It’s hard to imagine a world without Tyler, The Creator. If you’ve been following up with the Odd Future leader’s career since 2008 at least then you know he’s been at the forefront of a number of different movements. The anti-blog campaigns, shock value aesthetics, helping introduce the world to Frank Ocean and so on. What’s been missing from Tyler in the last few years? New material. It’s been two full years since his 2015 surprise album Cherry Bomb and since then, the lone cameo he’s made recently involved Jay Z and Ocean for “Biking“. In a way, we’ve watched Tyler, the Creator evolve from being a brash, punk-like figure of LA hip-hop to having his own TV shows, multiple platform deals, festival king and becoming an adult.
For Cherry Bomb fans, Tyler partnered with Mikey Alfred of of Illegal Civ Cinema to create a full-fledged documentary. Originally premiered in January, the full 42-minute Cherry Bomb documentary can be seen below. Tyler handles the narration after a few opening scenes of him licking vomit, performing in the studio and more. Soon the film transitions into a standard documentary affair with Tyler admitting that he rarely samples music and had to make amends when the one sample he did want to clear for “Death Camp,” got rejected.
The documentary showcases videos for “Buffalo,” appearances from A$AP Rocky, Pharrell, Kanye West, Charlie Wilson and others. In one poignant clip, Tyler gets a glowing piece of acknowledgement. “There’s obviously incredible intelligence and sh*t that I have no opinion on,” the man says. “But he’s the dude that makes that statement if he backs it up with intelligent thought.”
Cherry Bomb: The Documentary isn’t a mock or a send-up to This Is Spinal Tap. It’s a glimpse into the mind and creative side of one of hip-hop’s younger voices. Having Tyler breakdown select tracks and moments over the two years it took to make Cherry Bomb is rather insightful, given how he’s managed to keep things more under wraps these days. Dive deep into Tyler’s world with the full documentary below.
