Key Takeaways:
- Tiller says he’s already outdone his debut album, T R A P S O U L.
- In a TikTok video, he highlights artists like Usher and Frank Ocean, who each released classic albums that are in a league of their own.
- What we know about Solace & The Vices, Tiller’s upcoming album: Solace will explore vulnerability and healing, while The Vices leans into high-energy summer vibes.
Bryson Tiller has nothing to prove, so, instead, he is letting the music and streams validate that he has staying power in the industry. On May 27, the Louisville native announced plans to release his first double album, Solace & The Vices. The undertaking does not have a release date yet, but fans are already anticipating what he has been cooking.
Tiller marked his commercial debut with T R A P S O U L in 2015. The project features multiplatinum tracks like “Don’t” and “Exchange.” With that type of success, some of his supporters have candidly questioned if he can put together an LP that will dethrone his freshman effort as his best project. Pen Griffey addressed the murmurs in a TikTok video posted on Thursday (May 29). He started by clarifying, “I feel like what y’all meant to say and what you mean to say, when y’all say, ‘He’ll never top T R A P S O U L’… What y’all mean to say is they’ll never top T R A P S O U L. Like, y’all don’t need to talk to me because I already did it.”
The three-time Grammy-nominated artist continued, “You know every now and then there’s an artist that comes along and drops a classic. Usher Confessions — he don’t ever gotta top Confessions ever again as long as he lives. S**t, Frank Ocean. He don’t [ever] gotta top Channel Orange. Blonde was amazing… And I’m not saying that I got a Confessions or a Blonde or a Channel Orange, but I’m saying, like, I already did that. I just like to make music. You know, the album T R A P S O U L changed my life, you know that s**t got multiple diamond singles on it. Almost every song platinum on it and I’m blessed to even be able to say that.”
His Billboard Hot 100 chart history boasts an impressive 16 tracks, too. He released follow-up projects like True to Self in 2017, A N N I V E R S A R Y in 2020, A Different Christmas in 2021, and last year’s self-titled LP. “Now, at this point, I just like to make music. I like to express myself and yeah, I don’t have a desire to do that [to top his past efforts]. You know, I’m just here to give y’all music and give y’all a good time,” he said.
New Music: Solace & The Vices
In an Instagram post, Tiller revealed artwork for the forthcoming double album, as well as details about the records. He wrote that Solace will be “somber, vulnerable, my own personal therapy session. [I’m] saying things I wouldn’t normally say out loud. Inspired by the season [in which] my life changed forever: fall.” While The Vices promises to be “energetic, bars on bars, summer vibes, [and] leaning into my ‘other’ side.”
With Solace & The Vices, Tiller isn’t trying to recreate the past — he’s writing his future. Whether fans are ready or not, he’s already moved on from T R A P S O U L.