Tyler, the Creator and Frank Ocean: five essential collaborations
There have been few collaborations quite so fruitful in recent years than that of Tyler, the Creator and Frank Ocean.
The pair go way back, with Ocean being a part of Tyler’s Odd Future collective, and they have released a bunch of songs together over time. But, recently, there have been suggestions that there is trouble in paradise.
It’s been reported that Tyler no longer follows Ocean on Instagram, which is a fairly childish thing for people to focus on, but it does present the possibility that they really have fallen out and that no more collaborations will be arriving in the foreseeable.
If that’s actually the case, perhaps now is a good time to look back and celebrate all the great songs they made together while things were still good.
Five essential Tyler, the Creator and Frank Ocean collaborations
5. ‘Slater’
‘Slater’ is featured on Tyler’s third album Wolf, where he embodies the character of Wolf Haley, who is a sort of idealised version of Tyler himself. The song is basically an ode to a bike, which, as Tyler once explained on X way back when, is called ‘Slater’.
“Slater is my bike,” he tweeted in 2013. “I made a song about my bike. Hell yeah. Tell me the ending don’t sound like ’90s Nick Brandy stripe shirts…” It is a weird, but oddly compelling song, with Ocean popping in at the end to draw attention to quite how strange it is, remarking, “You’re talking to a fucking bike. Loser”.
4. ‘She’
‘She’ is another of Tyler’s songs that features Ocean appearing on the former’s second album Goblin. The conceit is similar to Eminem’s ‘Stan’, in that it is a story told from the perspective of an obsessive stalker.
It’s quite a horrible song in many respects, with some really awful imagery invoked, but Frank Ocean always bears this uncanny ability to create beauty, even in a song as brutal as this one. It’s a genuinely creepy number, but it’s impossible not to become swept up in the narrative.
3. ‘PartyIsntOver/Campfire/Bimmer’
This is basically three songs smushed into one, but it’s in the third part, ‘Bimmer’, that Ocean is heard. It’s a strange piece of music, in which Tyler compares a woman he likes to his BMW—his bimmer.
“You remind me of my bimmer / A lot of trunk space, the perfect two seater / And you got a lot of drive, I’m trying to keep up / But it’s not a lot of miles on ya meter, ah / You remind me of my bimmer”. Sitting somewhere between romance and pure creepiness, the song, as ever, is grounded by the soulfulness that Ocean is uniquely capable of creating.
2. ‘Swim Good’
‘Swim Good’ is one of Frank Ocean’s tracks, lifted from his 2011 mixtape Nostalgia, Ultra. Tyler pops in with some vocals, but it’s certainly Ocean’s baby—and it’s a dark one.
It’s a story about a man who, suffering from too many broken hearts, decides to end it all by driving his car into the ocean. “I’m goin’ off,” Ocean sings. “Don’t try stoppin’ me”. It’s really sad, and, because of the words, it can be a difficult listen, but Ocean also makes it sound like such a sweet release, and Tyler’s ad-libs add to the ethereal nature of the tune.
1. ‘Oldie’
‘Oldie’ is how the Odd Future album, The OF Tape Vol 2, closes. Running for ten and a half minutes, the song features verses from a whole host of Odd Future members. Hodgy Beats, Left Brain, Mike G, Domo Genesis, Jasper Dolphin, and Earl Sweatshirt are on it, and it’s a much more old-school-sounding beat than Tyler is typically known for.
He reflected on its creation to The Ringer in 2022, noting,“‘Oldie’ was just a random beat I made when I was trying to perfect my [air quotes] ‘hip-hop’ beats… Super simple: chords, a bassline, maybe one little synth here and there, but just an ill drum break, whether I sampled it or looped it or whatever”. As for Ocean, his verse was of his earliest ever raps. He said, “At the time, I was learning how to put together rap verses. That song is one of the first couple verses I ever recorded”. With so many talents coming together, the track is an elevated and fun collaboration that doesn’t hold back on the genius either.