Bryson Tiller expressed frustration with how he’s perceived as an artist in an interview with Billboard. The RCA Records singer believed the general public underestimated his singing abilities because he “dumbed down” his vocals in the past.
“People put me in a box for so long,” he said. “They want me to stick to this one thing I did in 2015, which was T R A P S O U L. Rapping, singing and blending it to make it one thing. Keep doing this and everything will win. Even people around me that I’m cool with, ‘Yeah bro, just stick to what you know.’ I’m like, ‘No, I’m an artist. I feel like I’m capable of so many different things.’ People don’t know that I’m a better rapper than when I made T R A P S O U L. I don’t wanna say I’m a better singer, but I dumbed down my vocals for T R A P S O U L. People just don’t know what I’m capable of as a singer.”
Tiller intended to prove himself as a vocalist on his self-titled album, which drops on Friday (April 5). Tiller claimed he created simplistic songs by choice, not due to his limitations.
“Everything is intentional with this album,” he said. “For example, somebody would hear ‘Whatever She Wants’ and hear the way I’m rapping like, ‘Oh, so simple. He wants to be a rapper so bad.’ But they don’t know that I would bar the f### up on a Slum Village beat and go crazy. It was intentional for me to make a simple song like that.”
He continued, “They might hear a song like ‘Don’t’ and hear how simple the melodies are. I’m not really singing. I’m singing, but I ain’t singing. Like, “Oh, this is as good as he can sing.” I have songs that will probably blow you away with how good I’m singing. Everything’s intentional with me. If I choose not to do something or if I’m not doing something, it’s not because I can’t, it’s because this is what I want to do.”
Bryson Tiller’s new album will be his first release since 2021’s A Different Christmas EP. His last studio album was 2020’s Anniversary.