Key Takeaways:
- The reissue of Cherry Bomb pushed Tyler, The Creator’s 2015 album back into the Billboard 200 at No. 6.
- The album moved 52,000 units, with 51,000 from pure sales driven by vinyl and deluxe box sets.
- Tyler reflected on the album’s mixed reception, calling it a turning point in his growth as a producer and songwriter.
Tyler, The Creator has been doing pretty well on the charts lately. Sunday (Aug. 31), Billboard reported that the rapper’s Cherry Bomb returned to the Billboard 200 at No. 6, mostly thanks to its 10th anniversary re-release.
According to the publication, the 13-song effort moved 52,000 album-equivalent units, with 51,000 from pure sales. In case you missed it, Cherry Bomb received three vinyl variants and deluxe boxed sets, the latter of which contained merch and a CD copy. The last time the project cracked the Top 10, by the way, was when it first dropped and peaked at No. 4 on the chart dated May 2, 2015.
Alongside the physical copies, Tyler’s GOLF WANG also dropped some other collectibles inspired by “Chur Bum” — the pink-faced character from the album cover — including a rug, a mini statue, and limited-edition Converse Chuck 70s.
Cherry Bomb was arguably one of the most pivotal albums in Tyler’s career. It housed tracks like the Charlie Wilson-assisted “F**KING YOUNG / PERFECT” and “SMUCKERS” featuring Kanye West and Lil Wayne. Other contributions came from Kali Uchis, ScHoolboy Q, Syd, and Pharrell.
He revisited the LP during Instagram’s “Ask It Anyway” series in June. “My goal was to prove to myself that I am the most diverse producer,” the Odd Future artist said. “People were just s**tting on it.”
“It made me say, ‘Oh s**t, these songs aren’t good.’ Because of [the backlash], I was like, I need to reteach myself how to write songs,” Tyler admitted. “What is a chorus, hook, structure? That happening to me was one of the greatest things that could happen, because it made me dive into my skill and craft more.”
As mentioned earlier, Tyler has continued to have plenty of luck on the charts. His two previous projects both dropped on Mondays yet still debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. CHROMAKOPIA opened with 299,500 units, while DON’T TAP THE GLASS started with 197,000 album-equivalent units across just four tracking days.