My Personal Top 10 Favorite Tyler, The Creator Beats (from 2009-2015)
I remember way back in eighth grade and freshmen year of high school trying to jam Tyler, the Creator and Odd Future with my friends because they were listening to a lot more rap at that time. They would never like any of the songs, usually having it changed to something else after the first fifteen seconds into a track, always telling me that the beat was weird or the rapping wasn't slow. One time some complete goofy bastard of a human being told me at a bonfire party freshmen year that Tyler raps about the devil and how "that's not cool, man" and I had to sit there for a moment and wonder why this drooling moron focused on tiny little references of the devil out of anything else in the entire song. The song was Tron Cat I believe, and on those subwoofers in my friend Mitchell's truck at the time it was bumping loud and proud like a mother fucker and I didn't care who had anything to say. This was in the years of 2012 through 2014, so at the time my friends and everyone else were listening to Wiz Khalifa, Snoop Dogg's reggae album for some reason, and whatever that was getting played on the radio a ton, like early Kevin Gates and that Drake and Nicki Minaj song with Lil Wayne for even more reasons I can't explain. Well, enough of my banter and onto more banter, here's a list of my favorite Tyler, the Creator songs, and in my opinion his best beats.
10. Couch (Earl Sweatshirt - Couch ft. Tyler, the Creator, 2010)
This beat has always been one of those constantly familiar and often strangely catchy beats that nowadays whenever I hear it, I still think back to the time I first heard it. The kick is so strange and almost flat; a bit deep too like as if it's not on the correct pitch note in FL Studio. The synth that leads the whole song sounds incredibly cool and nearly old-timey, like Tyler discovered a Theremin in a basement and was finding out how to use it. At least that's the vibe I get, just saying. The classic and now familiar Tyler, the Creator horns that pop in and out through out the song as well is an awesome addition as well; those horns will always be known and iconic in the Odd Future universe as many other songs Tyler has made and produced contain the same horn or one that sounds similar. For instance, Tyler produced 'Luper' from Earl by Earl Sweatshirt and he uniquely added the horns to that track too; in general in Odd Future the horns are nearly symbolic. You know it's gonna be fire when the horns are brought out, Daniel Radcliffe in 'Horns' type shit.
9. Steak Sauce (Tyler, the Creator - Steak Sauce, 2011)
'Steak Sauce' is a bonus track that appears on the bonus CD from the deluxe edition of Tyler's major label debut album 'Goblin'. The track has an interesting 90s video game synth pad that loops and phasers in the background gravitationally. The bass is unique as well, going from an oscillator bassline to classic 808 bumps and back to an oscillator type bassline; extremely interesting light kicks and strong bass and snare. All the synths heard are extremely filling, fluttery, and right off the bat classic Odd Future type production. No hooks, the beat just goes and loops while Tyler spits bars that stay on tune with Goblin's lyricism; dark, hazy tones, and slightly comedic jabs at anyone at the time that was trying to step on his toes.
8. FUCK IT (Tyler, the Creator - FUCK IT, 2015)
Tyler made and released this song as a non-album single in late 2015 addressing many things bothering him and controversies surrounding him at the time. Mainly the fact that, at the time, he was kicked out of the UK due to "misogynistic and violent lyrics" mostly from Goblin and Tyler's 2009 self-released debut album 'Bastard'. The beat for this, to me, is underrated in Tyler's discography. Earlier in 2015, Tyler dropped 'Cherry Bomb' which if any fans have heard it, it had no beats like this one. It was damn near Tyler's beginning of fusing a modern traditional sounding beat and structure with that of his own. I hate to mention this cretin, but the drums sound like something Kanye could've cooked up for one of his own songs, and then Tyler slapped fluctuating synthesizers over them with some other touches. The bass hits like no other Tyler song at that time; it truly was something glorious for the fans to hear. The song is also lead with that "boop, boop" percussion throughout, reminiscent of 'Wheels 2' from the OF Tape Vol. 2 that came out back in 2012.
