Dissect - S4E2 - Foreword by Tyler, The Creator

Episode Date: April 30, 2019

We begin our season long analysis of Flower Boy by Tyler the Creator with the album’s opening track “Foreword.” We find Tyler laying out the themes that will be explored throughout Flower Boy as he questions his success, his chronic loneliness, and the nature of life itself. New episodes of Dissect release every Tuesday. For 60 free days of Spotify Premium, visit spotify.com/promo/dissect. Follow @dissectpodcast on Twitter and Instagram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From Spotify Studios, this is Dissect, long-form musical analysis broken into short digestible episodes. I'm your host, Cole Kushna. Today we begin our serialized analysis of Flower Boy by Tyler the Creator. On our last episode, we detailed Tyler's ascension from teenage internet kid to international artist and ringleader of the creative collective odd future. Four years and four albums later, we found Tyler in the year 2015, thinking that his career was in jeopardy. On Future had unofficially disbanded. He'd been banned from three countries, and his most recent album Cherry Bomb had been met with mixed reviews.

In Tyler's mind, his next album needed to be good, really good. I just knew if this album wasn't good, I would be fucked. That's how I felt. And some people would disagree, but I'm like, man, I'm nothing right now. You felt that way coming off Cherry Ball? Yeah, yeah, because everyone hated it. Tyler would use 2016 to create what would become the album, Flower Boy, released July 17, 2017. As we'll discover throughout this season, Flower Boy was very

much a creative reaction against Cherry Bomb, where Cherry Bomb is sonically eclectic and experimental, Flower Boy is full of rich harmony and alluring singable melodies. Where Cherry Bomb is deliberately impersonal, Flower Boy is emotionally intimate and revealing. And where Cherry Bomb is a collection of distinct independent songs, Flower Boy is a meticulously organized concept album. Each track working to accelerate a larger narrative about Tyler's emotional journey to self-discovery. Specifically, Flower Boy is positioned as a car ride during a golden hour sunset. We'll find Tyler using his luxury sports car, both literally and symbolically, as a way to escape the emotional turmoil and chronic loneliness he feels within.

Over the course of the album, we'll hit a number of roadblocks, red lights, and potholes as Tyler drives toward an as-yet-undetermined destination. But before the car ride begins, Flower Boy's first preface with an opening track that introduces our protagonist Tyler and his anxiety-ridden state of mind, an emotional and mental instability that will drive him to, well, drive away from his problems. This album opener is the subject of our episode today, aptly titled Forward. Like the majority, Like the majority of Flower Boy, How much ride can I have until I run out of road? How much road can they crave until I run out of land?

How much land can it be until I run in the ocean? Niggas go with the motions and all the Like the majority of Flower Boy, Forward is written and produced by Tyler the Creator. Additional writing credits are given to the artist Rex Orange County, who appears on the song's hook. Forward's musical foundation is constructed on a sample of Sonic Use remix of the song Spoon by experimental German band, Cann.

For their remix, Sonic Youth slows the tempo of Cannes original track. Tyler grabs a sample of Sonic Youth's Spoon Remix and loops it, providing the rhythmic foundation for Forward. So that's a loop from this band called Cannes. And I've always been in a crock rock. It was a sound that was like very European, Eastern Europe, and you have like Cannes, you have the silver apples, Even Soft Machine, which was this really Prague jazz band, took like influence around that time.

And it's kind of what Portishead listens to for influence. And it's something I've always liked because it was just so weird and just these weird drum patterns and just, oh, these haunting bass lines. And that's a song that they had. And every time I would play it, I would just rap over it. And I was like, you know, fuck it, I'm gonna loop it at these... Is it hard to wrap over that? No, not actually.

It's actually just a one, two, three, four, but the... But the pockets that they would use makes it sound like this weird push pullback thing. Yes, it feels like you're on something. Tyler leaves this sample pretty much untouched, save for an added woodblock. The push-pull rhythm of forward gives us a feeling of limbo, of temporary stasis. Within the context of the album's car ride narrative, we might think about this as something like an idling car warming up for a long ride. Indeed, this analogy seems to be in line with the song's title, Forward, spelled F-O-R-E-W-O-R-D, which is a word that describes a short piece of writing at the beginning of a book.

