The 26 Best Tyler, the Creator Songs

Tyler, the Creator has had a long, distinguished career. Here are his 16 best songs.

Tyler, The Creator is a household name today, selling out arena tours and bringing the vision he had of himself as a kid to life. He went from being an artist who would have never been able to have his music played on BET, to having one of the best performances in BET’s history when he performed his single “Lumberjack” in 2021. Today, more than ten years into his music career, he has become one of the most impactful artists of a generation. He has inspired a whole generation of indie, alternative, or weird Black people who describes themselves as creative.

Since he released his breakout mixtape, Bastard, in 2009, Tyler has dropped six official albums. He has also made countless guest appearances, gifting listeners an escape through his songs.

Looking back at his catalogue, here are the 26 best Tyler, the Creator songs of all time.

26. Tyler, the Creator feat. A$AP Rocky — “Potato Salad” (2018)

A$AP Rocky and Tyler, the Creator complement each other so well musically. So when they come together for a feature or a loosey it’s like they are trying to outdo one another every chance they get. On “Potato Salad,” Tyler is out-rapping Rocky, which he usually does. His wordplay is 10/10 on here, and it shows the skills he has honed as an MC over the years.

25. Nigo and Tyler, the Creator — “Come On, Let’s Go” (2022)

“Come On, Let’s Go” is one of the stand-out songs from I Know NIGO! This is a track that shows all of Tyler’s best qualities as a producer, rapper, big flexer, and overall song maker. Although this song spotlights his rapping abilities, it still can make an entire crowd dance.

24. Tyler, The Creator feat. Pharrell Williams — “IFHY” (2013)

Collaborating with one of your biggest inspirations is no small feat. Here, Tyler and Pharrell team up to make another song on one of Tyler’s favorite topics: loving someone so much that you have no choice but to hurt them. This song — and Wolf as a whole — showed Tyler in a different light as an artist and opened the doors for what was to come next.

23. “VCR / Wheels” (2009)

Early Tyler was unique. His debut, Bastard, was his introduction to the music world, and “VCR” was the start of something wild. However jarring it sounds to hear a young Tyler rap about harming someone in this way (TW: sexual assault), it’s not much of a deviation from later songs like “She” and “IFHY” Hearing this today in the context of a “Blow My Load,” you can tell that “VCR” was the precursor for what was coming next for his production abilities.

22. “Answer”

“Anwser” feels like you are listening to a therapy session from somebody trying to understand not having a relationship with an absent parent. In the second verse, he is still coming to terms with the passing of his grandmother who was such an important force in his life. Add the lyrics and feeling to the melancholy beat and you will feel like you’re going through it with him.

21. Tyler, the Creator feat. Clementine Creevy, Alice Smith, Leon Ware — “Okaga, CA” (2015)

Cherry Bomb is a deviation from his past albums; here he has a real motivational presence. On “Okaga, CA,” it feels like he is wanting an infinite ending to everything happening in life. Despite how the words sound, the beat, produced by Tyler of course, sounds the same way a sunset looks. This being the ending of his most experimental album, makes so much sense to what he ended up doing with his next projects.

20. Tyler, the Creator feat. Frank Ocean — “Bimmer” (2013)

Tyler is no stranger to putting multiple songs into one track. On “Bimmer,” — 1/3 of “PartyIsntOver/Campfire/Bimmer” — he is showing how he falls fast for whoever he is liking at the time of Wolf and what will happen if they happen to go any further than what they are currently doing. A real classic love song.

19. Tyler, the Creator feat. Wanya Morris, DaM-FunK, Syd, & Austin Feinstein — “Blow My Load” (2015)

The seventh song on Tyler’s third studio album is all about cunnilingus and climaxing — over some of the most beautiful production you’ll ever hear. Tyler opens the song with a textbook situationship quote — “it’s never the love, it’s always the sex.” On top of the lyrics being straight to the point the second the song starts, its accompanied by crescendoing piano chords and Wayna’s iconic runs sound like they are inside the beat matching the feeling of what it is like to blow a load.

