Tyler, The Creator is an American musician in all aspects, including producing, directing music videos as well as writing and performing as an artist. He was born in Boulder, Colorado as Tyler Okonma to a single mother. In 2008 Tyler, The Creator founded the hip-hop collective Odd Future, a controversial, alternate group. At such a young age Tyler, The Creator became a hit in 2011 with his first single Yonkers, which was a track from his upcoming album, Goblin. Odd Future are now a popular group with the younger generations, with their own television show ‘Loiter Squad’, all with thanks to Tyler Okonma’s odd imagination. (Haley, iMDB)

His odd imagination, weird lyrics, out-of-the-box instrumentals and an overall unusual sound is what got him into a lot of trouble in the music scene: rap blogs refusing to post Odd Future songs, being banned from countries (Pearce, Pitchfork) , radios not playing his songs, etc. However, his latest project ‘Flower boy’ strays away from the grimy and gritty, brown, unpolished and dirty sound of his earlier works (Bastard, Goblin) and introduces a new side of Tyler’s music that was only slightly hinted previously on songs such as ‘Smuckers’ and ‘Find Your Wings’  from his 2015 album release – Cherry Bomb.

His new sound focuses on harmony, a colourful aesthetic that can be described as dreamy, silky, soft, smooth, rich and warm. Listening to this album feels like watching your favourite film on a VHS tape connected to a 77″ OLED 4k wallpaper TV. In other words, it brings the great warm and nostalgic feel of analog, taking advantage of everything today’s music has to offer in terms of quality. This turned some heads. Tyler wasn’t seen as the weird kid making music about abuse and sexual harassment anymore. It brought more attention to the artist Tyler has always been indicating of becoming. The song ‘See You Again’ even got played on the radio.

i just heard “see u again” on the radio and started crying tears of joy omg

— Tyler, The Creator (@tylerthecreator) October 3, 2017

like bruh my whole carreer ive never got radio play cause i was “too weird” this is a moment wow

— Tyler, The Creator (@tylerthecreator) October 3, 2017

made it on there and kept it “weird” too

— Tyler, The Creator (@tylerthecreator) October 3, 2017

‘Flower Boy’ also brought an overarching topic of the album that wasn’t on previous ones. Loneliness. For the majority of the track-list Tyler is openly expressing his feelings of being alone and lack of friends (most noticeable on songs such as ‘Boredom’, ‘911 / Mr.Lonely’) . This void is being filled by material possessions that are also present throughout the albums in a manner of typical hip-hop brags – having loads of cars and money, etc. (‘Foreword’, ‘Who Dat Boy’, ‘911 / Mr. Lonely’)

However, the song in question, ‘See You Again’, stands out. Although it meshes perfectly in a stylistic point of view to the rest of the album, it introduces an idea that could both be the main pillar of the album or be totally unnecessary. It’s a Love song. It’s a song that takes the listener to another realm, a dreamland. A place where Tyler actually feels happy and loved. He describes this place as a “fantasy” and a “dream state”. He depicts his loved one as someone who’s exists beyond what is real.

As stated in genius.com – ‘The person Tyler sings to on this song seems to be his ideal lover, as they only live in his fantasy and dream state. Whenever he wakes up this person disappears, and therefore he doesn’t wish to wake up. While he is very much in love with them, he hates constantly waiting and chasing.’ Furthermore, Tyler’s implying that being this relationship is the only thing that’s on his mind – “You’re the one that’s always running through my day dreams, I, I can only see your face when I close my eyes”

This impossible love of Tyler is what makes this song either insignificant in the grander scheme of the album or the most important piece of the project. On one hand it could be that this song is simply a detour, or a consequence rather, of the overarching theme of loneliness that ‘Flower Boy’ puts forward. On the other hand, Tyler’s dream of this fantastic love could be the driving force, the initiator of the loneliness that inspired the album in the first place. I’m sticking with the latter.

