Its been a couple of months since Tyler The Creator released his 5th Studio Album IGOR. Compared to his previous works, and even style, this album is nothing of what the audience is used to, but its still the same Tyler.
I am a 22 year old black male. I've been listening to Tyler since 2011 when Goblin dropped. I was never the outcast. deranged, skater kid like many OF fans were, and though I could never personally relate to Tyler except for his love songs such as She, I did understand his persona, and I loved it. I was a fan from the start. I've lived through all of his album rollouts, themes and artist progression. Wolf and Flower Boy have really helped me out in my darker times. Because of that, I can't fully say IGOR is Tyler's best album.
From an subjective standpoint, my personal opinion, IGOR is a good album, but it is no more creative or less creative than his previous works. We can classify Tyler as an artist where each of his albums have similar yet different themes while being placed in different Eras. Goblin resides in Tyler's teen angst era while Wolf is a slightly more mature version of that. Goblin sees Tyler express a range of emotions that clearly depicts him as a social outcast whose scared of the present and future. Wolf is a slightly more mature Tyler whose still rowdy but has a different outlook on things. While on Goblin, Tyler is rampaging with racial and homophobic slurs, on Wolf, he's more comfortable with his feelings.
On Cherry Bomb, as Tyler stated in several interviews, "I just wanted to shut the fuck up and let people hear the music". This is apparent. While Cherry Bomb didn't and still doesn't get the respect it deserves, he did what he said he would do. Cherry Bomb sees Tyler rapping about love, positivity, and being active over more Jazzier beats. Though songs like Deathcamp, Cherry Bomb and Run still had the clunky, alternative feel to them, majority of the album had chiller vibes. The theme is apparent but its lost in translation. Cherry Bomb, similar to IGOR isn't an album to dance to, both are "Mood" albums. Cherry Bomb is a mood. IGOR is a mood. These are albums you put on to feel a certain way. The lyrical content in both is minimal, but still good. I used to think Flower Boy was a polished Cherry Bomb, but IGOR is the final form Cherry Bomb.
Speaking of Flower Boy, from a subjective view, this is Tyler's best album. Odd Future housed nothing but talent. Every member was great at something whether it be rapping, singing, producing, marketing or being "a nigga with a rocket launcher". One of the biggest debates among OF fans was who was a better rapper, Tyler or Earl? Earl was the clear choice as his rhyming ability is very good. No matter what he says, he could make it sound good. Flower Boy proved to everyone that Tyler is a great rapper. His verses were packed full of dope rhymes that were meaningful yet playful. His plant and tree references on Where This Flower Blooms was amazing. The album had dope lyrics but the biggest selling point was the production. It was jazzy, upbeat, had bass with a lot of soul. The melodies were so damn catchy. This is Tyler The creator at his peak.
"this album is nothing of what the audience is used to, but its still the same Tyler". Fans and critics are heralding IGOR as this big pop album but I don't know why. Is it because there aren't tons of bass like on previous Tyler albums? Thought it is a lot "poppier", this is still the same old Tyler The Creator. Tyler has always had these poppy hits on his albums; See You Again, 911/Mr. Lonely, Glitter, She, and Fucking Young/Perfect are all "pop" hits. The only difference is Tyler cranked the pop feel through the roof for IGOR.
Objectively, IGOR is a great album. The rhymes are cool, the melodies are infectious, and the theme is fun. Most importantly, I find myself singing the songs constantly even when I'm not listening to the actual music. I know them word for word. Yet I can't put this album over Flower Boy. The album had better rapping, features, extra enticing melodies, plus an overall better theme that included life lessons. This isn't to say that you, the one reading this, can't prefer IGOR over Flower Boy, but I feel as if people are only saying IGOR is better because its fresher in their minds.
Regardless of what albums fans think are the best, Tyler has proven that he can do anything with a simple melody. His music and artistry continues to evolve just as much as his personality. You never know what Tyler is going to release next. Though I loved his Flower Boy and Wolf Eras, I'm still excited for what's to come next from this musical genius.
Garser Dismuke is a writer for Blerdsonline.com as well as Garserspoetry.com
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