18. Tyler, the Creator feat. Frank Ocean & Steve Lacy — “911/Mr. Lonely” (2017)

At the time of Flower Boy, Tyler was fully coming into himself as a person and an artist. In those times of finding yourself, it can be extremely isolating. The first half of “911“ is a dance track where he is asking for a call from his current love interest at the time. As the dancing dwindles with Steve Lacy pleading for them to bang his line, Tyler comes in again, with a self-reflective verse about his need to create the worlds he does on his albums.

17. Tyler, the Creator feat. Roy Ayers, Syd, and Kali Uchis — “Find Your Wings” (2015)

Cherry Bomb was the moment Tyler was fully experimental with his music. On “Find Your Wings” he was able to show the range he not only has as a rapper and artist but as a producer and a composer.

16. Tyler, the Creator feat. Solange “I THINK” (2019)

Falling in love is one of the most exciting feelings. It also happens to be one of the emotions Tyler conveys perfectly in his music. “I Think,” from his fourth studio album, IGOR, makes a compelling argument over a great dance track. What better way to feel love than to dance through it? The song is perfectly executed and the beat and the backing vocals paint the perfect picture for when you are falling in love and the only thing you can think of is the person you’re yearning to be with.

15. Tyler, the Creator feat. Frank Ocean — “She” (2011)

“She” is about liking a girl so much that if she ever decides to say no, it’s over for her. Aside from the subject matter, the potential is clear in young Tyler’s production. The message of the song gets a pass because of the beat. Tyler put these unnerving lyrics on top of mythical production that makes you feel like romance.

14. Tyler, the Creator feat. Youngboy Never Broke Again & Ty Dolla Sign — “WUSYANAME” (2021)

“Awww you look malnourished,” is one of the craziest ways to approach the person you’re interested in. But Tyler did it and made a hit. With Ty Dolla $ign and NBA Young Boy as accouterment, this s song further amplifies Tyler’s talents as a composer. Who would have thought that Tyler and Young Boy would come together to make a great song about trying to take your crush out away from their partner?

13. “Wilshire” (2021)

CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST, the album that brought back Gangsta Grillz tapes,is a diary. Tyler is expressing the love he lost when the person he was falling in love with chose her boyfriend instead of him. He’s an expert at telling stories of unrequited love and longing for a relationship that can’t happen and nothing is different here. It’s the right person at the wrong time. In the eight minutes, he tells the story of meeting his friend’s girlfriend with the long legs, good ears, and great taste and the fact they are perfectly made for one another.

12. “Hey You” (2012)

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A loosie that never received a proper release, “Hey You” came when Tyler and Toro Y Moi were at their respective peaks in the early 2010s. With Toro’s lush and wavy production driving the track, Tyler channels his inner smooth talker and delivers a simple and memorable hook. Never have the words “It sounds cool to me” sounded as cool as they do here.

11. “Sticky” (2024)

“I’m that ni**a and that b**ch” may be the best pronoun punchline bar we’ll ever get. But even after Tyler utters those words, “Sticky” just gets better and better with each second. It’s a West Coast and Southern rap affair, with Tyler enlisting GloRilla, Sexyy Red and Lil Wayne for slick features that meld well in Tyler’s CHROMAKOPIA era.

10. “Darling, I” (2024)

There are many songs you can point to throughout Tyler’s career that signal him being a devout student of The Neptunes School of Music, and “Darling, I” is surely one of those examples. It channels the odes to love found particularly on Pharrell’s In My Mind solo album, but unlike the unabashed declarations of love you’ll find on there (“Angel,” for instance), “Darling, I” goes for something more complex: a cherishing of a love that may never last a lifetime, as well as the contradicting feelings one may have when it comes to love.

9. “Odd Toddlers”

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You can’t go wrong with a sample of Cortex’s “Huit Octobre 1971.” With this sample-friendly cut serving as the basis for “Odd Toddlers,” Tyler and Casey Veggies share boastful raps, with the former offering this slightly prophetic declaration that’s become a reality throughout his career: “I should win a f**king award for being me.”