A forward is something like an introduction, a preface. As such, Tyler uses Forward to introduce the album's central themes and symbols, doing so in a rapid-fire series of questions. With these opening four lines, Tyler sets up the album's central conflict while also alluding to the upcoming car ride that will be the album's central setting. He first asks, how many cars can I buy till I run out a drive? Tyler's obsession with supercars has been well documented, having referenced McLaren's, BMWs, Teslas, among many others throughout his discography. Here on forward, Tyler is questioning this obsession with vehicles. and more broadly, he questions the nature of materialism itself.

If material goods are the primary motivating force behind your actions and career, obtaining a bigger house, a more expensive car, nicer clothes, how much of that stuff do you have to purchase to feel complete? When does it end? And perhaps more importantly, does it really mean anything? Can material goods be the driving motivational force behind your actions indefinitely? At this point in his life, it seems Tyler's bought enough stuff to realize it cannot forever serve as his drive, his inspiration and meaning behind his actions. Tyler's search for meaning

beyond the material seems to be the root of his question. And like anyone who's dealt with anxiety knows, questions don't lead to answers, they just lead to more questions, as Tyler then asks, how much drive can I have until I run out of road? The road here stands in for his career as an artist, and he fears he might quote unquote run out of road or run out of inspiration someday. He builds on this notion with the next question, how much road can they pave till I run out of land? Here, Tyler uses they, and we might suspect they to mean the public. Again, he's questioning the sustainability of his career, wondering how long people will be fans of his work, fearing that the road paved for him will one day run out. Finally, Tyler asks, how much land can there be until I run in the ocean?

Tyler here broadens the scope of his question by alluding to death, as driving a car into the ocean is most times a fatal occurrence. In this way, Tyler's questioning of his life and his motives takes an existential turn, as his anxiety regarding his career very quickly has him questioning the nature of life itself. As we know from our first episode this season, Tyler's identity has been intimately linked with creativity from a very young age, and now that his creative career is perceived to be in jeopardy, it brings about something of an identity crisis. He's asking, beyond the material goods and accolades, Who am I? We also think, about the traditional literary use of the ocean as a symbol of one's subconscious. When thinking

of the ocean this way, the image of Tyler running out of road and crashing his sports car into the ocean can be viewed as a symbolic representation of the identity crisis he seems to be undergoing. As he searches for meaning and substance beyond the material, Tyler's anxiety over his career and motivation, represented by the car he drives, puts him at conflict with his inner voice or subconscious, represented by the ocean. Finally, Tyler also brings to focus a juxtaposition between the material and the natural, specifically his sports car versus the ocean. As we'll see throughout the season, this contrast between the material and the natural, which we might interpret as a battle between the superficial and the meaningful, will be a central conflict Tyler looks to

resolve over the course of the album. As verse one continues, we hear the entrance of a strummed electric guitar played by Austin Feinstein of the band Slow Hollas. As we'll hear time and again on Flower Boy, Tyler's use of harmony is atypical, and thus it becomes hard to ascribe a traditional key signature to his songs. Suffice it to say for now that this guitar part establishes forward somewhere in the realm of D-flat minor, information will keep in the back of our minds for now as we continue our examination of verse 1. See, I was in the woods with flowers, rainbows and poles falling out of my pocket,

but y'all want to know if I swam to cool down. How much cooler can I get until I would run out of fans? How many fans can I have until they turn on the AC? If the AC blow, well then I'm TNT, I'm gone. Tyler builds off the line, how much land can there be until I run in the ocean, saying, see, I was never into the beaches and all the sands. Beaches sounds a lot like bitches, and it's here that we get the first of many subtle references to Tyler's sexuality. Indeed, he contrasts this line with the next. See, I was in the

