Tyler, the Creator - Goblin [XL]

8.5

What more can I say that I'm sure all of you music fanatics out there haven't heard about this crazy, rambunctious LA hip-hop collective weirdly named Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (or OFWGKTA for short)? They are made up of some of hip-hop's future (Tyler, the Creator, Hodgy Beats, and Earl Sweatshirt (currently M.I.A.)) and some not so prestigious (Mike G, Domo Gensis, and others). A lot call them the "modern day Wu-Tang Clan". The familiarities are there, but they are reported to hate that comparison. I would too.

So there you have it, a very brief introduction to such a un-introductory group of hooligans. Their infamous leader Tyler, the Creator has been rolling on a very fast and pounding hype train that is called Goblin. I'd admit that this album has had me going for a couple of months now. Now that it's here, my disappointment wasn't high, but it's still present. Beginning with a very simliar intro as Tyler's debut Bastard, "Goblin" immediately got my hopes up for a great contender for album of the year. Goblin is a hip-hop emotional rollercoaster with some of the most off-the-wall beats around.

The theme of Bastard returns where Tyler is in a therapist's office "telling all of his problems". If you listened closely to Bastard you will see tons of good old previous album references in Goblin. First complaint -- Goblin probably should be the last album he uses this therapist office theme with him mentioning the same stuff with a couple of different thoughts he strings together with some pretty good intentions. Immediately after the very interesting intro, Goblin hits off with the leading single "Yonkers" which might be one of the best hip-hop songs I've ever heard. It's introduced with an abrasive that is immediately off setting on the first listen, but immediately grows on you with multiple listens. The more and more you listen to "Yonkers", the more you bring in Tyler's hilarious twisting rapping, "Oh, not again, another critic report/I'm stabbing any faggot hipster with a Pitchfork".

Probably the most obvious reason why I was so turned on to OFWGKTA's music is through their experimental hip-hop production that compares with the best of the abstract hip-hop of MF Doom and Cannibal Ox. My favorite OFWGKTA release by the elusive Earl Sweatshirt, Earl, has haunting, near minimalistic beats and production that keeps me hooked onto its slick sound. Goblin has some of the same qualities, but it lacks in staying consistent throughout. Standouts like "Fish", "Radicals", and "AU79" create this perfect balance of abstract beats mixed with modern beats. But one atrocity that infest maybe the whole image of Goblin is the obvious Waka Flocka Flame spoof "B***h Suck D**k". The hip-hop genre of "crunk" is plain terrible. It's all shock value with annoying fast electronic beats. In an attempt to be funny and jab at Waka Flocka, Tyler creates his single worst tracks with the inclusions of the most irrelevant OFWGKTA members Taco and Jasper.

The inclusions of Hodgy Beats and the smooth Frank Ocean is gladly taken in though on tracks like "Sandwitches" and "She". They are the more talented members of OFWGKTA that actually deserve to be on the work that Tyler has put together. Goblin is very similar to Bastard, it has awesome, killer tracks like "Yonkers", "Sandwitches", and "Goblin", but has atrocious tracks already mentioned, a lot like Bastard. Can Tyler continue to put out good albums that have amazing songs and bad ones? Hopefully not, hopefully Tyler can up his game even more on his next album Wolf. Yeah that's right, another one coming at you in 2012 (most likely).

Sample:

To explicit. So here's an instrumental of "Yonkers".