California rapper Tyler, the Creator, has always been known for his hard-hitting, crude lyricism, and loud, crunchy instrumentals. Therefore, when he announced an album titled, “Flower Boy,” a lot of his fans did not know what to expect.

In his fourth studio album, Tyler completely reinvents his sound. He uses real instruments and orchestral sounds instead of his signature bass-filled drums and eerie synths.

However, that does not mean that he’s forgotten his traditional style completely. There are still a few louder, harder tracks on this album, like Who Dat Boy, and I Ain’t Got Time, that will definitely remind fans of Tyler’s older music.

With that being said, the album is not exclusively in this style. The majority of the album consists of high-pitched vocals, soft piano melodies and singing, rather than rapping. This new style comes from a lot of his features, too.

Tyler features a large variety of artists on “Flower Boy,” from Lil Wayne to Frank Ocean in all different genres of music. This leaves the album with singing vocals throughout the choruses and Tyler rapping in the verses.

These sounds complement each other very well and make for songs that new and old fans of Tyler can both appreciate (songs like Boredom, and See You Again, are excellent examples of this.)

On this album, Tyler is making an effort to include more meaningful lyrics and themes than ever before. Throughout the album, there are many different themes explored. Some of these include loneliness, falling in love and even Tyler’s own sexuality.

Despite the many themes and styles, the album flows really well and the tracks transition into each other very naturally for the most part.

However, there are some tracks that do not fit well, notably towards the end. Enjoy Right Now, Today is the last track and is an instrumental without vocals. This song makes sense for the full album, but because of the lack of vocals, it probably doesn’t have very much replayability outside of the context of the full album.

Alternately, the track before it, Glitter, is a very upbeat and happy song that makes a good end to the whole album.

Additionally, the interlude Droppin’ Seeds feels very out of place next to 911 and November. None of the lyrics have meaning and, in this location in the track list, it does not feel like it serves its intended purpose as an interlude. However, this can almost be excused because it is an interlude, which probably will not be replayed unless listening to the entire album together.

“Flower Boy” is a very mature, well put-together album. The album has a lot of replayability, with a mix of many different themes and styles. This wide variety makes for tracks that new and older fans of Tyler, the Creator can listen to and appreciate. Overall, the album is definitely worth listening to, even if you are not a fan of Tyler’s older music.