woods with flowers, rainbows, and posies. Flowers are traditionally feminine, and a rainbow or the rainbow flag is a significant symbol of pride in gay culture. We also note Tyler's use of woods or forest as setting. In contrast to an open beach, one can hide in the secluded woods. There are a private environment in which Tyler is free to explore his sexuality without the judgment of others. We also might think of this as being akin to the phrase in the closet, which is of course the phrase used to describe someone who doesn't disclose their homosexuality to others. From Beauty and the Beast to Dante's inferno, the forest is also a very common symbol in literature, typically signifying the unknown, a realm of secrets that one must penetrate to find meaning. In stories like Snow White, the forest can

also be a safe place of refuge, and here on forward, Tyler uses the woods as both an exploration of the unknown and a secluded safe space he feels comfortable in. Tyler continues, I was in the woods with flowers, rainbows, and posies falling out of my pocket, but y'all want to know if I swam to cool down. Here Tyler brings back the beach and ocean imagery, again using them to signify women. People are curious if he quote unquote swam, which we take to mean they were curious if he's had relationships with women. This point will be elaborated on in the opening of verse two. Tyler works toward concluding verse one by building off the phrase cool down, asking how much cooler can I get until I run out of fans?

Here, Tyler plays off using a fan to cool oneself, asking how cool or unpopular can he get until he runs out of fans of his music altogether. Again, we think of his last album, Cherry Bomb, is lackluster reception, and Tyler's fear of his once hot career beginning to cool. He concludes the verse asking, How many fans can I have till they turn on the AC? If the AC blow, then I'm TNT, I'm gone. Of course, AC is short for air conditioner, and once again, Tyler fears his fans will one day turn on him, and his career will blow or suddenly cease to exist.

This use of explosives as the closing line's central metaphor might actually cleverly allude to the album Cherry Bomb, as Cherry Bomb is a small explosive firework. As Forward continues, Tyler's last two words, I'm Gone, are picked up by the artist Rex Orange County, who enters to perform a bridge. Rex taps into Tyler's feelings of loneliness and isolation, singing, I'm gone and I'm finished, and I ain't seen my friends in a minute,

guessing nothing lasts forever, nothing sticks together. It expresses the kind of unavoidable aloneness of the human experience. We grow older, and the friends that we thought we know forever fade from our existence as life inevitably pulls us in different directions. Some go to college, others develop drug dependencies, some join the military, others have children and settle. down. Specifically to Tyler, we think of odd futures disbandment and the feelings he might have seeing his once unified collective grow apart. This brief interlude ends with Rex singing,

Sick of sitting in doubt, please let me figure this out. This can be heard as a kind of mission statement for the entire album. Having already established a sense of confusion, isolation, self-doubt, and loneliness, Tyler were over the course of the album, attempt to quote-unquote figure it out, and established for himself a new, more meaningful path forward. As Forward continues, Tyler picks up where Verse 1 left off, beginning with a nod to the girls he tried unsuccessfully to have relationships with. But first, a word from our sponsors. Welcome back to Dissect. Before the break, we examined the first half of Flower Boys' opening track Forward.

In just eight bars, Tyler quickly establishes themes of uncertainty as he questions his life up until this point. As Forward continues, Tyler picks up where verse 1 left off. Tyler's in always keeping my bed warm And trying their heart is to keep my head on straight And keeping me up enough till I had thought I was end born How many raps can I write till I give me a chain? How many chains can I wear till I'm considered a slave? How many slaves can it be till that turn or arise?

How many rides can it be until in black lives matter When niggas get clacks splatter Tyler Tyler begins verse two Thanking the women he's attempted to have relationships with For their company and sexual efforts. He raps, shout out to the girls that I let on for occasional head and always keeping my bed warm.

He alludes once again to a sexual orientation as he follows saying, trying their hardest to keep my head on straight, straight of course being the word for someone who's heterosexual. He also uses head and straight to reference an erect penis as the next line says, and keeping me up enough till I thought I was airborne. The women he's been with tried their hardest to keep him aroused, enough to have Tyler thinking he might actually be airborne or attracted to them. As the verse continues, Tyler pivots to racial tensions and observes how they may play a role in his underlying sense of inadequacy and anxiety. He asks, how many raps can I write till I get me a chain? How many chains can I wear till I'm

