Breakdown of "Yonkers" by Tyler the Creator

1. Deconstruction of Lyrics
“Yonkers” byTyler the Creator
By Kelechi Okorie

2. Meaning of Song
Tyler (Artist) explains that this song is
meant to be a “conversation” between
himself and his white, evil, swagged-out
alter egoWolf Haley.

3. Verse 1
Tyler says that he is talking to his alter ego
Wolf Haley. Wolf is the one claiming to be a
walking paradox, butTyler is resisting. A
paradox is a contradicting but true
statement; he claims to be a walking
paradox, then he contradicts that
statement, because he is not literally a
walking paradox.Tyler wish he had dreads
to shake (that’s really where the line comes
from).Tyler is claiming to be really “hard”
(tough) on the line “Bedrock, harder
than…”. “Scribble” is street slang for
tagging/graffiti. One could interpret this
phrase asTyler writing his lyrics about his
sins – like murder, drug use, sex, watching
Nickelodeon, etc.Tyler doesn’t want to hear
about Syd’s problems, so he directs her to
his therapist who is actually just himself
with a deeper voice.

4. Verse 2
Tyler contradicts himself by telling Jesus to
stop b**chin'(complaining), but in the next
verse he starts complaining about his
therapist. “3 past 6” = a 9 millimetre gun,
which he can use to “go postal” which has
become a euphemism for going on a
shooting spree. Notable clock wordplay
involving the phrase clocking three past six.
“AdventureTime” is a surreal children’s
Cartoon Network show .Tyler loves to watch
this show. Can also be taken to mean that
he went home for some “AdventureTime”
in the sense of his adventurous actions in
the next two lines.Tyler’s mom left LA to go
up North when he turned 18. Obviously,
Tyler’s mum would probably think he was
gay if she caught him dancing around the
house in panties. (Hence the next line…)

5. Verse 2
HayleyWilliams is the lead singer of the
band Paramore. She was featured in the
B.o.B soft rap hit “Airplanes”. FromTyler’s
comments on this song and others, his
beef is not just with Hayley, B.o.B or
Bruno, but rather with the larger trend of
bland, uncreative pop music they and
others have released lately. Bruno Mars
was featured on B.o.B’s hit “Nothin' On
You”.Tyler has expressed a dislike for the
brand of prepackaged, pop-oriented hip-
hop that is gaining popularity recently. He
often complains about the similar chord
progression in many of these songs.
IfTyler stabbed his esophagus, he could
also hit his larynx (voice box), if Mars'
voice box is damaged he’ll no longer be
able to make music.

6. Verse 2
A “team of leaders” is paradoxical –
if the entire team is leading, who’s
following?.
“Green paper” refers to money,
“gold teeth” to jewellery. Ironically,
in the next line he states that he
wants none of those things.
HereTyler is likely saying that
“the black kids” never wanted
to read cooking books because
they didn’t have food to eat.

7. Verse 2
A “team of leaders” is paradoxical –
if the entire team is leading, who’s
following?.
“Green paper” refers to money,
“gold teeth” to jewellery. Ironically,
in the next line he states that he
wants none of those things.
HereTyler is likely saying that
“the black kids” never wanted
to read cooking books because
they didn’t have food to eat.