When Tyler, The Creator teased his latest album with a snippet of single “St. Chroma,” the shockwaves were instantaneous. Fans speculated about features, reposted the video and the excitement was palpable.
The short snippet itself was invigorating. Tyler raps in a whisper over the sounds of stomping feet and background vocals from Daniel Caesar.
But what makes an artist like Tyler so influentially popular? For me, it boils down to one thing — nothing he’s ever done musically has been normal.
His samples are unconventional, his vocal style shifts from modulated high pitches to low, monotone raps. In other words, he shuns norms. He experiments.
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And now, experimentalism is a part of the mainstream. Take the Grammys, which released its Album of the Year finalists earlier this month. New Blue Sun, the ambient jazz album from rapper André 3000 got a nod, and listening to just one track from the project will make it clear it’s an uncommon choice.
Even Brat, the undeniable album of the summer, incorporated its own amount of weirdness. Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter is a bold project in its own right when it comes to genre, playing around with the definition of country.
Have artists gotten more adventurous? Or are they just now being recognized?
What often was relegated to subgenre and underground musical communities while the airwaves were reserved for formulaic pop is now everywhere. There is no gatekeeping. Everything is available for fans instantly, as was the case with Tyler’s album rollout or the way Brat tore through the internet like wildfire.
This isn’t a new phenomenon. Rapper and producer JPEGMAFIA has been at the forefront of the movement, and forged one of the most anti-pop rap albums of the genre’s history with Danny Brown last year. He sampled everything from video game sounds to Japanese TV commercials.
The rapper-producer’s mind bending beats didn’t stop the album from charting on the main Billboard Top 200 in 2023. He continued his momentum with a similarly-received solo project earlier this year.
This year’s Grammy nominations signify a paradigm shift in the music industry. Even with the safe, predictable picks — Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan — the mere presence of a jazz venture from one half of OutKast is a sign of change.
And while New Blue Sun is a long shot to win the honor, the much more likely winner Brat trampled over its pop counterparts, likely because Charli xcx did something that Taylor Swift didn’t — something new.
It’s refreshing, giving listeners the impression of adventure and exploration. Essentially, the middle men have been cut from the process, and all that matters is artist and fan.
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Thanks to the digitization of music, there is a direct pipeline. Alternative stars such as Tyler, whose first album is radio poison, and his unapologetic lyricism and in-depth storytelling have only continued to evolve and remain loved by fans.
If one of the most acclaimed rappers of all time wants to make a jazz album and play his flute, he can — and he should — because people will listen, and it might just get nominated for a Grammy.
