Scum Fuck Flower Boy. Review.

Scum Fuck Flower Boy feels like a new phase for Tyler, the Creator. The 26-year-old rapper-producer-auteur has steadily peeled away at the persona he unleashed on the world with Bastard, shirking most of the absurdist horror on Goblin, Wolf, and Cherry Bomb in favor of nurturing the sunnier soul-jazz and pop glimpsed far back on "VCR/Wheels" to "Perfect".
Tyler revealed a new attitude following the release of Cherry Bomb, announcing the apparent break up of Odd Future, growing apart from his former collaborators, most pressingly "little brother", rapper Earl Sweatshirt, and hinting at his plans for cultural revolution underway after his controversial stint as director for Mountain Dew’s media campaign that led to accusations of ministrelsy from Dr. Boyce Watkins.
Flower Boy showcases a Tyler who seemingly takes his mission more seriously, vocally competing with Meek Mill for the number one spot on the Billboard charts to annoucing his intention to raise a platform for black characters on his upcoming cartoon show. Tyler, in spite of the controversy surrounding Odd Future at their breakthrough, has fought consistently for individualism and growth for himself, his friends, and his fans, devoting the song "Find Your Wings" as an ode for communal success, and ushering in a cast of mold-breakers for the world’s benefit. Eerie, sardonic gangbanger turned beloved teen social commentator Vince Staples? Thank Tyler. Elusive singer-songwriter who’s coming out led to his most intimate work yet, the millennial’s Pet Sounds, Blonde? Tyler’s big homie frank ocean. Relieved to have the Internet on your Spotify list for when that special someone comes through? Vocalist Syd started off as Odd Future’s touring DJ, while Tyler sought after producer Matt Martians after hearing his beats on a Web forum. Even Earl’s ever-descending-into-a-swamp music (in betrayal of his youthful and cheery public persona) owes itself to the manic portrayal of angst and silliness on Bastard.
Album opener "Foreword" reflects on Tyler's present life and wealth, addressing his loneliness after growing apart from the people he started out with as a teenager drawing cats in his notebook. Singer Rex Orange County does an exemplary job here and on "Boredom" with Anna of the North of articulating Tyler's need for companionship. The arrangement on "Boredom" is the album's highlight, marrying Rex's and Anna's idyllic singing with Tyler's endearingly rough voice over sparse, chiming guitars. "Flower Boy" coasts from here on - "911/Mr. Lonely" recasts Tyler's troubles in oldies radio glory, embracing 'the vulnerability and goofiness of late 70s and '80s soul thanks to an assist from frank ocean.
Tyler also make room for the raucous, Neptunes-funk bangers of albums past. "I Ain’t Got Time" decries haters and malingerers, in its own way the adult version of the fan favorite song "French". "Who Dat Boy" features A$AP Rocky over a track that resembles the Neptunes' lively team-ups on the Clones compilation. Rocky and Tyler here together are special, both of them charismatic trailblazers whose flaws as rappers masked their respective visions for culture that have spanned almost a decade. Here, the two sound assured and confident, Rocky flossing in his reeled-in East Coast jigginess around Tyler’s left-turning, bourgeoisie tough talk. It’s a boon the two of them have overcome their misunderstandings, and hopefully more collaborations are pending in the future.
Lil Wayne delivers his best performance since his last feature on a Tyler, the Creator song "Smuckers", coolly flowing through a jazzy, soul number like he didn’t waste an entire mixtape ripping off Young Thug. Here’s hoping Wayne and Tyler do more work together in the future, perhaps for a collaborative album, please.
"November" and "Glitter" close out the album before instrumental "Enjoy Yourself, Today". "November" returns to the doubt from earlier in the album, but ends with a tinge of nostalgia referring to Tyler's musical awakening in 2006, but is left open-ended for the listeners to impart their own epiphanies, many of which occurred in the spring 2011 when Tyler hopped Jimmy Fallon's back and stuck his tongue out at the world. "Glitter" is a bubbly wine mixer by the ocean ditty. Listeners are rendered surprisingly somber, invigorated, but optimistic about the future, no different really then when Tyler and company first arrived, but it's prettier, most definitely