7. French! (Tyler, the Creator - French!, 2009)
Ah, more warping synths; warping synth bells if you will. Tyler used to really stack his beats with percs, extra drums, percs over and under the drums, multiple synths, and sometimes a piano. This beat doesn't have a piano but all the rest of those things. If you listen to Tyler, the Creator's first album Bastard, there's about half the album which are pretty layered, sometimes heavy bass, sounds of what is the best effort of high end production in my opinion, then the other half of the album you'll hear some quieter and more basic/stripped kinds of beats. To name one or two, 'Jack and the Beanstalk' and 'Sara' are probably some of Tyler's most basic production ever publicly released. Though, those are pretty memorable songs basic or not basic either way.
6. Tron Cat (Tyler, the Creator - Tron Cat, 2011)
Like mentioned in the previous paragraph on French!, Tron Cat is one of Tyler's layered and perc'd tracks. I don't know about you, but I often find myself focusing and following the cowbell that flows through out the beat. The classic 808, kick and snare that came right off an old drum machine, the interesting fluctuating synths.. just perfect. And the lead bell melody is in my opinion one of Tyler's most memorable melodies of his discography (in the era I'm writing about). Although a dark song that fans have a love/hate relationship with, it's definitely one everyone remembers when hearing it.
5. Bimmer (Tyler, the Creator - PartyIsntOver/Campfire/Bimmer, 2013)
The hero of Tyler's third album 'Wolf', the song 'Bimmer' is actually a song that plays last in this "three songs in one track" combo. Much like other fans, I hate that this great and catchy track is the last one in the line-up because it sucks to have to skim to it, simply. I truly think that 'PartyIsntOver' and 'Campfire' should've just been a double track and Bimmer should've been a stand-alone track. The lead synth or whatever the hell you even want to label that as sounds like an extremely nostalgic type of video game, and the bass bumps soothingly along underneath smooth hip-hop drums, in the style of Tyler of course. Bimmer received its own partial music video right after the music video to 'Domo23', and as Domo23 was the first single from Wolf, fans were ecstatic when Bimmer came on right after that and Frank starts singing behind Tyler.. basically everyone knew it was going to be a bitching album. And to me, it was.
4. Buffalo (Tyler, the Creator - Buffalo, 2015)
In Tyler's latest album from 2021, 'Call Me If You Get Lost', he raps on the track 'Massa', "I was shifting, that's why Cherry Bomb sounded so shifty.." and of course those of us who bump Cherry Bomb know immediately what he's talking about. 'Cherry Bomb' was one of Tyler's riskiest albums, and I would still consider it that to this day; the other albums aren't like this one. After Wolf, Tyler was experimenting more and more with his production, by this point incorporating real instruments and lo-fi punk vocalists to sing back-up on some tracks. Distortion was added, bass was louder than ever.. and even in 2022 this album is still debated by Tyler fans and stans alike. Track 2, 'Buffalo' has always stood out to me as the closest thing on this entire album that sounded remotely close to something that could've been on Wolf or a previous Tyler album/project. The guitar and sampled drums especially; very similar to the guitar tune Tyler always used in this era, which can be heard on songs of this time like 'Sasquatch' from Earl Sweatshirt's debut studio album 'Doris', or 'Slater' from Wolf. It's always been one of my favorites from Cherry Bomb; classic but heavier, louder, and pretty catchy.
