Album Guide — Scum Fuck Flower Boy

1. Foreword Feat. Rex Orange County
“Sea, I was never into the beaches and all the sands,
See I was in the woods with flowers, rainbows and posies”
Tyler wastes no time talking on an interlude and gets right into the raw flow his core backpack fans love him for. Foreward immediately drew me in like predators carrying treats.
Caught between platinum rapper millionaire and lonely theatre geek, Foreward embodies Tyler’s new life.
In the late 60’s and 70’s the rock subgenre Krautrock was established by bands such as the German group Can (RIP Jaki). Can is sampled on this track re-establishing Tyler’s unwavering commitment to exceeding genre barriers.
Rex Orange County’s raw hook hits the sweet spot between 90’s suburban adolescence and Tame Impala. Rex’s vocals on Foreward, paired with Tyler’s relentless questioning of his new life, bring in a Channel Orange lost of innocence vibe — a motif that is carried on throughout the album.
As he does best, the Odd Future captain effortlessly makes political commentary without losing flow: “How many riots can it be until I’m Black Lives Matter”.
The violin fades — in
and the angsty techno-metronome beat — out.

2. Where The Flower Blooms Feat. Frank Ocean
“tell these black kids they could be who they are
dye your hair blue, shit, I’ll do it too”
I fell through Tyler’s rabbit hole into Wonderland as the violin and piano takes you back to a simpler time when “80-dollar profit from the coffee I poured” was his only income. Where the Flower Blooms.
A$AP, the Creator flexes his laid back version of the Lil Uzi/Migos flow in the second and third verses while maintaining a gentle insecurity rare in today’s overly masculine Hip-Hop scene.
Frank’s vocals reassure that new-wave West Coast Hip Hop is well alive in this track. Not to mention “Run it run it yeah” sounds like something straight out of a Kyle dance track. Tyler’s obsession with creating his own world is also very apparent in this song.
3. Sometimes…
Shane Powers, contestant on Survivor Panama drops in for a quick interlude. Can’t say I know much about the actor, but the dark humor expressed in this highlight reel (below) seems fitting. Oh and if you want more of Shane, check out his audition tape. Shane also yelled at Tyler not to fuck anything up in Buffalo off Cherry Bomb.
4. See You Again Feat. Kali Uchis
See You Again slides in to your DMs as gracefully as your high school (ex) girlfriend does at 2am. OKAYOKAYOKAY.
Kali Uchis’s fairy tale chorus, paired with violin strums, compliments Tyler’s fast-paced verse. Produced by Tyler himself, this beat switches up to include what sounds like alien spaceships zapping buildings. Uchis and Tyler are known collaborators since we were blessed with the angelic Find Your Wings. Check out the Colombian-American, Warhol meets Aaliyah, R&B singer Kali Uchis. Oh and of course Yellow.
This brings back the ridiculous half-assed — but completely genuine and beautiful — love songs of Cherry Bomb…a vibe that we first heard as early as on She Goblin.

5. Who Dat Boy? Feat. A$AP Rocky
“Wang$AP on the bumpersticker”
This track reminds you why Tyler is banned from New Zealand and Australia (and later the UK).
A$AP Rocky and Tyler have become close friends and collaborators as we saw on the Kanye-sampled banger What the Fuck Right Now. Young T flexes on this horror-movie banger, adopting the A$AP monstrous flow just as he did on the prolific Cozy Tapes track Telephone Calls.
Tyler brags about his indie trend setter status for good reason, check out his 2016 GOLF Fashion Show —
6. Pothole Feat. Jaden Smith
“everyone is a sheep, me, a lone wolf /
nobody gon make a peep ’cause everyone wants some wool /
since everyone is a sheep, not ever everyone here is cool /
Man I’d rather drown in a pool by myself than fuck with their fleece”
Take a drive with Thurnis Haley as he tells you about how hard growing up is. Continuing with the album’s metaphor, Tyler cruises through his buttery flow to discuss moving forward regardless of obstacles he faces on his path to greatness.
If y’all have somehow missed the young prodigy Jaden Smith’s comeup, you’re missing out. His role on the Netflix Original The Get Down as Dizzee was absolutely prophetic, and he’s probably the only person you need to follow on Twitter.
Alexander Brettin, lead singer of the band Mile High Club (signed to Stones Throw for y’all hip hop heads) is credited for background vocals — another example of Tyler defying genres.
7. Garden Shed Feat. Estelle
“Garden Shed for the Garçons
them feelings that I was hiding
heavy on my mind”
Austin Feinstein blesses us with angelic guitar strums to start out Garden Shed. Paired with the piano keys Tyler so masterfully plays, Estelle’s R&B vocals carry the listener through the first 2:43 before he goes in for a fast-paced 30 bar verse about coming out of the closet.
This blog post wouldn’t be doing Scum Fuck / Flower Boy justice if I didn’t talk about the media’s over analyzation of Tyler’s sexuality. The way they portray Tyler’s lyrics …. HAVEN’T Y’ALL LEARNED ANYTHING? The whole point of his music, tv shows, fashion lines, carnivals, and creative energy is to push culture forward without judgement. To Highsnobiety, Vox, The Atlantic, and even Complex — stop talking about his sexual preference as if it is a character change or big deal. It’s not. Scrutinizing these lyrics is harmful towards efforts to change the (somewhat homophobic) mainstream hip hop scene towards a more accepting.
But backtracking to Austin Feinstein, the 19-year-old lead singer of LA-based indie band Slow Hollows. The best part of writing these album reviews is getting to check out these young artists; I would definitely recommend checking out Softer.
Shoutout to Anthony Fantano and The Needle Drop team for talking about why obsessing over Tyler’s sexuality is painful to the of conversation of sexuality in Hip Hop.
8. Boredom Feat. Rex Orange County & Anna Of The North
“Need someone, we can loiter in parking lots”
Boredom’s content matter and track name are one in the same — this song is about the Boredom that turns into loneliness everyone has experienced in their lives.
Wait what? The singer that did “Put Your Records On” Corrine Bailey Rae provides supporting vocals? Rad.
The production on this song really stood out to me on this one. Rex Orange County is back harmonizing with west coast indie star Anna of the North, and the laid back snare-kick-beat gives a nod to Madlib — while Anna’s ooos and the aaahs daydream.

