Tyler, The Creator has undergone a staggering transformation over the last decade. He went from raucous and controversial rapper to critical darling. He went from being the guy who ate the roach in the "Yonkers" video to the guy who donned a blond wig for "EARFQUAKE." It was an unexpected trajectory, but one that has seen Tyler accumulate an entirely different group of fans. There's something to be said for the rapper's early works, however. The qualities that made an album like Wolf polarizing are the very qualities that have allowed it to reach an impressive milestone on Spotify.
On May 26, Chart Data announced that Tyler's sophomore studio album (and third project overall) has reached one billion streams on Spotify. It managed to do so in less than a decade, and without any major radio hits. Wolf didn't have a single as notorious as "Yonkers" or a TV performance like "Sandwitches" to bolster its numbers, and yet, fans have kept coming back to it. Wolf has stood the test of time due to its quality, which something Tyler, The Creator hoped for back in 2013. "All the songs are my favorite for different reasons," he told Fader. "I love the whole album." Wolf was also the first time Tyler mixed an album by himself.
Tyler, The Creator's "Wolf" Now Has One Billion Streams
"This is the first album I got to mix," the rapper told the outlet. "I’m stoked I got to experience that. Now I know, next time, what sound I want and how I should approach it when it’s time to mix it and other sh*t like that." The practice of learning what works and what doesn't extends to the musical stylings on Wolf. Tyler, The Creator's production was more lush than it had been on his previous releases, and there was an embrace of neo-soul and funk in ways that had only previously been teased. "Treehome95" points towards the rapper's 2017 masterpiece Flower Boy. "PartyIsntOver/Campfire/Bimmer" is an early rendition of the multi-part songs that would dominate 2021's Call Me If You Get Lost.
These sonic leaps exist with classic Odd Future anthems like "Domo23" and "Trashwang." It's jarring as a cohesive listen, but it also speaks to Tyler, The Creator's staggering versatility. The fact that he could rap over "Tamale" and croon over the title track puts him in rarified air. Wolf will never accumulate the artistic praise of Tyler's subsequent albums. That said, the album's ability to reflect the rapper's past while pointing towards his musical future is undeniable. The streaming numbers prove it.