considered a slave? This is a somewhat common trope in hip-hop, this juxtaposition of chains worn by black slaves and the diamond-encrusted chains popular among successful rappers. On one hand, you can view the two types of chains as representing progress, signifying the obstacles black people have overcome to find success after being enslaved in this country for hundreds of years. On the other hand, you can view the diamond-encrusted chains as signifying a new, modern type of slavery. One can be a slave to their disproportionate recording contract that favors the record label, a label most likely owned by white businessmen. One could also be a slave to materialism, using jewelry as a superficial validation of their ego and self-worth, a consumer mentality that doesn't disrupt the real power

balance in America. Here on forward and within the context of Tyler's personal story, it seems Tyler is contrasting the chains of slaves and his jewelry to point out the irony of his success. He's written enough wraps to get a chain and now views them as feeding into the same hollow materialism that has left him feeling dissatisfied and has him questioning his motives in life in general. Tyler continues, how many slaves can it be? till Nat Turner arise? How many riots can there be till the Black Lives Matter? Here we have another contrast of old and new, as he references Nat Turner, leader of a 19th century slave rebellion, and the Black Lives Matter, the 21st century movement concerned with ending racial and systemic

injustice around the world. Just like verse one, Tyler's stream of consciousness begins by focusing on a personal conflict, but he quickly winds his lens to consider how his personal conflict fits within larger societal and historical constructs or issues. In verse 1, Tyler questioned how much stuff he could buy until he's had enough and makes it change. Here, Tyler questions how much injustice the black community can tolerate how many rallies or riots must there be until there's change. As verse 2 continues, we'll see how Tyler weaves both of these questions together.

I usually play cool, because I know what I'm driving is usually paid in full, and my ego and possessions will not let me be one be, because I got a mansion. My mansion got some rooms, and rooms got some windows, and my windows got some views, and views get some stairs, and my backyard does too, and if you walk to the bottom, you'll probably see a pool. You better not drown. Keep them ten toes up, because if them ten toes down, I mean that you fucked up, and that's what I swim in.

Building off the Black Lives Matterline, Tyler references the shooting of young black men by police. He wraps, Pugh, Pugh, that N-word, life a game of basketball, you better shoot that N-word, because if that cop got trigger, he better pull. With his reference to basketball, Tyler plays off the stereotype that all black men are athletic. It's these types of generalizations of a race that often lead to unjust acts. Most relevant to this verse on forward, we think of the unfortunate assumption made by some that black men are criminals, inherently dangerous or threatening. It's these kinds of assumptions that led to the killings of black youth,

that sparked the Black Lives Matter movement just referenced. Simultaneously, Tyler compares trigger-happy cops and their proclivity to shoot their guns to a basketball player's proclivity to shoot a basketball. As the verse continues, Tyler shows how he uses his wealth and material goods to escape these stereotypes, rapping, because when I get pulled over, I usually play it cool, because I know what I'm driving is usually paid in full, and my ego and possessions will not let me be one. While Tyler does acknowledge the uneasiness of being black on a routine traffic stop, his wealth and possessions, namely his sports car, allow him to navigate the situation confidently.

This works to establish the meaning behind the car symbolism that will be a prominent feature throughout the album. Tyler uses his car as a protective shield. Here, his car and its representation of wealth puts Tyler in a higher class in the eyes of the police and serves to immune him from their racial tension and inherit in a routine stop. But position where this is in the verse, we know that Tyler is comparing himself to black youth like Michael Brown and Eric Gardner, who are killed by the police. His quote, ego and possessions will not let me be one, that is, not be a black person that gets shot by the police. Tyler continues the verse bringing back the stream of conscious style word linking, elaborating on the nice views his

multi-floor mansion offers him. He says, then views get some stairs and my backyard does, too, using stairs to mean both to look at and to reference the staircase that leads to his backyard pool. With the verse's closing lines, Tyler brings forward full circle, back to swimming, water, and the ocean reference in verse one. He wraps, you better not drown, keep them 10 toes up, because if them 10 toes down, that mean that you fucked up, and that's what I swim in. He seems to be talking to both the listener and himself directly, using this idea of floating with your toes up or down as metaphor for the stakes of life. The final line, that's what I swim in, seems to make direct reference to the line in verse one, but y'all want to know if I swam to cool

