By Nethan Crew, Managing editor of production 

“Don’t Tap the Glass” was a surprise to many Tyler the Creator fans on release. As his ninth studio album, Tyler Okonma started teasing a creative project on his social media accounts on July 18, with a picture of him holding a trumpet with overlapping text saying “JULY 21ST.”  

Tyler throughout his entire career has followed a loose schedule of album releases, rolling out albums on odd numbered years, dating back to his release of “Goblin” in 2011. With this information, many fans, including myself, assumed that he was releasing a music video for his hit song “Sticky” off the album “CHROMAKOPIA,” which released last October. The following day, news source Complex Music posted a track list of 10 songs from a new project “DON’T TAP THE GLASS,” which Tyler himself went on to X stating that the whole track list was false.  

On July 21, he released the album. Contrary to the teased track list put out by Complex, the album features longtime collaborator Pharrell Williams, Sk8brd, Madison McFerrin and Yebba. The album also features a brisk 29 minute runtime, being by far his shortest album. 

The album opens with a digitized voice telling the audience instructions on how to perceive the project, stating “Welcome / 1. Body movement, no sitting still / 2. Only speak in glory, leave your baggage at home / 3. Don’t tap the glass.” What immediately follows is a heavy dance track, “Big Poe,” sampling Busta Rhymes’ “Pass the Courvoisier Part II” chopped up in the bridge. This section helps drive the beat as Tyler shows off a more braggadocious view in comparison to his more introspective previous album “CHROMAKOPIA.” 

Since the beginning of his career, Okonma transitions between introspection and braggadocio, with many albums transitioning between within themselves, like “WOLF” with the songs “Answer” and “Tamale.” Being able to switch between these two modes for Okonma is part of what makes his music his, even outside the instrumental side of it all. 

The second track of the album “Sugar on My Tongue,” is, like most of the album, very heightened dance tracks with beautiful stacking vocal harmonies, especially throughout this song’s chorus. The song goes into much detail lyrically about Okonma’s love for oral sex with women, which is not the first mention of the subject matter. The driving backing instrumentals surrounding the lyrics serves as a pseudo time travel machine to the 1990s house music in Los Angeles where Okonma grew up. 

“Sucka Free” is the following track on the record, with Okonma referencing his progress throughout his career and his beginnings in Los Angeles as well as gloating about his money that he’s earned. This track is fully Tyler in his hyperconfident persona. Supported with his token jazzy synth cords, vocoders, and drum loops, he creates a song that would easily fit on some of his previous records. 

On his next track, “Mommanem,” he creates an energy that is very reminscient of Childish Gambino’s “Because the Internet,” controlled by synth stabs, utilizing breathing sounds in the percussion, and big heavy dissonant 808 chords. It serves very well as a transition back to earlier versions of Tyler in between this brand new sound he creates on this project. 

“Stop Playing with Me,” which is track five on the album, further enunciates the house/EDM style in his own way, which heavy bass hits, intricate drum patterns, and the same boasting in his lyrics, built around the idea of the title of the track, telling everyone to “stop playing with [Okonma].” 

The next track “Ring Ring Ring” is such a fun dance track that builds on the repeating ideas in his discography of the role of the cell phone, including “Answer” from “WOLF,” “911/Mr. Lonely” from Flower Boy, and numerous ideas from “Call Me If You Get Lost.” This track hits deep in the lyrics of asking a lover to keep in contact with him, but is so exuberant in the instrumental, very similar to the idea around “Hey Ya!” by Atlanta rap duo Outkast. 

“Don’t Tap that Glass/Tweakin’” serves as this album as the common occurence in Tyler the Creator’s projects of having a track that is a double track, with the tradition usually being the tenth track on an album dating back to his 2013 album “WOLF.” 

The title track takes place on the seventh song, assumably because of the short run time of the album. Both tracks of this double feature have heavy trap elements, with heavy 808 drums, with the first one feeling very reminiscent of New York artist DMX. The second half, “Tweakin’,” has the same heavy drums supporting synth arpeggiators.  

“Don’t Worry Baby” follows this double track, with synth lines and drums that feel very inspired early 2000s disco tracks. The track also features Madison McFerrin, who sings the main chorus and a few verses. This song reminds the listener of some of the songs on “Flower Boy,” which boast Tyler taking a back seat vocally and letting the featured artist show off on top of his beautiful production.  

The second to last track “I’ll Take Care of You,” brings back synth arpeggios from the very beginngin and boasts simple lyrics, swelling chords, and a massive drum break halfway through the track. The track also features a sample from Okonma’s previous work, “Cherry Bomb,” as well as “Knuck if you Buck” from Crime Mob. With the lyrical simplicity, this track feels like the perfect fit for a cut of Okonma’s discography to play at a club anywhere from Seattle to Miami.  

The last track of the album feels like a victory lap for Tyler. With a calmer feel throughout the first portion of the song, it swells around the chorus with mystical chords and more loose drums than are seen on the rest of the record. The end of the song features the same computerized vocals featured on the very beginning of the album, stating “I hope you enjoyed yourself / Maybe next time you could stay longer / The glass was not tapped / Thank you, until next time.”  

Tyler the Creator’s latest project is somehow so different than anything else he’s made, but repeats on the same ideas dating all the way back to 14 years ago. The subject matter of the lyrics evolves into an album talking about love as well as allowing himself to be unconditonally his true self. 

With a much shorter run time than any other project he’s released, he also adapts his sound into house or club music while still bringing in the same jazzy synth chords and dynamic drums he’s always been known for. He tells the audience so many things about him as a person, even with a short album run time and less lyrical content than many of his other projects, resulting in the beautifully short record “Don’t Tap The Glass.”