3. PNCINTLOFWGKTA (Casey Veggies - PNCINTLOFWGKTA ft. Earl Sweatshirt, Tyler, the Creator, Hodgy Beats, Domo Genesis, 2012)
Hands down, the beat for this has always been insane. The closest other Tyler, the Creator song I can name that sounds remotely like this at all might be the hook section on 'Domo23'. The lead synth is almost horrorcore, like some low-budget slasher film footage should be displaying while it plays and it would be a horror film. The kick and bass were almost something you'd hear on any other track that would've been on the radio back when this came out; bumpin' like some good kind of Jay-Z or good Kanye (sorry for mentioning him again). This song is notable in my eyes as well not only for the hardcore beat, which on its own is like 'FUCK IT' in a way, besides Domo23 of course. Domo Genesis, to me, has always sounded like he's rapping through a phone call that got put on speaker. And to be fair with how a lot of creative music is made today, I kind of wouldn't doubt that. The collaboration in general of Tyler, ex-Odd Future member Casey Veggies (who they all have still worked with since he left OF early after it was started), Earl, Hodgy, and Domo. I'm not going to lie, as a nerd with no life writing this and a fan, I think it'd be pretty awesome if Mike G had a verse but to be fair Mike G was lazy recording back then. He only had one song on OF Tape Vol. 2 and a verse on Oldie, so, yeah with a major record deal and worldwide fame in front of me I would've recorded intensely for OF Tape Vol. 2 but to each their own.
2. Oooh (Pusha T - Ooh ft. Hodgy Beats, Tyler, the Creator, and Ab-Liva, 2011)
A song that deserves an entire blog post on its own. The Tyler/Hodgy song that Odd Future fans have overlooked and I bet more than half of the Odd Future fans out there have never heard this song. Ever. This song is easy to find in the terms of, well you can look it up on a search engine and you will find it of course, but it's probably not going to end up in your recommended section anywhere as it's not on streaming platforms except SoundCloud (linked above) and YouTube. According to the bio on its genius.com lyric page, this song was originally intended to be on Tyler's album Goblin but was kept off so that Pusha T and Ab-Liva could provide verses for it. In the end it was included on a free mixtape called Play Cloths Holiday 2011 that was put out by Pusha T and his crew in November, 2011. Not that Pusha T and Ad-Liva didn't have a cool part in this song, but I wish this was on Goblin just so that it could've been labeled as one of the absolute best from that album. It could've surpassed 'Yonkers' (Goblin's most famous song besides 'She' and 'Sandwitches') in my opinion if it had a creative music video. Or, at least a better video than Yonkers got; in creative terms, his other music videos are more fun and entertaining to watch.
Now, on to the beat, it has those signature Tyler, the Creator drums. These drums sound more like the drums on songs like ScHoolboy Q's 'The Purge' which Tyler produced and did the hook for, or maybe even PNCINTLOFWGKTA I'd say. Another crazy fluctuating type of psycho-lead synth that actually sits firmly behind the drums rather than sometimes being interspersed with drums like Tyler will do sometimes (like he did on Sandwitches). Think of the songs on Golbin for God's sake, 'Her', 'Golden', and 'Fish' ironically all would've been blown out of the water by this damn beat, it's structured and sounds like none other on that whole project. I'm fuming they waited instead for Pusha T and Ad-Liva, but in a way that brings up a cool idea that if Pusha T was on Goblin how much more monumental that album might've been now.
1. P (Odd Future - P ft. Hodgy Beats, Tyler, the Creator, 2012)
Okay about a year after this album came out, so sometime in 2013 I bought this album on CD probably well after I bought 'Wolf' when it came out that year and I remember always playing this song over and over and over when I burned the CD onto my computer and put it on my iPod. Those were still somewhat kind of a thing at the time, but even in 2013 iPod's were fading away at the rise of the iPhone which basically did all the things an iPod did. Either way, the beat always stood out to me. That high pitch siren-synth, whatever that is, that fluctuates a bit through-out this beat sticks in your head like glue with those drums and heavy bass. A little synth-bell also melodically plays through out on the beat as Hodgy and Tyler give some of the most memorable verses of their career. All I'm saying is, when it comes to beats and thinking of what he did on Goblin and going right to the Odd Future Tape Vol. 2 production after Goblin, it's a complete different pace and sounds insanely cleaned up and modernized somehow. Timeless.
Thanks for reading all this nonsense. Go watch my latest film Ghose Dudes Episode 3 and follow my new tumblr for the rhetter website! THANK YOU! - Rhett Rhodes
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