down. As you'll remember, we interpreted that to be a coded way of saying people wonder if he has relationships with women or not. Here at the end of the final verse, Tyler reveals where he actually swims in the gigantic pool isolated in his backyard. This is of course a metaphor, one that falls in line thematically with the entire song. Tyler is surrounded in wealth and material goods. He's literally swimming in his wealth. But like the woods of verse one, he's also alone, secluded and perhaps feeling alienated by his sexual orientation, and most certainly contemplating the nature of life, his motivations, and is placed as a young successful black man in America. Now, before we continue into Forward's outro, I want to briefly acknowledge the abrupt change of

instrumentation that occurred midway through the second verse. What had been an electric guitar and drum loop is cut off with the entrance of a brassy swelling synthesizer that completely takes over the sonic landscape. This dramatic shift to synthesizer changes the texture of the track entirely. Also, remember how I pointed out that the guitar part had established a song in something like the key of D-flat minor? Well, this synth changes that too. Suddenly we find ourselves in B-flat major. In music theory, this shift from one key or tonal area to another is called a modulation. While we'll discuss modulations in detail later this season, suffice it to say for now,

a modulation is rarely heard in popular music and almost never heard in hip-hop, so its presence here is extremely unique. One of many compositional nuggets we're going to discover throughout our analysis of Flower Boy. And to this point, I do want to draw your attention to one more thing. Now this is an admittedly subjective interpretation, but remember how I noted that Forward's main drum loop has this kind of push-pole rhythm, this sense of stagnation, something we might compare to an idling car. Well, I can't help but hear the swelling, rising, and falling synthesizer introduced in verse 2, as sounding similar to the swelling, rhythmic rise and fall of an ocean tide. When we hear it this way, the idling card drum loop and ocean-like swelling synth

becomes sonic representations of the two contrasting forces Tyler presented in his two verses. It's the material versus the natural, the superficial versus the meaningful. Again, a subjective interpretation, but interesting nonetheless. As forward works towards its conclusion, the two contrasting forces collide. The drum loop returns, this time beneath the swelling synth, not the guitar. Rex Orange County returns, who again builds off the latter lines of Tyler's verse. Here on the outro, Rex uses three of the symbols Tyler presented in his verses as possible ways he could die. He alludes to water, the ocean, and Tyler's pool when he imagines death

by drowning, alludes to Tyler's sports car when he imagines death by car crash, and finally, he alludes to Tyler's multi-story mansion when he imagines death by falling. While the specifics change, the heart of his question remains. If I die, who will really miss me? Who will care? What will I have contributed to the world? What will I leave behind? While many are likely to interpret these sentiments as suicidal thoughts, Tyler himself spoke directly about these closing lines in conversation with Gerard Carmichael. Existential and contemplative, and it almost sounded suicidal. Especially like the hook, like if I'm gone and don't, like, you know what to be? It's so dark. It's really dark, but that's, that was the end question. Like, damn, what if he's just,

What if I died? What happened? Yeah. That's kind of what it was. And it just to set the tone of like, that's where I'm at. Yeah. And it's not depressed. Like, I'm not depressed at all.

And a lot of people mix up depression with self-awareness. Yeah. And like, like, someone's like, dude, this album's depressed. I'm like, no, I never said I was depressed. I'm lonely, but I'm having the most fun of my goddamn life. Yeah. And but that song kind of sets like that tone. Tyler points out something here that will be key.

to our understanding of not only forward, but the entirety of the album Flower Boy. He states that often people mistake self-awareness for depression. That is, when someone thinks about or speaks of their death hypothetically, we often assume that person is suicidal. And while depressed people do statistically think more about death than most, thinking about death does not by definition mean you're depressed. It's perfectly natural, even healthy to think about your life with death and mind. Keeping death over one's shoulder can help you calibrate the stakes of your daily decisions, a reminder that we only know for certain of this one life, and that our time here is finite. Throughout forward, we find Tyler being, as he put it, self-aware. He's taking stock of his life

