Tyler, The Creator makes us feel again with 'Don't Tap the Glass'.
'Don't Tap the Glass' is a callout to an audience so immersed in capturing the moment that they subsequently miss it altogether.
Tyler, The Creator is an orb of talent, creativity, angst and honesty that threatens to strike out at any moment. “Don’t Tap the Glass” swarms its audience with a funk that I can only recall in scripted 80s party scenes where the environment looked thick, sweaty, chaotic and electrical all in a single breath. It’s a 28-minute vibe check, meant for all those welcoming the freedom of the feeling versus the judgment that 24-hour surveillance has brought us.
Tyler instructs us to leave our baggage at home, “none of that deep shit.” This project calls for full-body engagement. While he’s a mastermind at world-building, Tyler has continued to prove himself a savant as he provides a growing acceptance of artistic beauty in hip-hop through honesty and individuality.
“Big Poe” was an ideal precursor that would properly foreshadow the direction of the album. I had to listen several times to harness the feel of the lyrics because of how mesmerizing the production was. Do you remember the iconic sequence from “Juice”, released back in the early 90s, when Tupac’s character, Bishop, chased Q through the apartments. Insert “Big Poe” as the underscore. Followed up by “Sugar on My Tongue”, Tyler, The Creator makes it obvious that ‘Don’t Tap the Glass’ was made to be absorbed, not analyzed.
There exist scrambled themes of loving and longing in the up-tempo “Don’t You Worry Baby”, which features Madison McFerrin, and “Ring Ring Ring”, where we find Tyler crooning to someone and protesting for a final moment or in the least, a conversation on the phone. The other tracks of the album rest in a self-assuredness and wealthy resistance to the idea that his friends aren’t comfortable dancing at the functions anymore. A resistance to the notion that hip-hop is centered on dissension and conflict.
Along with the album, Tyler has recently released several videos on his YouTube channel titled “Glass Tapping” followed by the name of the song each clip is meant to reference. The videos present as a mini-series, all hovering between 17 - 22 seconds. The sole performer in the snippet makes a real-life reference to the overarching idea of the song to follow and dance unabashedly for the second half of the clip.
The videos behave as an extension of the world Tyler planned to create with “Don’t Tap the Glass.” The woman with stiletto nails and a golden B.A.P.S. era updo. The white man who pronounces, “Burn this shit down” into the camera before “Big Poe” begins to play. Each serve as a character in an alternate reality where listeners saw themselves in the songs they loved and danced to the melodies like they would never hear them again.
It’s impressive how Tyler continues to evolve upwards and outwards. Similar to how Beyonce continues to shapeshift effortlessly into different versions of herself, Tyler, The Creator has embarked on a journey of self-establishment and cultural connection that allows him to emerge personally and create community with upcoming artists that have had a hard time finding success being themselves. ‘Don’t Tap the Glass’ is a musical time machine that threatens to make the audience do something they haven’t done in a while. Put the phones down and dance.