9. I Ain’t Got Time!
“I’ve been kissing white boys since 2004”
….
“I’ve been getting neck from a broad like some big shoulders”
Our favorite contestant on Survivor Panama is back to signal in “I Ain’t Got Time”. The title of this track contrasts from the previous, continuing the album motif of identity conflict — to name a few: homosexual mentions vs talking about bitches, loneliness vs popularity, love vs distain, etc.
The beat sounds like if you gave a medieval jester a 808 and called A$AP Rocky in to make it bang. On further review…it’s more like if Tyler took a belly dancing class with Bootsy Collins. Around 1.25 T drops all sounds except for a hand clap rhythm that reminds me of the bridge on “DEATHCAMP” (starting at 1.36).
On every Tyler album he has (at least) one track to remind you that he can go harder than anyone else on whatever flow is popular at the time. He did this on “I Ain’t Got Time”, and previously on…
- Bastard with “Jack and the Beanstalk”
- Goblin with “Steak Sauce” and “Burger”
- Wolf’s “Trashwang” where T wins street cred by making fun of it
- Cherry Bomb’s got BUFFALO when Tyler destroys the savage Pusha T Numbers On The Board beat
10. 911 / Mr. Lonely Feat. Steve Lacy & Frank Ocean
“Mirror mirror on the wall (WHO)
the loneliest of them all (ME)”
“911” Tyler steps aside (only spitting two short verses) to let his soulful entourage of Frank Ocean, Anna Of The North, an Steve Lacey harmonize an innocent love song. Oh and The Gap Band is sampled on the chorus.
T’s second verse followed by a dial tone provide a bridge into “Mr. Lonely”. Schoolboy Q and A$AP Rocky repeat “I can’t even lie, I’ve been lonely as fuck” while Tyler voices insecurities. I picked the quote above to headline this track because Tyler uses the Migos ad-lib flow in vulnerable way only he could pull off…
11. Droppin’ Seeds Feat. Lil Wayne
“I’m a banshee in her panties, nigga, ask your mammy”
Weezy F Baby prances over this jazzy tempo with the elegance of a bee pollinating. Wayne’s wordplay is immaculate, Tyler’s sleek.
I’m just gonna leave this here…

12. November
“I ain’t doing fine, lost my mothafuckin’ mind
time traveling back and help me find”
After much consideration, this is my favorite track on the album. Tyler’s flow perfectly switches cadence frequently on a lethargic drum-heavy beat self-produced. While paying homage to the infamous Wyclef Jean “Gone Till November” theme of longing for the past (or the future).
Tyler’s quick mention of the Milly Rock dance craze. Also you can’t ignore the shoutout to Playboi Carti because there are elements of this beat that undoubtedly sound like “Magnolia”.
November is used as a metaphor for a past point in your life when you felt like your true self.
The last verse of this song gives you the deep sadness that his day 1 fans are used to hearing. A Tyler the Creator album wouldn’t be complete without this track; it is a key sound that I felt I was missing in the first 11 tracks. If you’re an angsty suburban teenager, or a middle-aged professional who feels apathetic about the way their life has gone — this is your track.
13. Glitter
“We didn’t get your message, either because you were not speaking or because of a bad connection”
“fuck”
The heaviness of November eases up on “Glitter”. This love song floats the listener on by. The quote chosen sums up the theme of this song, which is that Tyler is in love but cannot find love.
Honestly I think the album could have done without this song — though I enjoyed hearing the “Goblin” demon voice/alter ego (around 1.56 on “Glitter”)
14. Enjoy Right Now, Today
Finishing up, Tyler plays you over three and a half minutes of instrumental he produced.
Pharrell Williams has had a tremendous impact on Tyler’s sound over the years, and even provides some background vocals in this outro track. I’ll end this blog post with this interview Tyler conducted with Pharrell during Camp Flow Gnaw 2014 —
“It’s interesting the way life is poetic in that way (…)
…this generation has it’s anchor as Odd Future, so I’m not worried about..we got a lot of help now, it’s not just us, it’s us, it’s Odd Future it’s Kendrick, it’s a lot of great minds who give a fuck about where things end up and how they go. and as long as you keep, stay where you are, and you stay loyal to your beliefs, and secondly your curiosity, no one can touch you”
OOOH LAWDY if this album wasn’t enough for you, Tyler has since dropped a verse over the soulful 4:44 open letter to Queen B.
Hope y’all enjoyed this guide. Check hyperlinked words for more content! Feel free to drop comments, and share! Joel Spiegel
Credits:
Lyrics from Genius, Fader for Credits & Samples, A.V. Club for information about Can, Giphy for the GIFs, Who Sampled for samples information. Here are the full album credits (shoutout Genius).