thus far, attempting to get to the root of his motivations and decisions, how those motivations and decisions have led to his present feelings of unfulfillment, and hypothesizing about how those feelings will continue to affect his future if he doesn't change course. If you extend this line of thinking far enough, as we've heard on the conclusion of forward, you're most certainly going to end up thinking about your death. Because, spoiler alert, death is the definitive end to your story, the unavoidable conclusion to any extended thought about the future of your life. This kind of thinking doesn't always mean you're depressed. It means you're taking life seriously. It means you're attempting to maximize and prioritize your time here, attempting to find subjective meaning

in your existence. Death, when considered seriously, can act as a productive tool of calibration, one that helps in refining and prioritizing your decision-making, effectively altering the trajectory and outcome of your life. Tyler also speaks of his loneliness as a source of his internal emotional strife. Let's hear this passage one more time. I'm not depressed at all. And a lot of people mix up depression with self-awareness.

Yeah. And like, someone's like, dude, this album's depressed. I'm like, no, I never said I was depressed. I'm lonely, but I'm having the most fun of my goddamn life. Yeah. And but that song... Tyler states, quote, I never said I'm depressed.

I'm lonely, but I'm having the most fun in my goddamn life, unquote. On its surface, this can seem like a contradictory statement. How can one feel lonely when you're surrounded by friends, have more money than most, and admitting that you're having fun? Well, to a subscriber of existential philosophy, this would come as no surprise whatsoever. An existentialist would prescribe,

Tyler's loneliness as one deeper than a longing for the company of friends, family, or a significant other. That type of loneliness is a defense against thinking about the most important questions of life and death. Real loneliness is much deeper. It's an inherent, inescapable attribute of being human, a consequence of the lack of intrinsic meaning in our lives coupled with our unique ability to understand our own mortality, to look death squarely in the eye anytime we choose. This lack of intrinsic meaning and purpose paired with our awareness of death is what philosopher Frederick Nietzsche described as the abyss. To stare into the abyss, to confront these difficult but fundamental questions of our existence, will almost always first bring about a feeling of existential

loneliness, a frightening sense of isolation, the feeling that one is unanchored in this unfathomably vast universe. On forward, we find Tyler doing just this, staring into the abyss, asking himself some of life's most difficult questions. He questions his success, his wealth, his material possessions, everything that Western society typically sells us as a path of personal fulfillment and happiness. He has fame, money, status, influence, and millions of fans. Having obtained these things, Tyler, like many in his position, wonders why he still feels a certain emptiness, a certain loneliness. If what I've been told will fulfill me doesn't, what will? If all these material things don't mean anything, what does?

If suddenly stripped of my possessions, who am I? Tyler is looking into the abyss, feeling eternally alone, drifting aimlessly in the universe knowing that one day he will die. And it's this kind of existential loneliness and deep isolation that one feels despite being surrounded by friends and family, despite obtaining financial security, despite being in a long successful relationship. It's the dark presence forever beneath the surface of being. the concealed sense of dread behind every smiling face, the unavoidable condition of the human experience.

How many cars can I buy until I run out of drive? How much drive can I have until I run out of road? How much road can they pave until I run out of land? How much land can it be until I run in the ocean? Niggas go with the motions and all the plans. Here at the start of Flower Boy, we find Tyler contemplating the most important, most difficult questions one can ask themselves. Indeed, Forward sets the stakes. And over the course of the album, Tyler will look to solve this existential crisis, look to reestablish meaning in his life to recalibrate his internal GPS, to come to turns with who he is and his place in the universe.

Tyler's journey of self-discovery begins with the album's next track, where this flower blooms. A song will examine note by note, line by line, next time on Dysect. Dysect is written and produced by me, original theme music by Birocratic, Song Recreation by Andrew Atwood, audio editing by Eric Bass and me. If you enjoy Dysect,

please help me spread the word by telling a friend, family member, or co-worker about the show. Follow Dysect Pod playlist on Spotify, where you can find music playlist curated by yours truly. Also, be sure to say hi at Dysect Podcast on Twitter and Instagram

and join our newsletter at Dysectpodcast.com. Okay, thanks, everyone. I'll talk to you next week.