Tyler, the Creator Has Perfected the ’80s Porn ’Stache

There is no rapper on the planet more intentional about their image than Tyler, the Creator. Whether it was the Supreme five-panel hats and skate shoes he became synonymous with during the Odd Future days, the pastel suits and blond wig that defined the Igor era, or the groomed mustache, Coke bottle glasses, and dookie chains that are now synonymous with Don’t Tap the Glass (his newest project, which is excellent), Tyler knows that being an A-list musician extends far beyond sound.

For Don’t Tap the Glass—which was influenced heavily by house, funk, and the type of rap music your parents came up on—the 34-year-old is paying homage to that period of music history while also joining scores of other stylish, recently-mustachioed men. With his current look, Tyler would not be out of place in a Cameo video, hanging out with Big Daddy Kane, or behind the DJ booth with Frankie Knuckles, a trail blazer in the house music scene who also rocked a similar mustache and hat combo.

The slick execution is in the accessories. On the album cover for Don’t Tap the Glass, a shirtless, action figure-like version of Tyler is wearing a massive rope chain and fire-engine red pants that are either vinyl or leather. Either way, it immediately evokes ’80s maximalism. But on top of all that garb—which he’s been wearing in real life, too—there’s the centerpiece of it all: the mustache.

“It works with this, like with the chains and shit,” Tyler said, neck glistening, trucker hat askew, in a recent interview on Ebro in the Morning. “I’m fucking with it. [It works] with the music, too.”