Top 10 Best Tyler the Creator Albums

IGOR is the Tyler the Creator album where everything comes together: the story, the production, the emotion. Tyler makes an album here that is simultaneously pop, soul, neo-soul and rap, without fitting into any of those genres. There are few albums in modern music that are as well constructed from beginning to end. Tyler, the Creator is an artist who pushes his own boundaries with each album. His early work is raw and uneven, but from Flower Boy onwards he's almost unstoppable. Start with IGOR, then go to Flower Boy and Call Me If You Get Lost, and you'll understand why many consider him one of the best producers and artists of his generation.

DJ Drama's tape intros give the album the energy of a classic mixtape, but the production is on a different level. Lumberjack, Massa and Wilshire are highlights. Two Grammy Awards for Best Rap Album later, this album stands as one of the best hip-hop records of the 2020s.

Flower Boy can be described as a breakup album in the form of a concept musical. Tyler plays a character that is in love with a man who doesn't want him. It's honest, painful and completely different from what hip-hop had ever heard. EARFQUAKE, Gone Gone / Thank You and Are We Still Friends? are masterpieces.

The most polarizing album in his catalog. Yeezus is industrial, hard and deliberately inaccessible. No singles, no radio-friendly hooks, just raw sound and ego. Black Skinhead, New Slaves and Bound 2 are tracks you either understand immediately or will never understand. Yeezus is the album where Kanye decided he didn't owe anyone anything anymore.

After the death of his mother, Kanye made an album full of auto-tune, synthesizers and sadness. It was poorly received at the time. In hindsight, it's one of the most influential albums of the 21st century: without 808s, there would be no Drake, no The Weeknd, no Post Malone. Heartless, Love Lockdown and Street Lights are both painful and beautiful. This album changed pop music.

Kanye was a producer in 2004, not a rapper, and no one expected much from him behind the microphone. He proved everyone wrong. Through the Wire, Jesus Walks and All Falls Down showed he had a voice as interesting as his beats.

Every song on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is crafted to the bone. The guests, from Jay-Z to Nicki Minaj to Bon Iver, are all at their best. Runaway alone is ten minutes long and feels like five seconds. MBDTF is the album where Kanye proved he wasn't just the best producer of his generation, but also an artist of the highest level. The absolute peak of his discography. Kanye West is an artist you can't separate from his controversies, but his music stands independently. From the soul of College Dropout to the rawness of Yeezus and the grandeur of MBDTF: his best work ranks among the most impressive hip-hop has ever produced. Start with MBDTF, then go to 808s & Heartbreak, and discover the rest at your own pace.

Graduation chose stadium rock and electronic synths instead of samples and soul. Stronger, Good Life and Can't Tell Me Nothing are anthem after anthem. The album defeated 50 Cent in a direct sales battle and proved the direction of mainstream hip-hop had changed forever.

Bigger, more expensive and more ambitious than The College Dropout. Together with producer Jon Brion, Kanye made an album full of orchestral arrangements and sharp social commentary. Gold Digger, Heard 'Em Say and Gone are classics. Late Registration shows an artist who wants to push his own boundaries just after his debut.

Two years of delays, multiple listening events and a release chaos only Kanye could conceive of. The result is a 27-song album that is at least ten songs too long. But the highlights like Jail, Hurricane and Come to Life are of the highest level. Donda is proof that even a messy Kanye album contains more substance than most artists ever create.