The Song Planner
Community-added2007–present

Tyler, the Creator

Tyler, the Creator (born Tyler Gregory Okonma, 1991) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer who emerged in the late 2000s as the co-founder and de facto leader of the Los Angeles collective Odd Future. He broke through in 2011 with the abrasive single "Yonkers" and the album Goblin, then steadily evolved from shock-driven horrorcore toward a lush, melodic, self-produced sound across Flower Boy (2017), Igor (2019), Call Me If You Get Lost (2021), and Chromakopia (2024). He produces, arranges, and often directs the visuals for his own records, and is widely regarded as one of his generation's most distinctive auteurs, winning the Grammy for Best Rap Album twice (for Igor and Call Me If You Get Lost). His influence on alternative and melodic hip-hop, plus his ventures in fashion and his Camp Flog Gnaw festival, have made him a major commercial and critical force.

Genres & sub-genres

Hip-HopR&BPopAlternative hip-hopNeo soulJazz rapWest Coast hip-hopHorrorcore (early work)

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Self-produced alternative hip-hop and neo-soul fusion: warm analog synth pads, jazzy chord progressions with lush extended voicings, vintage soul samples, and dusty boom-bap-leaning drums. Mid-tempo grooves around 80-100 BPM, low-mixed lead vocals layered with falsetto and pitched background harmonies, plus melodic guest hooks. Rich, cinematic arrangements with abrupt left-turn transitions and a slightly lo-fi, hand-built bedroom-auteur production feel.
Synth-forward melodic rap with a soulful core: gritty distorted bass synths, bright Rhodes and organ tones, gospel-tinged chord changes, and crisp programmed drums. Tempos in the 90-110 BPM range, half-rapped half-sung delivery alternating a deep conversational rap voice with a fragile high falsetto, dense vocal stacking, and dramatic dynamic shifts. Production feels both experimental and emotionally intimate, with cohesive concept-album sequencing.

How they fit — and how they differ

Fits the sub-genre

As an alternative hip-hop figure he fits squarely in the lineage of self-produced auteurs who bend rap toward unconventional structures, personal subject matter, and DIY aesthetics. His later catalog leans hard into neo soul and jazz rap through warm chord-rich production, live-feeling instrumentation, and soulful melodic hooks, frequently inviting R&B and soul vocalists. His early material exemplifies horrorcore and abrasive shock-rap, and his West Coast roots show in his sensibility and collaborators.

Does their own thing

He resists staying inside any one sub-genre: each album resets the palette, and records like Igor are sung and synth-driven enough that many listeners and critics question whether they are "rap" at all. He produces, arranges, and conceives the visual world of his projects almost entirely himself, prioritizing concept-album cohesion and emotional vulnerability over standalone singles or traditional verse-hook-verse rap structures. His habit of building albums around a character or persona, and pairing harsh, dissonant sounds with tender melody, sets him apart from both mainstream rap and conventional neo soul.

Defining songs

  • Yonkers(2011)
  • Earfquake(2019)
  • See You Again(2017)
  • Who Dat Boy(2017)
  • Lumberjack(2021)
  • Sugar on My Tongue(2025)

Sources