‘This Album Was Not Made For Sitting Still’

Don’t Tap The Glass, Tyler the Creator’s ninth studio album, was released early on Monday, July 21. The high-motored lyricist gave an explanation of the intensity that drove his dance-heavy effort and its aims shortly after the drop.

“I asked some friends why they don’t dance in public, and some said because of the fear of being filmed,” his Instagram post began. “I thought damn, a natural form of expression and a certain connection they have with music is now a ghost. It made me wonder how much of our human spirit got killed because of the fear of being a meme, all for having a good time.”

Tyler threw a small listening party on the eve of Don’t Tap The Glass, playing the album twice in a row. He called the dance party one of the “greatest nites of his life.”

“I just got back from a listening party for this album and man was it one of the greatest nites of my life. 30 people. No phones allowed. No cameras. Just speakers and a sweatbox. Everyone was dancing. Moving. Expressing. Sweating,” the Grammy-winning MC said. “It was truly beautiful. I played the album front to back twice. It felt like that pent up energy finally got released and we craved the idea of letting more of it out.”

He added: “There was a freedom that filled the room. A ball of energy that might not translate to every speaker that plays this album but man did that room nail it.”

He finally urged people to soak in the album in a way that allows them to move freely, express themselves, and, most importantly, dance. “This album was not made for sitting still. Dancing. Driving. Running. Any type of movement is recommended to maybe understand the spirit of it. Only at full volume,” he wrote.

Less than a year after Tyler’s Billboard 200 number-one song, CHROMAKOPIA, comes Don’t Tap The Glass. He is currently starting a global tour for the project, and during his multi-country journey, he will undoubtedly break new records from his most recent work.