Tyler, the Creator - Goblin

Tyler, the Creator

Goblin

Track List:

1. Goblin

2. Yonkers

3. Radicals

4. She (Featuring Frank Ocean)

5. Transylvania 

6. Nightmare

7.Tron Cat

8. Her

9. Sandwitches (Featuring Hodgy Beats)

10. Fish / Boppin Bitch

11. Analog (Featuring Hodgy Beats)

12. Bitch Suck Dick (Featuring Jasper Dolphin and Taco Bennett)

13. Window (Featuring Domo Genesis. Mike G, Hodgy Beats and Frank Ocean)

14. AU79

15. Golden

Deluxe Edition Bonus Tracks:

16. Burger (Featuring Hodgy Beats)

17. Untitled 63

18. Steak Sauce

Goblin is the second album from hip hop artist, producer and director Tyler, the Creator (a.k.a. Wolf Haley, Ace, Tron Cat). Tyler is the leader of hip hop collective OFWGKTA and has rapped and produced on nearly every OFWGKTA release. I’ve been an Odd Future fan for quite some time now so I don’t want to bias this review and tell you how awesome it is and how you should buy it, so I’m going to break down each track on Goblin and try to explain what is on this album.

Goblin sets a much darker landscape than Tyler’s debut, Bastard, which was given out for free on the Odd Future website. After the success of Bastard, there was no doubt, excessive amounts of hype for the release of his next album Goblin. To most fans, it was all they expected, wanted and more, to others, they felt like he had turned away from his older lyrical styles about rape and murder and they didn’t like it. Much like Bastard, Goblin is a continuation of the sessions from Doctor T.C. which is heard through all different parts of the album. Some songs are directly spoken to his therapist, while others are more indirect.

The first track of the album and also title track, Goblin, starts the pace by picking up where Bastard left off, with another counselling session with Doctor T.C. Goblin has a slow, eerie beat, sounding like something from a movie, with Tyler rapping and talking to his therapist. Tyler raps about his sudden fame and how it affects him. The song is really focused around his story telling, pretty much giving a middle finger to all the critics and haters, calling him a homophobe and a devil worshipper. Goblin is one of the more lengthy songs on the album, but really paints a picture of what Tyler is going through and what he believes in.

The next track is the infamous Yonkers. Tyler himself said that this song was a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it has become so popular with over 38 million views on YouTube and creating so much hype over Odd Future. A curse because he absolutely hates the song and performing it as well. The song itself is a conversation between Tyler’s two personalities as every line contradicts each other as the song progresses. The actual rapping is not bad and quite catchy, but it bothers me how people only listen to this song and overlook the rest of Tyler’s work, as I think it’s his most overrated song.

The third track is where it gets wild. Radicals. The name says it all. There is a disclaimer at the start of the track telling everyone not to do anything he says in this song and that it is ‘fucking fiction’. Radicals is just about not giving a mother fuck, as the chorus “Kill people, burn shit, fuck school” tells me so many times. There are breaks from the ruckus throughout the song with a sort of reflective talk by Tyler, telling everyone to stand for what you believe in and do whatever you want. This song also displays Tyler’s producing at its best, as the last two minutes are just bliss after a solid 5 minutes of not giving a fuck. Doctor T.C. tries to convince Tyler to calm down and be mature with Tyler saying “Nigger, fuck you… you don’t know shit, you’re a fucking therapist”.

In my opinion, She is the most commercially friendly song on the album, with Frank Ocean featuring on the track for an amazing chorus hook. She is about Tyler stalking the girl of his dreams and with a hint of voyeurism added in the side. You can tell Tyler still acts like a teenager with lyrics such as “I just want to talk and conversate, but I usually just stalk and masturbate” which always brings a smile to my face. The video clip just emphases the message to the song and is very novel. Tyler’s storytelling and the ability to relate in this song make it one of my personal favourites.

Transylvania is next, with Tyler’s signature voice changer effects and an odd time signature, makes a dark, jumpy song, made to be played live. With a deeper voice sounding like an actual and lyrics such as “I’m Dracula bitch, don’t got a problem smacking a bitch” you can tell Tyler is just up to his antics again which makes this a typical Odd Future song. This song has some great one liners as well such as “God damn I love women, especially when they only suck dick and wash dishes”. Transylvania really displays the talent Tyler has being a rapper.

Nightmare comes in with another dark, deep, story song about Tyler’s problems with stress, fame and a sudden change of lifestyle. It also indulges the listener into Tyler’s head, and from what can be heard, is a very depressing place sometimes. There are also mentions about Earl, and the effect it had on Tyler when he was taken away.

The next song is Tron Cat, and is another experience with another one of Tyler’s personalities, appropriately named Tron Cat. Tron Cat is one of the darker and eviler sides of Tyler, telling him to do all the bad things he does. Tron Cat really shows Tyler’s talent of storytelling with such detail, and his rapping is really tight as well. It has some pretty controversial lyrics as well, which Odd Future are all about as they never hold back anything.

