It’s been two long years since Tyler, the Creator released his chaotic masterpiece Cherry Bomb, but after a week of teasing, he makes his triumphant return in the new music video for “Who Dat Boy” — a scintillating track featuring A$AP Rocky. The visual tour de force dropped Thursday at midnight and has already garnered more than a million views on Youtube.
Self-directed (by Tyler’s alter ego Wolf Haley), the cinematic clip clearly draws inspiration from classic horror films such as Nightmare on Elm Street and Young Frankenstein, but repurposed through a fresh and provocative lens. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the video is its storyline, which packs a giant punch in only 3 minutes and 46 seconds.
When an experiment goes awry, Tyler, the Creator seeks the help of his neighbor, Dr. A$AP Rocky, to perform surgery on his misshapen face. After stumbling to the house next door, Tyler and A$AP share a Hitchcock-esque moment on either side of the door’s peephole as they chant “who dat boy.”
911/ MR LONELY IS ON ALL THOSE MUSIC LISTENING THINGS, CHECK IT
A post shared by Tyler The Creator (@feliciathegoat) on Jun 30, 2017 at 7:18am PDT
A$AP begins conducting a face transplant on Tyler — a white face transplant — before being brutally interrupted by the police. Tyler has clearly absorbed this past year’s dialogue about the black body and our police state, explored notably in films like Moonlight and Get Out. But whose face was stapled onto Tyler’s? And was he able to flee because his new face was white?
Tyler and A$AP make their great escape into the woods before splitting up so that Tyler can lead a high-speed police chase down a winding road with a 1995 Leonardo DiCaprio lookalike in the passenger seat. The video ends with a brief taste of Tyler’s new funk-inspired duet with Frank Ocean titled “911/Mr. Lonely.” It’s a more uplifting kind of groove, that shows multiple Tyler, the Creators swaying amongst blooming cherry blossoms.
While the rapper did just release two incredible bangers, he has yet to confirm whether a new album is on the way.
Want more Tyler? Catch his new TV show with Viceland, Nuts and Bolts, when it premieres August 3.
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Text Abraham Martinez