I didn't have a clue who Tyler, real name Tyler Okonma, was while his hype had grown over the past couple of years, predominately viral. But then (and I believe this was the case with mostly everyone else) he dropped the video for "Yonkers" and everything changed. For one, I fucking hate cockroaches, so the first time I tried to watch the video I didn't even make it through the whole thing before having to walk away for a few seconds. I came back to it though, and I was surprised at how original I found it to be. Shock rap is no stranger to mainstream (just ask a Mr. Slim Shady), but it is rare and when you do hear it, you have the strange tendency to want to hear more of it instinctively (you can relate this to the scenario of a car accident: yes, it's awful and sometimes just horrifying, but you can't stop looking, can you?). I also despise Bruno Mars, so Tyler had me interested from the "and stab Bruno Mars in his goddamn esophagus".
Another thing that I found fascinating with Tyler and the Odd Future gang was their artistic style. They have a lot of haters (and I'm not disagreeing with anyone for their reasons for being an Odd Future hater) but I think anyone could at least admit that, artistically, these guys demanded your attention. That's another reason why I must have watched "Yonkers" a ton when it first came out. I liked the song, but the video, to me, was way more interesting than anything Tyler had to say.
After hearing Bastard, which was Tyler's debut album that was released for free on his Tumblr account in late 2009, I decided to really ask the question: Who really is Tyler Okanma? My immediate thought was that the dude was using shock rap as a way to gain attention (which he certainly has) but that he really wasn't that talented. Again, it's not difficult to become extremely popular when you don't really have much talent (just ask Ke$ha). I started doing research on Tyler and began finding every interview I could that has been recorded to this point. What I found was probably just as interesting as the "Yonkers" video itself.
Tyler grew up in California without his father, who abandoned him when he was only a child. That forced Tyler to grow up with his mom, but she never could find a steady job, so Tyler was forced to move, a lot. In fact, Tyler claims that he attended 12 different schools before he actually graduated. Living with a single parent and moving as much as he did, it made complete sense to me why Tyler was so fucked up in the head. He also didn't follow the typical stereotype (and still doesn't) for an African American rapper. He didn't ever sell drugs. In fact, he's never used them and he doesn't drink either. Tyler also, according to most reports, was a good student and didn't drop out of High School (unlike famous MC's Jay-Z or Notorious B.I.G.). Tyler also was an extremely talented musician without rap. He began playing the piano when he was 8 and in multiple interviews I watched, he's actually pretty damn good at it. Add in that Okanma is a diehard skater (which Lupe Fiasco also was) and it led me to believe his credibility in being an outcast from the rest of the musical world.
Which leads me to the album here, Goblin. No group in hip-hop for the first six months this year garnered as much attention as OFWGKTA, so this was Tyler's sort of coming out party back in May (and he would absolutely shudder if he knew I just used that phrase, being that he is seen as a homophobic person). While I was excited for its release, I wondered the entire time leading up to it if he would actually have anything worthwhile to say. Would he continue to emphasis his shock rap persona and stick to that and only that for an entire album? Or would there be some relevant points that he decided to sprinkle throughout Goblin? Let's find out.
1. Goblin
If you didn't listen to Bastard, then you'll be lost when you first hear this. It's a continuation of a therapy session that Tyler is having with his therapist (who I think is in a worse spot than even Dr. Melfi was on The Sopranos) and Tyler has just threatened to kill himself. "I'm not a fucking role model" (gee thanks, didn't really know that one already) is what Tyler opens up with, which is completely honest and true (Personally I would be fucking horrified if I were a parent of a child under 13 who was listening to this). The beat sounds very Odd Futuresque with machine guns blasting in the back and its almost overly simple. He also doesn't include a hook in here, which is obviously to try and hammer down that impression that he really is in a therapy session. One thing that's a major problem with this song though, is that is just drags. There's not really any direction to it. It also serves as just a simple vent session (but far from the what K.R.I.T.'s "The Vent" was, which was also a way superior song to this one. Kind of unfair to compare Tyler to him though). He can definitely spit (as disturbing even as it is when he says "when someone gets blamed that some white kid had aimed some AK47 at 47 kids, I don't want to see my name mentioned"). I just found this one boring in all.
2. Yonkers
I've already touched on this one a little, but I'll make sure to mention that this beat is just dirty. I heard someone bumping this with an actual system a few days after the album hit shelves and I think it had half the street's attention (and surprisingly still sounds fresh, 7 months later). This is also kind of unique, being that I don't hear many songs with this dark of an undertone that are so widely played (I have to go back to some of Slim's stuff for that). Tyler also said in an interview that this was written as a contradiction itself (because it's his alter-ego, Wolf, talking to him). For instance, when you look at the lines "green paper, gold teeth, and pregnant gold retrievers/All I want, fuck money, diamonds, bitches don't need 'em", the second line is completely the opposite of the first. The "and pick up Stevie Wonder to be the receiver" line also got me to laugh. So he may be fucked up in the head, but I will say this: the dude can write.
