With his previous albums, Tyler, The Creator has introduced listeners to a myriad of alternate personas based on his own, including his trusted therapist Dr. T.C., suicidal “voice of reason” Wolf and his slightly unhinged adversary, Sam.
With “Cherry Bomb,” his most recent release, the voices of his alter egos are muted and Tyler gets the opportunity to speak for himself.
“I don’t like to follow the rules, and that’s just who I am,” he announced during “Deathcamp,” the album’s rock inspired opening track. “I hope you understand. And I don’t really think y’all cool, so give yourself a hand. No, no, give yourself a hand.”
Tyler has always made it known that he considers himself to be a “radical,” and “Cherry Bomb” does a solid job of furthering his case. However, the album also demonstrates how much he has matured as a producer and as a rapper since we last heard from him.
The track listing contains a hodgepodge of various sounds and influences, such as R&B, hardcore rap and punk rock, and seamlessly manages to take the listener on a trip that zips like a bullet train at first, but eventually slows down and cruises at the pace of Tyler’s much hyped 2-seater car around the halfway point.
As for lyrical content, Tyler appears to have temporarily abandoned the dark, nightmarish rhymes that made him (in)famous, and adopted the bold and brash style of Kanye West, who, along with Lil Wayne, makes an appearance during the track titled “Smuckers.”
It’s a noticeable change of pace for him, but ultimately, it resonates with ease. This is partially due to Tyler’s deep, raspy voice growling every word at the listener, but mainly because of his strong use of metaphor, simile, pop culture references and, of course, gratuitous profanity.
Is “Cherry Bomb” a sign of what to expect from Tyler from now on?
It’s hard to tell, but I know for sure that it provides an interesting opportunity for him to further explore the outer limits of his comfort zone, which history has shown can produce either stellar works of art or Walmart bargain bin fodder.
In any case, Tyler shouldn’t be too worried if his new direction doesn’t pan out; he knows he can always rely on Wolf and friends to help him get back to form.
