Tyler, The Creator is one of those artists that almost every high schooler knows, even if they don’t listen to him every day. What’s cool about him is that he changes his entire style every few years, so people our age didn’t really grow up with his older, louder stuff. Most of us got into him around the time of “Flower Boy,” and honestly that was when he went from “that one rapper adults talk about” to someone teenagers actually connected with.
“Flower Boy” was everywhere when we were younger. You’d see the album cover as people’s profile pics, on wallpapers, even on notebooks. It was one of those albums that made you feel something, even if you didn’t totally understand what it was about yet. Then “IGOR” came out, and suddenly everyone was wearing pastel colors, blonde wigs for Halloween, and posting edits of “EARFQUAKE.” It basically took over the internet for months.
After that, he dropped “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST,” and that album felt like a total flex. It had the luxury travel theme, the cool visuals, and the songs that everybody played in the car with their friends.
Last October, he came out with CHROMAKOPIA, which feels different from all of those. It’s more chaotic but also more colorful, kind of like if you mixed all his eras together and then dumped paint on it in the best way possible. A lot of people at school had been talking about it, especially songs like “STICKY” or “LIKE HIM” (depending which ones they like). It has this energy to it that makes you want to replay the whole thing and notice something new every time.
But Tyler isn’t just about music. His brand, Golf Wang is a common accolade associated with him. Even if people don’t own the clothes (because, yeah, they’re kind of expensive), the style definitely influences outfits you see in the halls. Bright colors, weird patterns, outfits that don’t match on purpose, that’s basically his whole thing. And somehow it works.
What makes Tyler so popular with high schoolers is that he doesn’t act like you have to fit into one box forever. He tries random things, switches up his sound, dresses however he wants, and somehow makes it all look normal. He’s not trying to be perfect, which is probably why teenagers relate to him more than some super polished celebrity.
At the end of the day, Tyler, The Creator is one of those artists who makes people feel like they can be themselves, even if it’s a little weird or different. And honestly, that’s probably why so many of us keep coming back every time he drops something new.
