Tyler, The Creator: Albums Ranked (+Playlist)
Intro:
Tyler is arguably one of the greatest and most influential artists of the past decade in music, especially Hip-Hop. His style is constantly evolving with each new release he puts out. There are fans that prefer certain “eras” of his music style. I am no exception to this, as I have been listening to the California creative for many years and enjoy all of his releases. The man has really been consistent despite his evolving sound. With that being said, here is my personal ranking of Tyler’s albums:
6. Goblin
Starting off with Goblin, this was actually my introduction to Tyler back in 2012. A very dark and controversial album that would give Tyler issues later on in his career. It’s at the bottom but this by no means is a bad album. Regardless of subject matter, Tyler’s rapping is so captivating and intense while still so early in his life. A lot of memories are tied to this one for me, as well as amazing songs (She, Yonkers, Golden, and more).
5. Bastard
Now I know this one isn’t an album, but it’s significant enough to count towards this ranking. Despite being his first mixtape, Bastard still holds some of my favorite Tyler songs (Odd Toddlers, Pigs Fly, etc). This project is similar to Goblin in terms of subject matter, great rapping and personality. Bastard also started the short-term story that connected Tyler’s first 3 projects. It was pretty difficult for me to pick between Bastard and Goblin. Ultimately though, I think Bastard is a better overall album whereas Goblin has some better individual songs.
4. Cherry Bomb
I’ve always thought this album got way too much undeserved hate. Not his best, but Cherry Bomb has some of Tyler’s best songs to date imo. How could you hate the Lil Wayne & Kanye collab track “Smuckers” for example? The weak moments are weak, but I think the better songs make up for them. Overall, I think Cherry Bomb was an important step towards Tyler’s current music style. While not as polished, you can hear the evolution with chords here and overall production skills.
3. Igor
Probably a controversial placement, but that’s why this is a personal ranking. To be quite honest though, I think this album is AMAZING. In addition to Tyler expressing and sharing his emotions very honestly, his ability to layer instruments and engineer these quality sounds is what makes Igor so special. Despite being number 3 here, it’s easily Tyler’s best album sonically so far. Truly representing his musical and character growth.
2. Flower Boy
This and Igor always switch positions for me. In general these last 3 spots are always tough for me to think of because I love each album so much. I have Flower Boy here at #2, but if I was being 100% objective, it probably is his best album. Everything from the rapping, production, and engineering is so high quality. This album marked the start of a much more mature Tyler. The humorous and wild personality found on his older work, had been traded for Tyler reflecting on his loneliness, sexuality (kind of) and so much more. It’ll always be a gem in his discography as the album that earned Tyler his much needed respect from the masses.
1. Wolf
Wolf is my favorite Tyler, the Creator album and really is criminally underrated. I’m not sure why it doesn’t get the respect that his latest albums due, but this album to me was the seed that gave us the Tyler we have today. Many songs on here feature beautiful instrumentals with many layered chords, retro aesthetics, and other elements that Tyler has perfected on his newer albums. At the same time, the album still has an equal amount of dark elements; more reminiscent of Bastard and Goblin. This balance to me of beautiful and off kilter music is what always bring me back to this album. Lastly, I just truthfully have a long-personal attachment to the record as it was soundtrack to many of my life’s moments.
Overall:
I believe it’s fair to claim that Tyler, The Creator has one of the most solid and consistent discographies in modern Hip-Hop. He’s always been an artist that challenges creative boundaries and won’t settle with being put in a box. All of these albums have similarities and differences, so I’m sure my ranking of these will be different from yours. Thank you all for reading, enjoy the playlist version of these rankings below; including my favorite songs from each album.
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