Tyler, the Creator's universe continues to grow, and its latest incarnation, The Jellies!, is now crashing into your screen every Sunday night. Written by Tyler and his creative partner and longtime friend Lionel Boyce, the cartoon is a treasure trove of original music, oddly relatable characters, and of course, some absolutely insane situational humor (like the lead character getting a gender reassignment, courtesy of Xzibit, in order to make sure his best friend has a date to the school dance).

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Despite the insanity, Tyler and Lionel promise that there's more to The Jellies! than some of their previous projects like Loiter Squad. Rather than just making slapstick skits, "We're relying on the writing," Lionel tells us. The jokes come fast, the music is phenomenal and provides for some great comedic moments (Tyler is taking the lead on scoring the show, and told us that we will be getting a soundtrack), and the lead character, Cornell—a black teenager unknowingly adopted by a family of jellyfish—is endearing in his naiveté. Tyler and Lionel have made yet another haven for their die-hard fans to dive into, but with episodes running at 15 minutes apiece, the show is a worthwhile watch for even the unconverted.

We talked to Tyler (while he was on a hike) and Lionel (while he was walking around Atlanta working on a secret TV project) about learning on the job, putting black characters on TV, and their all-time favorite cartoons.

How does it feel to have your own cartoon on Adult Swim? That's major, especially for people our age who grew up on Adult Swim cartoons.

Tyler, the Creator: It's cool! People know us from Loiter Squad and our live-action things, but doing something where we're not fully present in a physical way, people get to see how our brains work. I think that's interesting in and of itself. We had a bunch of ideas for Loiter Squad that we couldn't do physically, you know because we can't blow buildings up and turn into a fucking axe if you want, but with a cartoon, our imagination gets to roam.

Lionel Boyce Courtesy of Lionel Boyce

LB: On Loiter Squad it was just us being crazy, but with this, we're relying on the writing. It shows we can do more than just fuck around with a skit.

There's so much that goes into making a cartoon, from the story to the characters to the music. So many mediums being showcased.

T: Even that in itself is a challenge for my music side. It's like, 'Okay, I need to make a song that sounds like a mariachi band.' That forces me to learn new chords, new cadences, and new pockets, just so I can make the music that fits in a 10- or 15-second scene.

It's tight, 'cause we go in not knowing what the fuck we're doing. We've never had a cartoon, we're writing a real story arc over time. Worst comes to worst, it sucks, and we'll still give 100 percent [on the next one].

Were you guys big Adult Swim heads when you were younger?

LB: Yeah, I've been watching Adult Swim since Home Movies. I still watch every night before I go to sleep.

T: Growing up, I was really studying what the fuck was going on over there. Whether it was a Family Guy rerun to Home Movies to Robot Chicken, all of that shit really spoke to my 14-year-old brain. Also growing up on Dave Chappelle and Jackass and shit like that really shaped our humor. When we came together, it just turned into [The Jellies!], and Adult Swim was the perfect home for it. It sounds like we're sucking Adult Swim's dick right now! Fuck them. [laughs]