The Best of Tyler, The Creator: All 5 Albums Ranked
(Bastard wasn’t included in this list due to it being a Mixtape)
1. Flower Boy
Best Tracks: 911/MR LONELY, SEE YOU AGAIN, BOREDOM.
Flower Boy was the culmination of all the hard work Tyler put into his craft. The production and lyricism on this album, in my opinion, are by far the best in Tyler’s discography. Not only were these raw talents at their peak, but Tyler also opened himself up on this album allowing listeners to join him on his journey. While IGOR saw Tyler experimenting with his voice; Flower Boy saw him coming out of his cocoon and transforming into a new/better artist. While it must have been scary for Tyler to create this album we now know him as a stronger artist because of it.
2. IGOR
Best Tracks: EARFQUAKE, A BOY IS A GUN, ARE WE STILL FRIENDS?.
This album is beautiful yet at the same time brutal. In this album, Tyler speaks on an unhealthy relationship he is apart of and how it slowly drove him to insanity. Once again, it was exciting to hear Tyler continuing to open up to the listener on IGOR. Continuing the trend from Flower Boy, the production and lyricism, even though there were very limited bars on this album, were on point. The only place where this album falls short of Flower Boy is that Tyler doesn’t take as many creative leaps in IGOR – besides his vocal experimentation. Besides that IGOR was a masterclass of Tyler’s talents showing the world that you can’t pigeon hole him into any one genre.
3. WOLF
Best Tracks: IFHY, ANSWER, RUSTY, 48.
On this album we saw Tyler planting the seeds to later create Flower Boy. Tyler’s willingness to start opening up on WOLF later developed into an integral part in his music and was one of the reasons why Flower Boy was became so critically acclaimed. While this album does show massive improvement in lyrics, flow, and production it still felt messy at some points. (which can probably be chalked up to Tyler only being 22 at the time). Besides some of the flaws, this album was the start of a run of amazing albums, and is an essential part of Tyler’s discography.
4. CHERRY BOMB
Best Tracks: DEATHCAMP, FIND YOUR WINGS, FUCKING YOUNG/PERFECT.
Remember when I said “Wolf was the start of a run of amazing albums?” While, Cherry Bomb wasn’t necessarily a bad album it sort of was the exception to this trend. While some of the mixing and production on this album was incredible, it seemed to lack many of the classic Tyler qualities that his fans and critics grew to love. Because of this many critics had a field day with this album calling it “lazy” and “immature”. Overall, this album had a lot of room for improvement and the backlash Tyler received from it only helped him grow into a better artist in the long run.
5. GOBLIN
Best Tracks: SHE, YONKERS.
In 2011, Tyler, The Creator, an inexperienced artist at the time, made his first major label debut with GOBLIN which featured Tyler at his most raw and controversial. Unfortunately, GOBLIN fell ill to many of the flaws that usually come with young unpolished artists and because of this it came in as the worst album in his discography. While this album did have some standout singles that displayed Tyler’s massive potential, like Yonkers, it was largely overshadowed by its many flaws.
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