthetic beats, and the layering of many different sounds, it creates a beautiful blend of music that translates into 14 different songs. It features many different artists, from A$AP Rocky to Frank Ocean to Kali Uchis.

“Garden Shed” featuring Estelle, the most well-known song off the album, talks about a secret or forbidden love. It starts off mellow with Tyler and Estelle singing sweetly with their voices blending together along with some very prominent instruments. There is layering to Estelle’s voice which makes it slightly harder to understand what she is saying.  

A little more than halfway through the song it becomes more upbeat and Tyler begins rapping. The song is still mellow but more intense. Many people have thought that this song is referencing a gay relationship when it talks about a secret love, as Tyler says, “Garden shed for the garçons, them feelings that I was guardin’…Truth is, since a youth kid, I thought it was phase.”

“I Ain’t Got Time” is a faster song that talks about Tyler not wanting to deal with two-faced people. It starts off sounding like something you would hear in a movie or video game. It was definitely one of the most typical rap-sounding songs, but remained unique because of the beat behind it. It’s super upbeat and fast, which merges well with Tyler as he raps.

 It ends very suddenly with a tinny sound, as if it’s being played from a phone. It also provides contrast to another song on the album called “Boredom,” which features Rex Orange County and Anna of the North, as they both talk about time but have very different tempos.

While Tyler has not officially come out or labeled his sexuality, many people thought from that this was his way of coming out based on the lyrics of several songs. Tyler has tweeted and said a couple of things that have also made people question his sexuality. Others think that Tyler was not writing from his point of view and more likely creating a character or about a friend, which he has done on previous albums.

I absolutely loved the versatility of this album. It has so many songs that all have different vibes and sounds so it can work well for any mood. There are mellow songs, upbeat songs, intense songs, love songs and sad songs.  

The lyrics are really interesting and powerful and they add a whole other meaning to all of the songs. I also loved how he used the theme of nature for a lot of his songs because it made Flower Boy that much more unique. Ever since I first listened to it, I haven’t been able to stop.

“See You Again,” featuring Kali Uchis, is at the top of my Recently Played playlist now. However, as he does have such a variety of artists on this album, there were a couple of songs where I didn’t think their voices blended quite as well.

Overall, I loved this album and it quickly became my favorite work of Tyler, the Creator and I highly suggest that you listen to it, especially the mellow songs.