Tyler the Goblin

When Tyler, The Creator’s video “Yonkers” hit Youtube in early February, the single dropped many jaws. For those familiar with Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All’s rap collective, listening to Tyler’s album “Goblin” may have instigated less winces than for those who had their OFWGKTA’s cherries popped by the video. Tyler’s bone-chilling depiction of his suicide fleshed out what was to be expected off of his solo album.

“Goblin,” Tyler’s second solo album, was completely self-produced. Aside from the tracks in which he collaborates with other members of the OFWGKTA posse, the album is entirely Tyler’s creation. Implementing basic Macbook production software, he composed an album drawing influences from a place where electronica and metallic rhythm dwell in harmony with hip-hop. On the instrumental track “AU79,” subtle beats pulse over cosmic wheezes, and a similar ambient bounce can be heard on “Analog” featuring Hodgy Beats. These airier tracks are crucial to the execution of Goblin as a cohesive work.

The song “Sandwitches” is hammered out by synths and booming drums, while the lyrics encapsulate authoritarian outrage. It succeeds in being verifiably wrathful, whereas many of the album’s songs fall short of being genuine. “Radicals”, “Fish”, and “Transylvania” are all nauseatingly contrived accounts of violence. The teenage angst coating these lyrics comes off like a Warhead or just sour candy for kids.
Here’s a kid with finesse potentially akin to Eminem or Nas, and the vocabulary of a Merriam-Webster, he just needs to polish his real voice. “Yonkers” stands out because of its confessional-style intensity, “Analog” for its smooth beat and dreamy lyricism and “Her” for its puppy-love storyline.

The young rapper clearly has a lot of ammunition up his sleeve, he just needs to make his audience believe it.