After teasing followers with an set up at a live performance on the Barclays Middle earlier this month, hip-hop celebrity Tyler, The Creator, dropped his ninth studio album, “Don’t Faucet the Glass,” on July 21. That includes collabs with Pharrell Williams (underneath each his identify and his alter ego, Sk8brd), Yebba and Madison McFerrin, the hype surrounding the brand new album is actual. Followers are digging into the main points of his lyrics, with one line from the monitor “Cease Taking part in With Me” catching lots of consideration on-line. It goes like this: “Spending Converse cash, what I imply is / Burning white paper, that’s a Zig Zag.”
For some, it’d seem to be only a easy reference, but when you realize Tyler’s creative fashion and the wealthy historical past of hip-hop and counterculture, it’s a wonderfully positioned nod that claims quite a bit, even coming from an artist who’s publicly sober.
Tyler has lengthy been open about his sobriety and has talked about in interviews that he’s by no means actually been into alcohol and that he actively avoids substances. This makes his point out of Zig-Zag rolling papers much more fascinating. It’s not an admission to utilizing them, however somewhat an indication of how deeply the enduring rolling paper model is woven into the language and look of inventive rise up and hip-hop tradition, going approach past smoking weed.
Now, let’s discover what Tyler is getting at when he drops the Zig-Zag identify.
Cultural Credibility
From Dr. Dre and The Infamous B.I.G. to Redman and Eminem, legendary hip-hop artists have name-dropped Zig-Zag for many years. Its common look in lyrics cements its standing as a touchstone, a shorthand for a way of life that values freedom, creativity and a contact of rise up.
Tyler grew up immersed within the hip-hop scene and performed a key function in shaping its trendy sound. His use of ‘Zig-Zag’ in lyrics displays greater than wordplay—it reveals his fluency on this shared language, highlighting his deep connection to the style’s historical past and its lasting symbols. It’s a delicate however highly effective option to affirm his place amongst hip-hop’s greats.
The Aesthetic of Nostalgia
Tyler The Creator’s creative path—whether or not it’s his album artwork, music movies or style strains—is understood for its cool mixture of influences. He typically pulls from traditional Americana, classic skate zines, old-school weed branding and lo-fi aesthetics. It’s a fastidiously crafted visible world that feels each nostalgic and unmistakably trendy.
On this context, Zig-Zag matches seamlessly into Tyler’s visible playbook. The model’s immediately recognizable orange packaging and that well-known Zouave soldier brand are long-standing symbols of counterculture. Very like his love for retro fonts, cartoonish graphics and daring colours, Zig-Zag’s visible id aligns completely with Tyler’s personal—a glance that’s each distinctive and impactful. With many years of cultural relevance and constant design, Zig-Zag serves as a timeless touchpoint, connecting generations by way of a shared language of inventive expression.”
Irony and Subversion
Certainly one of Tyler’s most partaking creative traits is his playful use of cultural symbols. He masterfully flips meanings, pokes enjoyable at norms and makes use of loaded references together with his signature wink. His artwork is layered, typically laced with tongue-in-cheek humor, all the time inviting you to dig beneath the floor.
A Zig-Zag shoutout as an artist who doesn’t smoke hashish is completely on-brand for Tyler. It’s a intelligent little bit of irony and subversion. It’s a respectful nod to the model’s cultural weight and its ties to a sure life-style. It’s his distinctive approach of exhibiting respect to the origins and evolution of the tradition he comes from, all whereas sticking together with his private selection to remain sober.
The Shared Historical past of Zig-Zag and Music
Zig-Zag’s legacy as a counterculture image spans many years. Based within the 1800s, the model gained iconic standing throughout the cultural upheaval of the Sixties and ’70s, turning into a staple in rock scenes and underground actions. Its distinctive branding made its approach onto album artwork, murals and have become woven into the period’s cultural cloth. Greater than 50 years later, Zig-Zag continues to be part of the zeitgeist—a uncommon model that has stayed related by way of shifting tendencies and generations.
“Zig-Zag has been woven into the material of music and tradition for many years — name-dropped in lyrics by artists from Dr. Dre to A$AP Rocky, featured in iconic album artwork, and handed round at studio classes that formed albums,” says Maggie Streng, Zig-Zag’s model advertising and marketing director. “From the early days of hip-hop to at this time, Zig-Zag stood alongside artists who problem norms, set tendencies, and construct group. Tyler, The Creator’s current shoutout is the newest proof that Zig-Zag stays a cultural staple, one which continues to resonate with a brand new technology and honor the legacy of hashish tradition.”
The rolling paper model’s daring visible fashion, mixed with its deep roots in music and rebellious actions, has made Zig-Zag a frequent touchpoint for artists and designers throughout totally different genres. The enduring packaging and brand have been sampled, flipped and re-imagined numerous occasions in streetwear, merchandise and up to date artwork.
As hashish turns into more and more mainstream, legacy manufacturers like Zig-Zag function a type of cultural thread that connects old-school roots with at this time’s evolving panorama.
When Tyler name-drops Zig-Zag in “Cease Taking part in With Me,” it’s not just a few random lyric. It’s intentional. The shoutout seems like a significant tip of the hat to a model that’s lengthy symbolized creativity, rise up and creative freedom.
In Tyler’s world, that type of factor issues.