3. Radicals
OK, the "random disclaimer" part with "fuck Bill O'Reilly" is fucking hilarious; I don't care what party you may affiliate with. The hook on this is atrocious and I really wasn't feeling the majority of the beat. I say majority because I did dig the ambient sections between the hook and verses where Tyler attempted to sound intelligent and speak to you. For the most part, I thought this song was more funny than anything (I burst out laughing when he goes "I'm a fucking unicorn, fuck anybody who say I'm not"). I did enjoy the beat for the final two minutes, but overall, the song was just all over the place. It does live up to its title though, I'll give him that.
4. She ft. Frank Ocean
A huge shift from "Radicals", yet welcoming. Ocean actually raps the first verse, which is surprisingly half decent, but I felt the beat accompanying the hook didn't match up at all. It's also a rare occurrence that you hear Tyler rapping to another female (which is funny since my last post was about the man who talks about women too much). He does drop "I'm writing songs about we, we as including I, and yourself making three" which is creative in its own right, but otherwise, there's not much to this song. I think the occasional "cunt" you hear is supposed to be Wolf, and that makes sense. The rest of the track though, doesn't.
5. Transylvania
I fucking hated this song when I first heard it and I still do. This is where I was talking about shock rap just being used to gain attention without a purpose. The beat is bland as well, making it a definitive skip.
6. Nightmare
It's interesting to me that Tyler completely abandons the therapy session standpoint for three songs before suddenly coming back to it. Regardless, this has the best beat of the album since "Yonkers" (and it might be my favorite). Having a slower pace, which gradually speeds up, was a cool idea and Tyler sounds good over it. The hook is also a massive improvement over the rest of what's been offered "I told her I'm her worst nightmare/this is hell and you ain't ever got to fight fair". One thing I noticed, and liked, about this song was that Tyler sounds like he genuinely cares on this. Some tracks with him I've noticed he just goes over the top emotion-wise and you can't take him seriously, but this one sounds much more honest. If I'm a parent, this song is a fucking nightmare (especially when you hear him go "Parents want to blame me all because their kid is fucking up/but fuck that, you're a shitty parent, suck it up"). But I'm not (and thank God I'm not), so I was pretty satisfied with this one.
7. Tron Cat
If I listened to this for the first time in a room alone, late at night, I'd be fucking terrified. It's really just a better version of "Transylvania" and their is some really disturbing shit on here (like "rape a pregnant bitch and tell my friends I had a threesome"). It does still sound pretty fresh even seven months later, but I didn't get the point of it. It's supposed to be Tyler's alter-ego let loose (which he calls Tron Cat, but earlier called Wolf?) and I guess if you put it in that context, it works. I just am confused at what he's getting at by telling us the sick and twisted thoughts he has. He is incredibly smart, though, no matter how demented his lyrics are (his therapists reaction of "what the fuck" described my feelings exactly after I heard this the first time).
8. Her
Two songs about another female?! That completely threw me when I was listening to this, but this one is a much better track than his earlier attempt, all because he actually has some purpose on this compared to "She". I've realized that when Tyler is more down to earth than just bitching, he can be someone who is extremely interesting to follow. Felt bad for his result at the end.
9. Sandwitches ft. Hodgy Beats
I will give Tyler credit for one thing: he made this album without much of the influence of his OFWGKTA buddies. This marks only the second appearance by an Odd Future member, this time in the form of Hodgy Beats. The beat on here hits just about as hard as "Yonkers" does and I'm sure this is a fan favorite when they perform it live. Unfortunately, Tyler makes no sense whatsoever here. He's a dude that refuses to smoke yet says "c'mon kids, fuck that class and hit that bong". He is a rebel, but following one thing then preaching another doesn't make you sound intelligent; it makes you look fucking stupid. Hodgy's verse is alright, although I didn't understand the attack on religion when he doesn't give any actual relevant reasons for hating it. For all the brilliance OFWGKTA shows, they diminish it with lyrics like the on here (although I pray that Obama would invite these guys for a White House dinner like he did with Common earlier this year. Fox News flipped out when fucking Common got an invite; can you imagine how insane they would go if Odd Future attended?).
10. Fish
Too long, and again, just boring. I didn't even remember this track being on here until I got to it in my review.
