Hi, everyone. Don'tthony Taptano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. It's time for a review of this new Tyler, The Creator album, Don't Tap The Glass.

Here we have the latest LP from rapper, singer, songwriter, producer, Mr. Tyler, the Creator, someone whose name and presence and brand within the world of hip hop has been just growing exponentially bigger as of late, to the point when it comes to many broad hip hop discussions of who's the best, who's the most influential, who's the most significant in the genre today, who's in the big three. Tyler's name is getting brought up more and more and more. Not only because seemingly his music has been, over the past decade or so, been getting deeper, more artful, more interesting, but his influence on the broader rap landscape becomes more apparent with each passing year, too. As he slowly developed into prolific, left field, flamboyant, Prince-level type, artsy-fartsy, pop-rap, everything-blend type of artist.

It's been a metamorphosis that's just been intriguing to watch, especially as it feels like the progression has been picking up as of late, as it wasn't too long ago that Tyler was giving us this brash, in your face, flex-athon, rap mixtape-type project on Call Me If You Get Lost, which was also backed up with a very impressive deluxe, by the way.

And then immediately following that up with one of his most versatile and paranoid and personal projects to date, Chromakopia, a record that really saw Tyler exploring some of the darker recesses of his mind and also just getting more ambitious with multifaceted songwriting and some unlikely production ideas.

We've barely had a year to sit with that record. It's an album that is so deep and so replayable that it most definitely warranted a deluxe or revisit of some sort. But rather than expanding the album, here we are in 2025, and Tyler has decided out of the blue to just announce a new LP, a new project entirely. While Don't Tap the Glass over here isn't an extension of Chromokopia per se, it does feel like a reaction to what he did on that album creatively.

Right from the point of announcement, Tyler seemed really driven on social media to just try to control the narrative around this record and make sure that people were reading into the cues he was delivering correctly, stating openly that this album, it's not going to be a concept album. Don't expect a big concept. He also posted these "rules" and expectations for engaging with the album, saying that movement is important and essential. Also, as you put this album on, those same rules are stated right at the start of the record in this robotic vocoder voice with this little tiny, weird sounding Tyler gremlin figure yapping away in the background, even saying in response to the second rule – only speak in glory, leave your baggage behind, so on and so forth – yeah, none of that deep shit.

I mean, there are other nods Tyler's made toward this sentiment that I could bring up, but he has made it absolutely clear that he doesn't want fans going into this record expecting anything too deep, too conflicted. It's going to be a record that is brief, is brisk, is to the point, is visceral, is danceable. No muss, no fuss, as it were. Again, this may be a bit of a response to what Tyler was doing on Chromakopia because emotionally and instrumentally, there a lot of complicated moments on that project. Maybe next, he just wanted to lower expectations a bit and do something just more simplified.

But even going in this direction, Tyler manages to, at least a little bit, stay conceptual because I do think it says something stylistically for Tyler to embrace a variety of different dance grooves so consistently across this record. Also on top of that, for Tyler to be giving us a series of songs and beats that are so rough around the edges and distorted and nasty. To my ears, it does call back to the Cherry Bomb era, at least a little bit, which is an album cycle that historically for Tyler, it is not one of his favorites. Personally, it's not one of my favorites either.

While this is very much a different album from Cherry Bomb, it does seem like, at least in a sense, there's maybe some overlap in terms of ethos, and Tyler is going back to a similar, rowdy, uncontrollable energy, and trying to pull it off this time in a way to where it's actually effective. I mean, the second to last track on the record actually even features a drum beat that was reused from Cherry Bomb. Tyler is typically not the artist to repeat himself unless he's doing so with some intention in mind. Not a guy who is looking back all that much unless it's to learn from past mistakes and efforts.

But still, even with all of that context and all of those layers at work, true to Tyler's word, Don't Tap the Glass is a record that doesn't exactly invite a lot of super deep dissection and analysis. Still, that doesn't mean it's not an exciting and fun album to listen to.

The opening track is a decent starter, features a lot of very edgy, oversaturated rap verses from Tyler as well as Pharrell, who performs under this Sk8brd pseudonym. Yeah, Tyler does have some moments here where it seems like he's reverting back to his old self a little bit and trying too much to say some stuff that's going to push some buttons. But between his delivery and Pharrell's delivery a bit on this track, it does feel like they're in character in a way. Tyler is literally embodying this kooky little goblin version of himself. I'm also loving the looped throwback drum beats on track, as well as the hype group chant, "Jump, Jump, Jump," which is just a very House of Pain.

On the following "Sugar on My Tongue", we have this bit of RnB and synthpop fusion with a very quirky groove and series of synthesizer sequences. We have more funky, undeniable dance groups on this one, maybe even a slight whiff of Rick James vibes. I'm not in love with the tune at the core of this track, but I still do think the influences are embodied nicely.

