It’s Tyler, that’s who.
[Video]
[5.86]
Julian Axelrod: Here’s a weird phenomenon in my life: For the past month, my girlfriend has been obsessed with Tyler, the Creator. She’s never cared for him in the past, but a friend showed her the macabre “Who Dat Boy” video and now she’s hooked. She’s not the only one: Tyler seems to be finding a whole new audience, winning over both new fans and critics while continuing to produce visceral, insular tableaus about violence and isolation. But while Tyler’s mining a similar aesthetic (minus the rape and murder, thankfully) this song feels light years beyond his earlier work. The beat drips with menace but retains a forward momentum, as the horror strings stutter and its drums stumble and skid. Rocky sounds right at home double-timing over the unconventional beat, and his tag-team chemistry with Tyler is the highlight of the track. But this is Tyler’s show, and I can’t help but marvel at his growth and maturity every time I hear it. He’s still on a mission to shock and awe, but luckily “Who Dat Boy” leans more toward the latter.
[7]
Ryo Miyauchi: Tyler’s more conventional rap songs often put him in contrast to others more center to the genre, rappers who might fit better in a skeletal break beat like “Who Dat Boy.” His line of thinking has typically gone: while the rest succumb to cliches, he transcends them; while they depend upon the clout of someone else’s clothing brand for their identity, he creates his own. So his friendship with A$AP Rocky, an aesthetic collage of a rapper and celebrity, at first seemed at odds. And though they have great on-record chemistry, the pretty rapper’s guest presence still proves why they remain an odd couple. Tyler prints his own GOLF money. Rocky only has his Raf collection.
[6]
Alfred Soto: Precious few clues about whom he’s sleeping with these days, despite the winking title. Just the familiar aggression, with A$AP playing Kelly Rowland.
[7]
Ramzi Awn: Tyler knows what he’s doing, and the beat is sick. Rocky makes for a welcome cameo, and the synths do no disservice on “Who Dat Boy”. All in all, good parental advisory fun.
[6]
Thomas Inskeep: Musically, a bit like bass-heavy horrorcore; lyrically, nothing much from either Tyler or Rocky (both of whom I find highly overrated).
[3]
Stephen Eisermann: More aggressive than the violins who immediately start the track with some major shredding (violin shredding… who would’ve thought), Tyler comes right out the gate vulgar and aggro as hell. It’s excessive, but also serves as a good introduction for who he has always been, and, in the context of where his personal life is allegedly at, makes a lot of sense. When you’re closeted, you tend to lash out and be bold in an effort to overcompensate. So maybe that’s what’s happening here? The reference to a closet is hard to ignore, so I really wonder: who dat boy? And what is he trying to say? Is he a rapper with an aggressive tone or is he a closet case tying his way to come to terms with himself? I’ll take him either way, because the catharsis this song provides is all to nostalgic.
[6]
Ashley John: My little brother used to be a huge fan of Jackass. We were too young when it was airing new episodes, but we’d watch repeats in our basement and be ready to switch the channel if we heard our mom come down the stairs. The fun in Jackass and Tyler, the Creator’s art is that it’s done among friends. It’s all a benign dare, a joke between pals to see how far the others will go with the unspoken knowledge that if something goes wrong, there’s a witness to save you. “Who Dat Boy” is everything Tyler is known for, blunt and sharp and too much, which is satisfying when you have the bandwidth to tolerate it. Flower Boy is more patient, but it still sounds like Tyler diving off a roof into a shallow pool, waiting for an onlooker to stop filming long enough to ask what’s wrong.
[6]