The place of the song in the track list is by no means random and serves as a statement. In the intro track, Tyler poses plenty of questions letting the listener know right from the get-go that this album will delve into more existential themes and problems that haven’t been explored by the artist until this point. The second track ‘Where The Flower Blooms’ expresses the new braggadocious and arrogant part of Tyler that’s emerged from the hollowness and emptiness that he’s constantly feeling. By this point in the album, the main conflict of loneliness is yet to be explored fully, but is still being suggested.

Tyler is still acknowledging his loneliness in-between all of his lines about possessions and starting from the bottom. However, he’s yet to find the reason for his friends abandoning him and nobody caring about him. At this point in the album, he still considers that the reason for this is ‘his ego’ or nothing lasting forever. This quickly changes once the third track – interlude to the song ‘See You Again’ goes by without notice. In fact, I believe that in the first few listens of the albums most listeners would think it’s a single track. This interlude only enhances the importance of the fourth track as its purpose is to be a transition into the dreamy, imaginary world of Tyler, where his love is. At this point the conflict of ‘Flower Boy’ is finally revealed. Tyler is feeling lonely because of his impossible love. His realisation of the problem is also supported by the following tracks in the album. Most noticeably, ‘Boredom’ and ‘911 / Mr.Lonely’ (as mentioned previously), which reach the peak of the artist’s feelings. Both of the tracks prominently feature lyrics that could be related to abandonment and not being important enough to the imaginary lover in order to call Tyler or make time for him.

Another interesting add-on (which even I agree is a stretch, but provides an interesting point of view) is the intentional number 4 in the track listing. I did some research on the meaning of the number 4 and it turns out fours represent solidity, calmness, and home (Venefica, Spiritual Meaning Of Numbers); four also symbol of the the 4th dimension = time which is illusion (crystalinks.com, Numerology) Even though Tyler probably didn’t have any of these meanings in mind when deciding the spot for “See You Again” and is most certainly a coincidence, it still expands on the idea that the dream land in which Tyler’s love is, is considered a home and a piece of calmness. Furthermore, the idea of time that is present on later tracks as the aforementioned and the track “I Ain’t Got Time’ ties together perfectly with number four’s symbolism of the 4th dimension – time. Ultimately, all of this reaches it’s highest meaning once we consider that time is an illusion.

It feels real, always there, inexorably moving forward. Time has flow, runs like a river. Time has direction, always advances. Time has order, one thing after another. Time has duration, a quantifiable period between events. Time has a privileged present, only now is real. Time seems to be the universal background through which all events proceed, such that order can be sequenced and durations measured.The question is whether these features are actual realities of the physical world or artificial constructs of human mentality. (Kuhn, Space)

All of this proves that for Tyler, his love is impossible and is not of this physical world, therefore, just a construct of his mentality.

Finally, I’d like to take a look at how the track develops musically. I will be dividing the song on three sections – soft, uncertain intro part that goes all the way up to the first chorus; the main part of the song containing the second verse and hook; strong and confident outro resembling the intro and expanding on it musically. The intro starts with Tyler singing over a piano, later strings are added and some bells and chimes that come in and out. His singing is as if he’s a bit uncomfortable. As if it’s hard for him to accept that this loved person is simply a fantasy. His singing is soft, quiet, held back, intimate. Surely wasn’t a random choice.

“See You Again” [is] more naked, but still [shies] away from candid divulgence. “I wonder if you look both ways, will you cross my mind,” he warbles in an unsteady singsong on “See You Again…” (Kearse, Complex)