But following this, we have "Sucka Free", which I think is handily the best in the first half of this record. This thing is a Bay Area summer smash with some big '90s RnB vibes, along with some synth funk touches, too. And while this does feature some of Tyler's smoothest bars and flows on the entire record, there is still something about his delivery that feels so goddamn cartoony, especially as he gives us a second verse where he just really digs into the back of his throat and gives us an extra helping of rasp, sounding like a Vince Staples who's smoked maybe one too many packs of cigarettes.

But yeah, this is the most Tyler has leaned into his singing voice, in my opinion, since Igor. Even though his singing still does feel very intentionally off kilter, it's managed to be one of his catchiest tracks he's ever written, in my opinion.

Following this, "Mommanem" is a pretty cool little interlude track that builds up tension for the following song. Even though it is short, I do think it continues to add to this weird little character performance Tyler is pulling off here, along with bringing in some interesting vocal layers and almost just an industrial twist with some of the noisier sound effects that are thrown into the mix.

"Stop Playing With Me" is like a callback to an old-school B-boy anthem or something like that. At least that's how the drum beat feels. However, nearly everything else about the track feels like trademark Tyler at this point. So even if there is a bit of deja vu going on here, I still do love some of the synth work and the call and response group vocals on the back end of the track.

But following this on "Ring Ring Ring", we have a legitimately some classy Off the Wall Michael Jackson era vibes. This thing is pure disco bliss with the strings, the pianos, the super slick groups. And for somebody whose music, again, typically sounds so weird, intentionally scuffed, like it's coming from an alternate dimension or something like that. This one genuinely does sound like some real good quality disco.

The title track here, though, does see Tyler going back into full rap mode with some old-school Casio beat loops and synth lines, and I would say a touch of Missy Elliott swagger, too. There's a sick beat switch in the last leg. And yeah, once again, even though Tyler's production and songwriting sounds very rough around the edges and streamlined and not nearly as layered as it has been on some recent projects, he still manages to come through and develop a very catchy smash on this one, and it's just great to hear that Tyler can still make great quality music while forcing himself into a less is more scenario and limiting the number of options in terms of what he can do, how wide and grandiose and lush the music can sound.

The following "Don't You Worry Baby" features some great vocals from Madison McFerrin. And as far as those lovely lead vocals from her combined with the peppy dance beat in the background, we almost have like a Ghost Town DJ's "My Boo" type situation here because you do really have a great persistent club beat combined with some classic RnB touches.

Meanwhile, the following "I'll Take Care of You" with Yebba that I mentioned earlier for having that rhythmic callback to "Cherry Bomb". It feels almost like an extension of that cut. If you could do a Southern fried remix of that track or same vibe and just extend it out with a different refrain, great vocals, too. Also some really sick ass "Knuck if You Buck" samples, which was an interesting callback that I didn't necessarily expect.

While I don't think a lot of these moments stand super well completely on their own, what I appreciate pretty deeply about this project, despite the fact that it's so short and it's not supposed to be conceptual and all that, Tyler did string a lot of the songs here together throughout much of the record in a way to where they do build off of each other and they do feel like you're listening to a very well connected mix.

So again, even though this is supposed to be an assembly of tracks that's not super high concept, they do all link together very well into an album with a very cohesive flow. So in a way, I do think Tyler undersold this project a little bit because this doesn't merely feel like a randomly thrown together collection of tracks. It does seem like a lot of thought and intent went into how the 28 minutes of run time here is going to progress.

Then the final track on the album, I can't help but feel like is a bit of a meta-statement of sorts. While at its core and under a microscope, you can simply observe it as a bit of a forlorn, low-key rap anthem with a beautiful anthemic chorus that talks about Tyler having difficulties opening up his heart to find and accept love. Simultaneously, it's hard not to view this track back, again, in the context of Chromakopia, how frank and sincere Tyler was with his own audience on that project, how Tyler also expressed feelings of dread with being known and perceived and obsessed over by his fans, too. In a way, it does feel like this song is expressing at least a little bit a sentiment of when will it be or how will it be that I'll feel open enough with my audience again to be this raw with them.

Because right now, with this record, as enjoyable as it is, it feels instead – rather than us getting a complete picture of the actual Tyler – we're getting a character rendition of him. On top of that, we're putting that character rendition inside of a closed off glass box that we're only able to observe from the outside.

Overall, I enjoyed the hell out of this album. I wouldn't say it's one of Tyler's best, but it's incredibly fun for what it is. It's an album of quirky bangers, super melodic catchy anthems, and a good time packed in a redemption arc, packed in a need for distance, which is why I'm feeling about a strong 7 to a light 8 on it.

Anthony Fantano, Tyler, the Creator, Forever.