These days, it is more like Tyler’s Odd Future move more in silence, though louder in social media. If folks weren’t paying attention, you would have thought that the hype surrounding them has died down, however, that’s anything but. Head honco, Tyler, The Creator, has been doing a lot to keep himself preoccupied with the luxuries of making it in the music industry. Pseudo-reality show with comedic skits involved? Check. The access of working with artists he grew up admiring like Pharrell Williams and Roy Ayers? Check. Running a record label that started out as a bunch of friends having fun making music and bringing in tons of money? Check. It can be said that Odd Future are even more notorious than they were three years ago.
Tyler announced his fourth album Cherry Bomb after the single “F*ckung Young/Perfect” appeared on YouTube on April 9th, 2015. The album released three days later, a departure from his psychotherapy trilogy of Bastard, Goblin, and Wolf with more of an incorporation of punk rock and jazz sound throughout the production. It is a chaotic whirlwind of noise and experimentation that appeal to the music nerd in Tyler. He didn’t completely dump his immature approach thematically as the aforementioned single and aptly-titled “Blow My Load” would suggest, but the growth in his sound is ever present.
Among these gems is the standout single that has already garnered much acclaim, ‘Smuckers’
Including guest verses from Kanye West and Lil Wayne, it is the most accessible track from the album and one of Tyler’s best produced. People would go on to lazily compare much of his beat to Pharrell’s heyday, but I hear more Madlib through the drums and RZA through the keys. It is a triumph that pledges that the Californian trouble maker is here to stay and he has a whole lot of tricks up his sleeve.
Tyler holds up lyrically here as well too, creating witty double entendres and going toe-to-toe with Weezy himself. But of course, it is Mr. West that finds a way to steal the show yet again. “They say I’m crazy, but that’s the best thing going for me/ Can’t lynch Marshawn with Tom Brady throwing to me” is one of the many neck-snapping lines that Kanye delivers in this ground-stomping feature, leaving fans fiending for more upon the release of So Help Me God.
From there the beat transitions to a sample from “Metropolis Notte,” where Tyler and Lil Wayne comprise an impressive one-two combo of wordplay; for instance, Tyler confronts those that believe that his days were done as an artist when he says,”N***** really f***ing thought that T lost it.” Even Wayne is licking his chops and sounds even more invigorated since his Dedication 2/Da Drought 3 days. It sounds so refreshing hearing him feel so comfortable over a obscure jazz track that and give his best effort in a very long time. It actually restored interest in Tha Carter V, if that ever comes out, but right now it is all Tyler being the commander of his ship and everyone is invited. That is if they are willing.