Tyler, The Creator, Thought I Was Dead | Bangerz N Bopz 🔥

In the 72nd edition of Bangerz N Bopz 🔥 (2025), we highlight “Thought I Was Dead” performed by Tyler, The Creator featuring ScHoolboy Q and Santigold.  

Bring on the bold, fierce songs! Bangerz N Bopz 🔥 serves up background info and insight into songs of various styles, especially songs that raise eyebrows and stir the pot.  Featured records can be classic or brand new. In the 72^nd edition of Bangerz N Bopz 🔥 (2025), we break down “Thought I Was Dead” performed by Tyler, The Creator.

“There’s more to life than just fuckin’ workin’, bro (They thought I was dead).” Word. Of course, Grammy-winning rapper Tyler, The Creator was not dead. In 2024, following a three-year hiatus, Tyler dropped CHROMAKOPIA, another exceptional LP.  Among many highlights was “Thought I Was Dead”, where he tapped fellow West Coast rapper, ScHoolboy Q, and singer Santigold for the assist. Handling the production himself, Tyler created a fierce, striking, and vibrant rap banger.  Beyond the hard-hitting, syncopated beat, exuberant horns up the ante.  Not only is this some of Tyler’s sickest production work, but he drops his fair share of dope rhymes.  The chorus is infectious to the nth degree.  Why? Because, “Them niggas thought I was dead.” Woo!

The intro sets the tone for “Thought I Was Dead”: “You don’t wanna go to war with a soldier.” It samples “Basic Combat Training (BCT) – Marching to Chow” by Paul L.. Santigold performs the final line of the intro excerpted above. She also appears throughout the song with the colorful titular lyric, “They thought I was dead.” Tyler, The Creator snaps in the opening verse, asserting, “Okay, bitch, I’ve been trapped in a zoo / Nigga got plaques like the crack of a tooth,” and, referencing his past work, “Grab the blamer, fuck all the glitz and glamor / I want a crib in Atlanta, brodie, me and my bitch changin’ Pampers.” Woo!

ScHoolboy Q raps the second verse, showing off a badass cadence and flow. Perhaps his best line is, “Niggas tend to get rich, and they act weird (Weird) / How you walkin’ out the party with your butt pierced?” Damn! A fun bridge follows Q’s verse, performed by Tyler, accompanied by those sickening horns (“Packed in, goddamn, that dream…”). A second bridge follows the chorus, where Tyler informs us, “I don’t wanna be found, I don’t wanna be down.” He concludes “Thought I Was Dead” with an epic third verse filled with fiery bars. Among the gems: “White boys mockin’ this shit and y’all mad at me? Y’all can suck my dick,” “Bitch, you ain’t Coco Gauff, you can’t serve me,” “Fuck you know about being better than them niggas that you hate,” and “Why am I filled with this hate? Got freedom in every way / Y’all wanna take what I got, but y’all do not got what it take.” Anyone who thought that Tyler, The Creator was dead was mistaken. “Thought I Was Dead” slaps from start to finish. Nothing dead about this one!