By Owen Hynes
Rapper-producer Tyler, The Creator has announced that his follow-up album to 2017’s Grammy-nominated “Flower Boy” is arriving on May 17.
“IGOR” was announced as the title of Tyler’s new album via the artist’s Twitter account along with two images of album artwork, which unleashed a positive response from Tyler’s fanbase on social media.
Along with the artwork for “IGOR,” Tyler also posted two snippets from the new album to his YouTube channel titled, “IGOR’S THEME” and “WHATSGOOD” last week.
IGOR: 5/17 pic.twitter.com/FW1fl2ufdS
— Tyler, The Creator (@tylerthecreator) May 6, 2019
In late April, prior to the announcement of “IGOR,” rumors flooded in surrounding the possibility of a new Tyler project, after a Reddit user revealed a financial statement from Sony Music, the artist’s label. The financial statement listed Tyler’s new album under the section of “Noteworthy projects for the quarter ending June 30, 2019,” which sparked discussion and anticipation amongst Tyler’s fans.
Although no full songs have been released from the album thus far, rapper and Tyler’s close friend, A$AP Rocky, spoke about Tyler’s new music in a May 2018 interview with Complex.
“Tyler’s new s*** is crazy. I’m not even lying, honestly. Sonically, it’s like he challenged himself in a different way. It’s not even like ‘Flower Boy.’ His next album is just a new wave,” said Rocky.
Whether “IGOR” turns out to be the “new wave” that Rocky’s talking about or not, Tyler told GQ Style in an August 2018 interview that a large focus for his future projects is to start receiving radio plays.
“I grew up listening to [the radio]. Although it’s not the most important thing, there’s still a percentage of me that wants to listen to the radio one day and say, ‘Oh, that’s my song!’ … It’s still a piece of me that not only wants to be on the radio, but it’s probably some 11-year-old in the middle of f****** nowhere who might hear a song, look me up, get introduced to a whole world — and that could change everything he’s into for the rest of his life,” said Tyler.
Based on the hype leading up its release, it seems as if “IGOR” has the potential to receive radio recognition as well as garnering the attention of not only 11-year-olds, but music listeners everywhere.
In the meantime, stream Tyler, The Creator’s Spotify here and try to pass the time before “IGOR” releases on Friday, May 17.
Featured Photo Credit: Courtesy of Tyler, The Creator’s Facebook page.
Owen Hynes is a sophomore journalism major and can be reached at ohynes@terpmail.umd.edu.
