#TYLER THE CREATOR FULL DISCOGRAPHY SKIN#

The more recent albums reveal the coexistence of femininity and masculinity within his identity. His past two albums, “Flower Boy” and “IGOR” have completely branched away from his prior rap sound on albums like “Goblin” and “Wolf”. Tyler explains that guys who “look like” him in the music industry are immediately stereotyped regardless of the music they produce.

#TYLER THE CREATOR FULL DISCOGRAPHY SKIN#

His song “Where This Flower Blooms” mentions how “CNN doubted cause skin is dark,” among other lyrics suggesting that his skin color determines his level of success. In his more recent albums, he speaks on the discrimination he faces because of his blackness. As his albums become more diverse in their sounds and messages, it is clear how he just wants to be able to create music that goes beyond labels. This stereotyping limits Tyler in his creative endeavors. However, he is continuously regarded as a rapper because of the stereotypical image of black artists as only rappers.

Society’s labeling of Tyler, the Creator as exclusively a rapper can be discriminatory at times given the way his current music has deviated away from traditional rap. While Tyler’s contributions towards redefining stigmas in the rap community are honorable, I think it is more important to look at why he has been placed in this position in the first place.

Half of me feels like the rap nomination was a back-handed compliment.” “It sucks that whenever … guys that look like me do anything that is genre-bending or that’s anything, they always put it in a rap or “urban” category … and I don’t like that “urban” word, it’s just a politically correct way to say the n-word to me. However, something he said after the Grammys has shed light on the ways that he struggles with his identity as a rapper.įollowing the Grammys, Tyler was asked how he felt about the award he received, given the controversy surrounding the voting process used by the Grammys. The movement to rid the rap community of its toxic masculinity is very necessary. Tyler, the Creator is one artist who is helping to end this stigma. In an effort to push back against these norms, contemporary black rappers have begun to create music that shows the breadth of identities that rappers possess They can be simultaneously powerful and vulnerable, both masculine and feminine. These stereotypes are built on a history of patriarchal society and discrimination that puts black culture on a pedestal, but undermine the actions of the actual black figures that are trying to grow an identity that goes beyond just their skin color. Specifically, these messages impact young black men because the lack of inclusive representation that portrays only one image of blackness can limit identities. The rap community has historically been overwhelmed with messages of hypermasculinity by creating songs that pertain to dominating women, avoiding vulnerability, and exuding strength, most times through violence. Starting from his beginnings as a rapper to his current style of music that is much more complex, he has been praised by the media for redefining what it means to be a black rapper in the 21 st century. Tyler, the Creator has been on a journey of reinventing himself.

Tyler the creator full discography