8. “Noid” (2024)

What really sticks out about “Noid” is its production. As the first single from CHROMAKOPIA, “Noid” and its Ngozi Family-sampling production is dynamic and explosive, a powerful compliment to Tyler’s paranoia-informed raps throughout the track. As St. Chroma, his latest musical persona, Tyler’s fear gets the best of him, his want for privacy leading to drastic measures. Is it a commentary on how hard privacy is to maintain in the social media age? His continued frustration with navigating the visibility that comes with fame? It’s up for debate. What isn’t, is how good of a song it is.

7. “Analog”

“Analog” is something of a palette cleanser as Goblin nears its end. Despite delivering their lyrics with pitched-down menace, Tyler and Hodgy Beats are on their best behavior, both chasing summertime flings with no ulterior motives looming behind their innocent desire to end the day watching the sunset.

6. “Dogtooth”

On “Dogtooth,” Tyler elevates hip-hop’s brag game. Sure, it’s great to have the cool whips. But are you a weirdo when it comes to women? Are you mindful of their pleasure or only concerned about your own? There’s little nuggets throughout this track that speak to these questions, culminating in some great words of wisdom from Tyler: Ni**as tellin’ women how they bodies supposed to be, but / Never take advice from any ni**a with a lean gut.”

5. “Sorry Not Sorry”

As the closer for his deluxe version of CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST, Tyler extends apologies to everyone from his mother to the Earth as reckons with past and present wrongs. There’s notable tells that don’t get expounded upon — friendships ruined by egos, navigating his sexuality — with Tyler only offering as much as he’s willing to share. It’s not a stretch to presume that the brags that define
CALL ME came from challenges and sacrifices Tyler had to make — both to himself and others. “Sorry Not Sorry” is a poignant testament to that.

4. “Lone” (2013)

“Lone” would essentially mark the end of a trilogy with
Bastard, Goblin and Wolf, with Tyler having his final therapy session with Dr. TC, presumed to be his therapist throughout the trilogy but revealed to be nothing more than a part of Tyler’s conscience. “Lone” channels preceding album-ending sessions like “Golden” and “Inglorious,” but it’s clear that there’s some levity unlike before. The production trades the moody and dour sounds that defined past sessions for something more lush, as Tyler revels in the success he’s gained, while navigating the challenges that come with such fame, as well as grieving the passing of his grandmother.

3. “435” (2018)

A loosie that seemingly takes its name from the song it samples (Saint Etienne’s “4:35 in the Morning”), “435” is a “one take” rap-off where Tyler brags about wanting to take jet flights and aspiring to get more than one Grammy nomination at the annual music-honoring ceremony. It’s the type of song that would’ve fit perfectly in
CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST, but is still just as great on its own.

2. Tyler, the Creator feat. Playboi Carti & Charlie Wilson “EARFQUAKE” (2019)

In the lead single from IGOR, Tyler amplifies the feeling of falling for someone and them shaking your entire world up. Beyond this song being one of his most popular releases, he gives us the relatable feelings of the world around you being ruined by falling in love.

1. Tyler, the Creator feat. Aaron Shaw, Austin Feinstein, and Samantha Nelson — “2Seater”

“2Seater” is Tyler combining his flex abilities with his love for cars and sharing that with his love interest. Beyond the subject matter, here he is really showing his skills as an artist in all ways. He is rapping his ass off when talking about pushing 100mph down Fairfax Avenue and the memories that accompany the strip. The production, like much of Cherry Bomb, sounds like an intro to an old Hollywood movie. It builds up to a climactic moment which happens to be the music ending and transitioning to a love song. On top of that, this is a song where you can hear more of Tyler’s confidence as an artist. (He was singing without using any effects on his voice.) This is a song that encompasses all of the strong qualities of Tyler as an artist.

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Nia Coats is an independent journalist located in the Bay Area who covers topics on music, culture, and life. She has bylines with the San Francisco Chronicle, KQED, and her own music and culture publication, Lucky 7 Magazine.