The commercial and critical hype behind Tyler, The Creator and his new album DON'T TAP THE GLASS was not something we expected in 2025. Not because he's incapable or undeserving of it, but because most hip-hop fans didn't expect a new LP in the slightest in the first place.
During a new Apple Music interview with Zane Lowe, the Hawthorne native explained his surprising, simple, and immediate rollout and release process for the dance-heavy hip-hop record. He's known to work with conceptual world-building even with short turnaround times, but this 2025 drop was a more spontaneous process.
"Bro, it's freeing, bro," Tyler, The Creator remarked concerning DON'T TAP THE GLASS. "I didn't have to put this album out. But I didn't want to be precious. I didn't want to spend three years and try to be super innovative. [...] Bro, I made an album, I was done. If it wasn't for Kelly and Clancy [his managers], I wouldn't have did s**t. I was just gon' upload that motherf***er the moment it was done and continue moving on with my life. 'Cause I just wanted it out.
"And it's so easy to design your own handcuffs, lock yourself up, and put the key over there that just turns into a pressure," the "P.O.V." artist continued. "Whether it's from you, your fans, X, Y, and Z. People end up scared and not putting albums out for 15 years because they feel like they always have to, 'I got to make the most innovative, best stuff.' Sometimes, man, that song is good. Just put that b***h out."
Tyler, The Creator DON'T TAP THE GLASS
From there, Tyler, The Creator spoke on his creative process and how it changes a lot over time. "By the way, everything I just said is probably super hypocritical to some s**t I said two weeks ago. But the beauty in it is, my idea on that might change tomorrow. I might work on something new and be like, 'I got to spend five years on this album...' But where I'm at now... Oh, my God. I just want to make stuff and put it out like when I was 17. 'Cause that s**t was just fun and free. It wasn't trying to be."
In addition, Tyler hypothesizes that he doesn't want to be older and have a lot of music sitting on his hard drive that he never dared to put out. From the looks of it, that won't be the case.
