Album review: Tyler, The Creator "Goblin"
Simply put, Goblin is an experience. This isn’t an album you play in the background at your pool party or circulate in your car’s deck as you head to the grocery store: it’s a production that requires your full attention. Odd Future Wolfgang Kill Them All, normally shortened to either Odd Future or OFWKTA, is a social movement in the form of a hip-hop group from Los Angeles. The group consists of eight members, ranging from 17-24 years-old, and is led by the 20 year-old Tyler, who both produces and raps.
Part rebellious, think of the swagger and attitude of an early Eminem; part grittiness, think Kool Keith; and part pioneering super group, think Wu Tang Clan, Odd Future is a rowdy, middle-finger-raising collective, and Tyler is the one leading the charge. Goblin is the first album put out by the group since gaining national buzz, and is Tyler’s first and only under the British record label, XL recordings. Tyler self-released his debut solo album, Bastard, in 2009 when he was only 17 years-old, on which, he introduces himself to the underground as an outcast with a foul mouth and a dirty mind. Two years later, we have Goblin.
It’s difficult to truly explain what Goblin is. Sure, it’s a rap album made by a 20 year-old kid and a few of his friends, detailing what it’s like to grow up fatherless and rebellious in 21st century America. I get that it may be an expression of teen angst and self-discovery (Tyler raps “I’m coming of my age,” on Burger). You might even call it a loathsome, nihilistic commentary coming from the eyes of the underprivileged and unwanted. I view Goblin as an initiation into another person’s mind. After hearing this album once, I already know Tyler as an individual, as a rapper, and as a philosopher, better than I know any of my favorite artists. “I haven’t killed myself yet…and I still want my life back,” is probably the heaviest line on the album, as Tyler treats Goblin as an open journal where he talks about everything from masturbating, to suicide, to “stabbing Bruno Mars in his Goddamn esophagus.” To be honest and fair is to be obvious at this point: Goblin is not for the average music fan.
The album is narrated by a demonic voice that Tyler often converses with throughout. Although Tyler refers to the voice as a therapist (Dr. TC to be precise), it’s clear the voice represents Tyler’s conscience. Overall, the album is mellow to the point of being somber, as Tyler meshes his down-tempo, minimalistic production style with his rigid, gravely flow. No song really stands on its own or supplants the album as a whole, and as a result, you have an hour-and-twenty-minute, part memoir, part absurd, solitary composition that could start a riot, incite nationwide teen rebellion, and entertain a room of psychologists simultaneously. The album is consistent with its content, its theme, and its direction, but there are times where it falters, largely due to Tyler’s limited range as a lyricist: he’s an average MC. There are times on the album where he is insightful and brilliant and others where he is obtuse and ignorant. Tyler is at his finest on “Yonkers,” “Nightmare,” “Sandwitches” and “Golden,” where he sounds the most honest, intriguing, and genuinely iconoclastic. He misses on “Transylvania,” “Bitch suck Dick,” and “Tron Cat,” where he over-does the shock value and griminess.
At times, Goblin is a transcendental, genre-defining exploration, at others, it is a gimmicky, juvenile cluster-fuck of harnessed energy and “swag.” Tyler set out to do whatever he wanted, say whatever he wanted, and sound however he wanted, all while preaching to a particular sub-culture of 16-24 year olds, and he accomplishes all of the above on Goblin. Although Goblin isn’t a terrific rap album based on the normal criteria (lyrics, beats, flow) it is top-to-bottom, one of the most revealing and creative albums out there.
4/5 stars.
Our Word: Goblin is absolutely worth a listen. Tyler, The Creator, and the entire collective of Odd Future for that matter, might turn out to be one of the most revolutionary, socially defining music groups we’ve had in a long time (I’m thinking Nirvana here). Obviously, only time can tell if this is the case, but for now, give Goblin a listen. Of course, if you’re a member of that particular sub-culture that I mentioned earlier, you’ve probably heard this album a dozen times already, and have probably told me to go fuck myself a few times while you read this review. Well fuck off. In the words of Tyler, “I’m a fucking unicorn, and fuck anybody who say I’m not.”
67%