Having only the piano playing in the very beginning to accompany his voice enhances the feeling. Making it so personal, yet magical and out of this world. Once the strings come in, the track feels like it’s from a musical. Tyler is pushing the track forward by layering his voice with more and more takes each new line. By the time the guest singer, Kali Uchis, comes in for the first time, the track feels full even though the only instruments are strings and piano and a moog bass that comes in and out. Once Kali’s vocals are the main focus, claps are introduced. All of this makes the listener feel like floating on a fluffy bubblegum cloud in the blue sky. By the time the first chorus is over the overall feel of the track is sweet and dreamy. What once started with a quiet and uncertain falsetto vocal, now feels grandiose and majestic. This harmony, however, is quickly disrupted by Tyler’s second verse. In it, the instrumentation suddenly flips to the modern style of production, having the 808 bass and the constant percussive elements in the background. The established perfect blend of sounds is now tucked in the background and the raspy voice and mean delivery of Tyler are the forefront of the track, standing above the hard hitting bass. This intentional switch-up serves as a sonic representation of the harsh reality compared to the wonderful dreamland. In this section of the song, Tyler has a mean demeanor and cocky behaviour. The world without his loved one is not the place that he shows vulnerability. With the lines “Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, I ain’t met you, I’ve been looking, stop the waiting”, Tyler finally admits that he’s not going to be happy outside his dream world unless he does something to find that one in real life, rather than waiting. His comprehension of the situation is what finally lets him embrace both the loneliness and confidence in both worlds. He enters the third section of the song with more confidence while repeating what was stated in the beginning. Hard drums are introduced to emphasise his strength and self-assurance. The falsetto vocals are no longer present, the bass is more notable. Horn section is added to make an even bigger impact and make everything feel cinematic and huge. The ending is like a orchestra, it creates an overwhelming feeling, it gets the listener pumped for what’s about to happen.

To sum up, Tyler starts the song quite feebly, sort of cowardly, somehow, however, in a soothing way. That implies that he’s unsure and unable to do anything for his idealised love. Throughout the development of the track, he realises it’s time to start taking action, and the instrumentation and the tone of his voice go through a massive overhaul resulting in a beautiful, rich and glorious, movie soundtrack-like final part of the piece. Furthermore, a genius.com annotator has said the following about Kali’s part of the track:

This part of the chorus, sung by Kali Uchis, explores the overall theme of longing and fantasy expressed by Tyler throughout the song. Tyler, “speaking” to his dream lover with the aid of a feminine voice, wants to make this love last, even though it’s probably never going to happen given its idealized and dream-like nature. It brings to light the paradoxical nature of forbidden and/or idealized love, namely the desire to make it last forever when circumstances most likely make it hard or impossible to happen. Finally, the phrase “I’m about to go to war” may indicate Tyler is addressing all of the emotional turmoil that is about to commence in the absence of his lover.

However, the “I’m about to go to war” phrase, in my opinion (and the context of my song interpretation), means that Tyler will now stop waiting for that love to come to him or enjoy it only when he’s in his own realm. He’ll be taking a more active approach to finding this love ie. “going to war”.

Conclusively, after this song, I believe, Tyler continues on his journey through the exploration of loneliness in ‘Flower Boy’, with a clear idea of what is causing this feeling and the confidence he had in the first two songs, before his realisation. His dream state is not the only place he’s now comfortable of being vulnerable. His impossible love is now something that’s being embraced, as well as his loneliness. Everything has meaning and reason. Tyler is ready to live with his feelings until he finds his dream state lover in real life.

Bibliography

HALEY, Wolf. n.d. “Tyler, the Creator Biography” IMDb [online]. Available at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4360094/bio
PEARCE, Sheldon. 21.06.2017 “Tyler, the Creator – ‘Flower Boy’ Review” Pitchfork [online]. Available at: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/tyler-the-creator-flower-boy
GENIUS, n.d. “Tyler, the Creator – ‘See You Again’ lyrics” Genius [online]. Available at: https://genius.com/Tyler-the-creator-see-you-again-lyrics
KUHN, Robert Lawrence. 06.06.2015 “The Illusion of Time: What’s Real?” Space [online]. Available at: https://www.space.com/29859-the-illusion-of-time.html
CRYSTALINKS, n.d. “Numbers and Their Meanings” Crystalinks [online] Available at: http://www.crystalinks.com/numerology2.html
VENEFICA, Avia. n.d. “Spiritual Meaning of Numbers” What’s Your Sign [online] Available at: http://www.whats-your-sign.com/spiritual-meaning-of-numbers.html
KEARSE, Stephen. 21.06.2017. “On ‘Flower Boy,’ Tyler, the Creator Outgrows His Influences to Make His Most Transformative Album” Pitchfork [online] Available at: http://www.complex.com/music/2017/07/tyler-the-creator-flower-boy-review