Tyron (stylised in all caps) is the second studio album by British rapper Slowthai. It was released on 12 February 2021 through Method Records.[7]
Background
In an interview with the BBC prior to the 2019 Mercury Prize, Frampton revealed that he had already planned his next two projects following his debut album Nothing Great About Britain (2019), explaining: "I've got the concepts and I've got the ideas and I've got the titles. I've even got names of songs and the messages. It's all there - I just have to go in and do the work".[8] He further said that he would continue to focus on social commentary on future work, but would "look for other angles to explain and express things".[8] At the event, he confirmed to NME that he had begun work on his second album, adding that it would showcase growth and "be its own entity" rather than a sequel to his debut album.[9] In an interview with Dazed in June 2020, Frampton said that listeners could expect "two sides of Tyron as a person" on the album, "the person who got to this place and the person who is trying to be", and elaborated that it would showcase both his softer and harder sides.[10] He further took influence from a wide array of artists including Westside Gunn, Deb Never, Jamie T and the Arctic Monkeys.[10]
On 15 September 2020, Slowthai released the first single "Feel Away".[1] The music video, directed by Oscar Hudson, features collaborations by James Blake and electronic duo Mount Kimbie.[12] Slowthai explained the single: "This song is about the doubts we have whether it be within friendships, your partner or with our family. It’s about putting yourself in the other person’s shoes so you have a better understanding of the situation."[13]
Slowthai released the second single "NHS" on 19 November 2020.[11] The single is a dedication to the UK's National Health Service, with Slowthai expanding his reasoning:
"When people were clapping for the NHS, my thing was, why did it take us this long to applaud something that's been helping people, saving lives for generations, generations, generations? Helping people longer than we’ve been alive? It took a disaster to make people appreciate the NHS. Clapping, how is that helping anyone? If we really want to help, why don't we do stuff to raise their wage or make it more comfortable for the people that are going to work them 12-hour, 14-hour shifts?"[14]
Tyron was met with positive reviews by music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 78, based on 25 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[22]
Commercial performance
In the UK, Tyron debuted at number 1 on the UK Albums in the week commencing 19 February 2021,[33] and number 1 on the UK R&B Chart.[34] In Scotland, it debuted at number 1[35] and number 2 in Ireland.[36]
Worldwide, the release debuted at number 11 in Australia,[37] number 43 in Austria,[38] number 24 on Belgium's Flanders chart and number 72 on their Wallonia chart,[39][40] number 53 in Netherland,[41] number 23 in Germany,[42] number 13 in New Zealand,[43] and number 24 in Switzerland.[44]
