Ty Listens to "Don't Tap the Glass"

In some stunning news to me, Tyler, the Creator put out a new album this past Monday, “Don’t Tap the Glass”. I knew very little about it, obviously. But I wanted to give it a few listens before I wrote about it.

Spoiler alert, it’s a great record. I have read, and agree with, people saying this is his ode to late 90’s, early 2000’s hip hop. That is what I grew up on. I do prefer 80’s and early 90’s, but my taste grew as grew and grew in 99-2000. I should have known by the cover that this was the case. He has big arms like Ludacris used to wear. He has a big gold chain like 50 Cent used to wear. He’s rocking a mustache. And he’s clearly in his bag. The record is 10 songs, clocking in a a neat and tidy 28 minutes. He comes out hard and fast. I read that he had a listening party the night before it was released. It had a 5 dollar cover charge and no phones were allowed. He wanted people to listen and dance and have fun with no worries of ending up on the internet the next day. He has some rules for the record when it starts. You need to dance, listen loudly and you’re not to tap the glass. I don’t know why, but I like these directions. It puts me in the mood to have a good time. And this album fully delivers on that front. The beats are heavy, loud and made to nod your head to. Tyler rips the lyrics in each song. He has become a better rapper with each new record. His talent continues to grow as he gets older. He also gives the listener something new with each album. He’s at the point where he cannot be pigeonholed. He’s too good and too multi talented. My brother said this record felt like a grown up version of “Bastard”, and I fully agree. And while it’s not as vicious lyrically as “Bastard”, “Don’t Tap the Glass” is through and through hip hop. I love the videos he has now put out. I also love reading all the theories and thoughts about this version of Tyler, the Creator. Tyler is in a groove for me where he is damn near unstoppable. My son asked me if I now like him more than Kendrick Lamar, and I think I do. I love them both, but the sheer magnitude and hit rate of Tyler right now feels unmatched.

This record is great. It’s a perfect follow up to “Chromakopia”. It gives us classic Tyler with a 90’s bend and I’m here for it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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