Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All head honcho Tyler, the Creator has reason to celebrate: Today is May 10, better known to him and the increasingly rabid OF fanbase (e.g. Sonar had to move next Thursday's OF show to its main room) as the release date of Goblin, Tyler's XL Recordings follow-up to his first, self-released album, Bastard. On the Internet, Goblin's release is a big deal — expect thousands and thousands of words on "What It Means" in the coming weeks — and it remains to be seen if that will translate to mainstream success. I'm on my eighth spin of Goblin straight through, and here are the thoughts I keep coming back to:
•••• Tyler needs an editor. One-hundred percent creative control is a double-edged sword: No producers or label-heads interject with tweaks to a chorus or opinions on a crappy beat, but sometimes those same producers/label-heads have good ideas. The album's opening combination of the narrative-setting "Goblin," still-excellent single "Yonkers" and the seriously obnoxious, OF-mantra-spewing "Radicals" sinks the disc from the start. It plays out like a first-day of class, where the professor's syllabus takes all period to get through when all you want to say is "I get it."
•••• Goblin could use more Left Brain beats. "Transylvania" has a demonic Tyler rapping from the point-of-view of Dracula, which seems clever on first-listen and then not clever at all any time after. The only redeeming quality is Left Brain's manic, slap-happy production. The song's problem falls on Tyler, who, like many 20-year-old males before and after him, is obsessed with women and their rejection of him ("Her"). His response (in the case of "Transylvania" and else where) is violent fantasies played out as aggressive expression. So Tyler raps as Dracula and tries to get away with a chorus like, "I'm Dracula, bitch / Don't got a problem with smacking a bitch / Kidnap and attack with an axe and s--- / until she decides to take Dracula's d---." I'm not into it at all.
•••• Seriously, what's the worst song on here? "Fish," the 6-minute-plus track with three equally stupid parts (the "boppin' bitch" section is seriously so long and dumb) or "Bitch Suck D---," Tyler's half-baked attempt at a Waka Flocka-meets-Lil B's "Pretty Bitch" song. Jasper Dolphin and Taco, two non-rapping OF members, get verses and the track ends with Tyler shooting his two friends.
•••• It's somewhat telling that one of the best songs on Goblin is the instrumental "AU79," a busy-but-beautiful composition of stabbing synthesizers and soft, padded drums.