11. Analog ft. Hodgy Beats
If I was confused at where this album was going earlier, I'm fucking dumbfounded now. How, how does this fit in with Tyler's overall theme of explaining his inner demons? Where the hell is the therapist? What does this have to do with anything? This sounds more like the shit Tyler was so angry about on "Yonkers" and it's way too upbeat for me to take it seriously (my guess is that Tyler may, just may have hoped to have marketed this as a single. He got away with "Yonkers" but I have a feeling he knew he couldn't get away with another track similar to that to appeal to most stations, so he made this. Unfortunately, this was a huge mistake).
12. Bitch Suck Dick ft. Jasper, Dolphin & Taco
Didn't I just praise Tyler for staying away for the most part from his Odd Future crew just three tracks ago? Yes, I did, and I spoke too soon because Tyler just seemed to have saved all his features for the end, rather than scattered throughout. Another terrible song, though (Taco is also my leading candidate for worst verse of the year after going "I bought a fuckin' whale, cause I'm ballin'")
13. Window ft. Domo Genisis, Frank Ocean, Hodgy Beats & Mike G
Tyler decides to go back to his original idea of being in a therapy session, except his therapist has decided to "bring his friends in" to supposedly help him. As has been one of my major complaints with some of the tracks on here, this one does the same and Tyler doesn't seem to have a concept of why most songs are only between 3-5 minutes. This one is no different from "Goblin" and "Fish", meaning it's not really worth anyone wasting seven minutes on it.
14. AU79
An instrumental? Unexpected, but good regardless. Tyler has been trying to get more of a hand in the production end and this is one of his creations here. It still maintains that Odd Future sound, but it also is much more fast paced and there's a lot of other different elements that come into play on this. The switch in tempo with about a minute left was also really cool. I don't know how this fits onto Goblin (well, I really don't know how anything fits on here) but I'm glad he went with throwing this on here anyways.
15. Golden
Tyler saved his best song ("Inglorious") for last in Bastard and he goes with the same approach for Goblin. I liked the beat for "Inglorious" better, as this one is much darker. Still, it's one of the better production efforts on the album and it does what a lot of beats fail to do: let Tyler talk and allow us to listen. As crazy as it sounds, a lot of this song is actually with good intentions. His second verse praises his mom for being a "black queen" and he's thanking her for sticking by him (although you have to actually read the lyrics to understand that one). The song also does a terrific job of building up anticipation to where Tyler just has a complete mental breakdown. It's chilling, but he does a good job of acting like he really is losing it (I wish a video would've been released to accompany this as it would have been really fucking interesting). What's funny though, is that the end, where Tyler realizes his therapist was actually just Tyler talking to himself the whole time, is not credible whatsoever (with every reason being mentioned above). So yes, some will go crazy when they hear that and claim "holy shit! It all makes sense!" but if you actually paid attention, it's just Tyler trying to make you think that so you'll excuse everything else that was bad about this album.
Closing Statement: This is why it's better for me to review an album after giving it time to sit for a while. A gut reaction is almost always much more optimistic because it naturally sounds fresher since it's the first or second time you hear it. After listening to Goblin in May, I was extremely impressed, to the point where I was beginning to claim Tyler was the best thing up and coming right now (ohh boy, how that has changed). Okanma has some tracks that probably shouldn't have made the cut and some that should never have even seen the light of day. There are others that are decent, if they go along with the same concept, but there isn't one, even though Tyler will try to claim there is. I always love more to listen to, but not if it's unnecessary, because then it's just a waste of my time when I could be listening to something that is worth listening to. Had Tyler cut the album from 15 to 9 tracks and made it more into an EP than an LP, he'd have a pretty fucking good project on his hands. He does prove he is an extremely talented writer and I do believe his madness is more creative than attention seeking. I think, as Tyler gets older, he will begin to become a more mature musician and actually realize that shit like "Bitch Suck Dick" may not be as creative as he once thought it was. He has incredible potential, and this album certainly shows that at times, but he's like the guy that comes off the bench and scores 20 one night, then does nothing the next. He hasn't graduated to the status of even being a starter on any team at this point, but let's hope he pulls a Josh Hamilton and eventually realizes how to use his talents and stop fucking around.
The Verdict: It really depends on this one. If you are into the Odd Future movement at all, then I think you need to pick this up, but a burn will suffice your needs as there are plenty of other albums that deserve your cash than this. If you aren't into OFWGKTA, I'd still recommend listening to "Yonkers" and "Nightmare". Otherwise, I think you're better off sticking to other up and comers, like ASAP Rocky for instance, who appropriately says "Fuck a goon and a goblin".
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