Tyler The Creator has kicked off his new era, taking inspiration from hip-hop’s Golden Era in the process. Last night/this morning, he released his new album, Don’t Tap The Glass, at a surprise dance party at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in his hometown. Later, he followed up with an energetic video for its lead single, “Stop Playing With Me,” giving fans the first glimpse of his new look, which heavily references the crazy ’80s with an updated b-boy flair.
In the video, Tyler rocks a red GOLF trucker hat, transparent Cazal frames, a mustache, and gold fronts to top off a red-leather tracksuit and matching Converse weapons. Mostly, it’s just scenes of T rapping and dancing between two massive speakers, with cameo appearances from LeBron James, Maverick Carter, and Clipse‘s Pusha T and Malice. The stripped-down look goes well with the new music; clearly, T was inspired by Kendrick Lamar’s reach back to LA’s freestyle roots on GNX and decided to delve even deeper into music designed to make you dance.
In a message directed to fans via social media, Tyler explained:
“I asked some friends why they don’t dance in public, and some said because of the fear of being filmed. I thought damn, a natural form of expression and a certain connection they have with music is now a ghost, it made me wonder how much of our human spirit got killed because of the fear of being a meme, all for having a good time. I just got back from a ‘listening party’ for this album and man was it one of the greatest nites of my life. 300 people. No phones allowed. No cameras, just speakers and a sweatbox. Everyone was dancing, moving, expressing, sweating, it was truly beautiful. I played the album front to back twice. It felt like that pent-up energy finally got released, and we craved the idea of letting more of it out .there was a freedom that filled the room. A ball of energy that might not translate to every speaker that plays this album, but man did that room nail it. This album was not made for sitting still. Dancing driving running any type of movement is recommended to maybe understand the spirit of it. Only at full volume, don’t tap the glass.”
Don’t Tap The Glass is out now via Columbia Records. Get it here.