Tyler the Creator dropped a single, “OKRA”, somewhat randomly on youtube on March 29th.

In the song, Tyler alludes to the splitting up of his music collective Odd Future, established all the way back in 2007. “Man, now they go (ayo) I cut off some friends, where they go?” As an avid listener and someone who credits Tyler the Creator with my interest in rap and as a person who has had a profound effect on my general outlook in life, this essentially already known announcement hurts. They produced some excellent music together. RIP Odd Future.

Tyler appears to be doing fine without their assistance though; “Flower Boy” hit it out of the park. It’s a tragedy, a farce, that the album didn’t win a Grammy. Best Album of the Year easy.

Tyler frequently falls into the hip-hop cliche of flashing his wealth and acting as a consumerist zombie. I understand this is a way of communicating of success and the less than ideal conditions rappers sometimes escape but there must be a superior fashion in which to convey their pride. Boasting about all these things you have that superficially improve the quality of your life is wrong. Obsess over the fact that you are doing what you love, your millions of fans and your talent instead of the toys you buy or the pieces of metal you throw around your neck. This song is no different, when Tyler mentions he brags about paying “400k for vehicle”. One of the best messages of his music is the skepticism of everything and the order of society it brings to attention, often violently (think “Radicals”) . Its highly ironic that someone who sees through  ideas such as religion and understands systemic racism won’t diss our consumerist society. Between shouting out the golf-de-fleur line of converse he is selling and boasting about his whip, I’m grossed out.

The heavy bass in the song takes away from the lyrics. I don’t like trap and the trap-lite songs Tyler has produced or was featured in. Tyler uses lots of very interesting and chaotic beats in his music that I treasure. He should avoid disruption in the future.

Apart from the annoying disruption, the beat of the song is solid and interesting. The quick pace highlights his talent as a rapper. My favorite moments of his music are when he spits out the words at a superhuman pace.

I appreciate the inclusion of his queer identity in the song, since “Flowerboy”, where he hinted at his bisexuality. “Tell Tim Chalamet to come get at me,” Tim Chalamet being an actor in the recently released gay movie “Call Me By Your Name”. This trend is a wholesome one.