The Eighth track on the album and also my personal favourite, Her, is the most intimate and personal song that Tyler has ever released. Hell, maybe even the most personal song released ever. The song is about a trying to get close enough with this girl so she would date him, but Tyler was ‘friend zoned’. I know that myself and so many other teenage boys out there have been in this exact situation. As the song starts with Tyler trying to get closer with the girl of his dreams, but to no avail and as emotions rise, she finds yet another guy and he is put to the side once again. Her is really hard to describe in one song as it holds so much emotion, aided with the keyboard in the background with a metronome. If you are in a depressive state because of girl issues, I do not recommend listening to this song, as it will only make your situation worse.   

Sandwitches then comes on to pump the listener up once again, from the depressive song we just listened to. Sandwitches is a crowd chanter song, similar to Radicals with the chorus just being “Wolf gang, wolf gang, wolf gang” with the occasional slogan added in ‘Golf Wang’. The raps are top notch with Hodgy Beats adding to the song with some of his philosophical views “You told me god was the answer, when I asked him for shit I get no answer, so god is the cancer”. The beat is actually based around two notes, which adds a scary sort of effect and works really well for the song and what they are rapping about.

The next song actually has two songs on the same track, Fish / Boppin Bitch. Fish has the deep voice sound effects found in Transylvanian, which is the right effect used to display what he is rapping about. Tyler raps about the female anatomy and uses metaphors to do with pussy being like fish. The beat is really chilled, with just piano being played and breaks after the verses with a sensual female singer in the background. Jazz band BadBadNotGood did a jam session with Tyler and made this really amazing version of the song.

The second half of the song is Boppin Bitch. It is a classic Tyler teenage song about getting head from a ‘Boppin Bitch’. It’s just a fun song that should put a smile to your face.

Analog, one of the most chilled songs ever created. Again, featuring Hodgy Beats, sets the picture of a summer landscape with a girl, hanging out by the lake. Hodgy Beats rapping ability is displayed well in this song, showing some of the best rhymes he’s ever done.

Tyler always has to do a fun song with Taco and Jasper, which he just so happened to do in Bitch Suck Dick. I see Bitch Suck Dick as a mock song from the typical cliché rap songs that are going around today. Tyler also made a film clip for BSD which is actually really funny. Taco and Jasper aren’t really rappers, so their corny verses shouldn’t be taken seriously. This is actually Tyler’s rapping, so he is obviously having fun with Taco and Jasper “at the fucking mall, 40 bitches on my nutsack, pulled up on a motherfucking unicorn, we on our ponies nigga”. This song should just be taken as comic relief for the next 3 songs that are coming up.

Window, the longest song on the album clocking at 8 minutes, is a continuation of the therapist sessions with Doctor T.C., but he has brought over Mike G, Domo, Hodgy and Frank Ocean for the session. The song has a story told from each member of Odd Future, rapping about life before fame and what life is like now that the fame is setting in. The beat is a slow one which kind of makes it the hardest song on the album to get into. Regardless, it is a great listen for the overall story and concept of Goblin. Tyler ends up killing his friends at the end of the song after an emotional breakdown. Doctor T.C. says that he doesn’t have to worry about a thing and then it goes into the next song.

AU79 is an instrumental, chilled jazz interlude. You listen to it and you experience it in your own way. It is a really cool track, displaying Tyler’s producing talent.

Golden is the final track off Goblin and is a continuation from Window. Tyler’s suicidal side is coming out and he is struggling to handle it. Doctor T.C. tries to comfort and control him, but Tyler just spirals out of control. Tyler explains how he dislikes parts of his fame and how he is losing the life he used to have. Tyler eventually loses all control claiming “I’m not fucking crazy, I’m a fucking table”. The rapping keeps going, but he gets angrier as Doctor T.C. gets angrier as well and disagrees with what he is saying. Tyler is then sedated by security and Doctor T.C. then explains how Tyler isn’t going crazy and that he is his best friend. Doctor T.C. then says how he knows everything about him and that his friends are all a figment of his imagination. Doctor T.C. then says that he is Tyler’s conscience and that he is Tron Cat, Ace, Wolf Haley and then finally, that he is Tyler, the creator, which are all of his different personas.

In the deluxe edition of Goblin there are three bonus tracks which are actually really good and should have been added to the regular album. Burger, with the hypnotic chorus rapped by Hodgy, Untitled 63, a jazz instrumental and Steak Sauce, which has some of the best flow Tyler has ever done. One of my favourite lines by Tyler is also in this song “I was taught to act my shoe size; I’m eleven and a half”.

Goblin is a concept album, about the life of Tyler, the Creator. This album is not for people who get offended easily or over words. This is an album for young people, who want to live their life the way they want to. Along with Bastard, Tyler, the Creator has set up a two really strong albums that not only show the talent he has, but the talent of some of his other peers in OFWGKTA. His Third album titled ‘Wolf’ should hopefully be released sometime this year. Wolf will be the third and final part of the Doctor T.C. therapist sessions.