Review:

on 2011-07-06 RutherfordMarsh Said:

Tyler, the Creator's debut solo album Bastard was a funny, frightening, emotional mess. It was also a fantastic record. The beats, a little like the Neptunes soundtracking a nightmare, were oppresive and exciting and Tyler demonstrated surprisingly skillfull flow- lyrics concerning rape, murder and nihilsm on the surface but with a deeper, sadder undercurrent of good old fashioned daddy issues.
Early in his sophmore effort Goblin, Tyler raps: "that nigger my mom fucked- he still hasn't called me yet. But that's a whole fucking different argument, shit, I got over it." Well, maybe, but what Goblin makes perfectly clear is that he has yet to get over himself. What's disapointing about the album is not a regression in the Los Angeles rapper's style, but a lack of growth. Although he decided to pack the album with disclaimers that he is not to be taken seriously, the subject matter is almost identical to that of Bastard, minus the threats of patricide. He is still funny, still insightful, still daring, and his aggression toward hipster culture is still like a breath of fresh air, but sadly his statements are all to be found on his previous album as well.
The production has in fact taken a small backwards step: the dry darkness remains, but the creepy melodies and surprising change-ups have disappeared. No one can claim that the album is not successfully atmospheric, it simply never goes anywhere unexpected. Long before the record's halfway point the sound is stale and boring.
Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All is one of the most promising things to happen to hip-hop in a while, but I am settling in for some serious disillusionment if upcoming releases display a similar lack of development. Hopefully Tyler finds inspiration in new material in the near future, but I'm not counting on it. It seems to me that he's ready to settle into this aesthetic for a long time.
Rating: 5/10

Review:

on 2011-07-03 WillKosh Said:

Will Kosh
Goblin (Disc 1) Review

It's somewhat nerve wracking to write anything about Tyler the Creator, considering that he seems to be on Twitter for the better part of every day and will probably read anything that relates to him on the internet.
So, it's a relief that my objective review of Goblin (Disc 1) is largely positive. There have been quite a few complaints by critics about the album being sloppy, poorly edited and half baked, but it's easy to see that those complaining are overlooking the spontaneous garage rap element Tyler brings to the table. For slick, overly produced and multilayered collaborations with Bon Iver, see the newest Kanye West album. For rap in the raw, try Tyler.

In a random disclaimer at the beginning of one early track, (Radicals) Tyler warns listeners not to take anything on the album too seriously. Fuck Bill O'Reilly Tyler adds, without a hint of humor. Meanwhile, Tyler is shifting from irony to sincerity without warning and warping his listeners with his perverted sense of morality. You don't have the balls to kill anyone Tyler. You need someone to talk to. Says the demonic voice that torments, complements and comforts him throughout the album, some inhuman thing that seems half Goblin and half guidance counselor. At the beginning of Goblin, (and in one of it's finest moments) Tyler debates casually with the voice about suicide and mass murder, as though he is attending community center therapy rather than recording one of the most buzz-heavy rap albums in years.

Listeners will quickly begin to notice some contradiction within Tyler's music and philosophy, and that's something any aspiring fan will have to get very used to. For example, take the following excerpt from Baller Status Magazine:

'In a recent interview with the U.K.'s Q Magazine, the rapper even said how he'd die, which would be either by murder or a drug overdose.'
'I'll be dead [by the time I'm 40],' said Tyler. 'Either an obsessed fan, or a heroin overdose. I'll probably get into that at 24.'"

Now, consider one of Tyler's recent Twitters.

Hahaha, Told Some Magazine I Was Gonna Start Doing Heroin At 24 And Die From An Overdose And They Fucking Believed Me Haha. Idiots.

If Tyler took anything seriously, he never could have recorded Goblin. The album is built around political incorrectness and a faulty sense of morality. (In Tron Cat, Tyler plans to rape a pregnant bitch and say (he) had a threesome.) It's strategically offensive to exactly the right people at exactly the right times, and it's anti-establishment and in the smaller, more innovative sense that it makes a decisive break with the cash counting hip-hop mainstream.

Tyler is a member of Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, a rap collective whose rise to prominence has been called a changing of the guard by the shut your fucking face and listen website. The entire group has been receiving more and more attention, partially due to Tyler and his suicidal, roach eatingYoutube antics. Whether this new wave last or peter out remains to be seen, but if it does, it will be the best thing for rap in years. As disc one of Goblin drew to a close, with orderlies pinning Tyler and injecting him with sedative, I was already downloading up part two. Until then, I had been on the fence.
Rating: 8/10