Goblin
by Tyler, The Creator

"i'll probably just youtube it..."
And so I did. It's not exactly fair I guess to judge the album after hearing its songs once on youtube, but listening to them did confirm my expectations of this album and my view of Tyler in general.

The way I see it, there are several sides to Tyler. There's the immature side which spawned one of the worst songs of the year, Bitch Suck Dick, there's the "crazy" side of Wolf Hailey, which is reminiscent of Eminem's "Slim Shady" persona, not just because of the concept of an alter ego, but the violent, misogynistic lyrics. The latter kinda remind me of Biggie as well. There's good and bad in that though, plenty of times the rhymes just aren't that clever as Tyler maybe thinks they are.
Then there's another side to Tyler that I see on songs like Bastard (not on Goblin), Goblin, Her, which deal a lot with his personal problems and self-loathing and are just generally very emotional. Again this reminds me of certain rappers before him (Biggie's Suicidal Thoughts anyone?), but all those songs that I mentioned are amongst his best (Bastard in particular).

Finally, there's a side to Tyler that manifests itself in what is one of the highlights of the year in general - Yonkers. This song, along with its wonderful video shows Tyler not just as a rapper, but as a complete artist. Clever lyrics (this time, his two "personas" clash), an even better video, that was interestingly directed by Tyler himself, and featuring what is also a great acting performance by Tyler. Sick beat too. Unfortunately there's no other moments like that on this album, but to me it shows that Tyler is someone to keep an eye on in the future.
Apparently his next album will be focused more on the beats, and less on the rapping. Can't say if that is an excellent idea or not, but I'm looking forward to it. After all, I can't complain about the beats on this album and the instrumental track AU79 is actually among the better ones here. (Edited)

From 40footwolf 05/14/2011 06:59 | #21740 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

This is one of those albums that would be really good if it wasn't a bunch of stupid bullshit.

From JulianR TOP 100 COMMENTER 03/01/2018 08:28 | #209825 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

"I'm not saying just to go out and do some stupid shit, commit crimes. What I'm trying to tell you is, do what the fuck you want. Stand for what the fuck you believe in, and don't let nobody tell you can't do what the fuck you want. I'm a fucking unicorn, and fuck anybody who say I'm not. Wolf Gang"

This line comes after his repeated hook of "kill people, burn sh*t, f*ck school." You gotta listen to every line, not just cherrypick the bad ones. Sure, he says some shitty stuff, and criticizing him for that is justified. But condensing this whole album to an exercise in shock value is simply wrong. There is so much more depth here. For every sadistic "Tron Cat", there is an equally heartbreaking and confessional "Her".

However, the music is also kinda mediocre for a little too much of the album for it to be considered really good. Still, I think its an interesting listen, and a much better concept album than most of what passes for concept in hip-hop (Edited)

From GeevyDallas 01/06/2012 23:05 | #34737 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

An equal messure of thriller and filler to me,would have been better as a 6 or 7 track ep.Some songs like Sandwitches and Yonkers are about the best hip-hop tracks of the last ten year but quite a lot of the rest are terrible.Plus the production is pretty bad and a lot of Tylers ramblings should have been cut,the album would be a lot better also if it was 15 minutes shorter.On a side note,do not let this album wheter you like it or not stop you goin to see OFWGKTA live,the best live experience you're ever likely to see(well one of them anyways). (Edited)

From Norman Bates 01/20/2013 16:05 | #62229 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Boring and way overlong. (Edited)