Out Of The Cage: “Goblin” Review
"I'm awesome, and I fuck dolphins"
“Rape a pregnant bitch and tell my friends I had a threesome!”
Goblin is the second album from OFWGKTA’s (Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All) group leader Tyler The Creator. For those who have not jumped on the Odd Future bandwagon or simply have not been following his music, this album – and many other Odd Future releases – is full of group trademarks such as cynical humor, ridiculous boasts and hard hitting production. Furthermore, the content of this album, like Tyler’s debut, is chalk-full of murderous thoughts and black humor. However, while these stylizations are nothing new to Tyler’s music, the refinement that Goblin presents proves that the output from Tyler is far from boring and demonstrates his ability as not only a creative rapper/producer, but an artist with staying power. With these refinements however, the album is not without missteps, there are moments that make Goblin feel lopsided do to the album feeling like it has lost direction, but there are enough quality tracks to overlook these shortcomings.
If you haven’t listened to Bastard yet, then some might find the start of the album abrupt, but if you have (and I assume most people who cop this album would have), then the opening of the album feels like it’s continued right where Bastard left off: with Tyler speaking to a therapist about his issues. Goblin starts incredibly strong with the self-titled opener showing that Tyler’s production has not only improved, but lyrically he has tightened up his skill-set since his debut. Following the dark tone set by Goblin, we’re thrusted into the single – which I was certain I had gotten tired of – Yonkers, and from the build up of the intro track, the song sounds fresher than ever. Yonkers incorporates a hard hitting drum beat and a background sample that definitely screams inner-city; the lyrics again only sound better on Goblin than Tyler’s debut, with him rapping harshly about everything from himself to BoB and other media outlets and stars. This is the Tyler you’ve always enjoyed lyrically, but better; Goblin is brilliant so far. Nice. We continue with other highlights such as Radicals, which sounds awkwardly like an intro to another OFWGKTA project, but somehow works perfectly for Goblin by complimenting the tracks prior with its tonality. Then we get to She (featuring Frank Ocean). The first verse threw me off, only because it felt out of place considering the content you’re introduced to in the first three songs. I understand the intent, but I felt like the song only picks up the pace when Tyler starts rapping on the second verse, but I wouldn’t say this song is entirely skipable, but it does have it’s issues.
Other notable tracks throughout the album are Nightmare, Tron Cat and Sandwitches. All three songs share the standard elements one will be used to from a Tyler The Creator release, but definitely refined. Ridiculous punchlines such as “Rape a pregnant bitch and tell my friends I had a threesome” (from Tron Cat), prove Tyler’s knack for shock value hasn’t diminished, but only comes off as polished and more comical than his debut.
Goblin is not without faults and in many ways these faults detract from what could have been an otherwise perfect album. In some cases, the album has this feeling of having one track too many and veering between atmospheric brilliance and over-played rehashes of his debut album Bastard. When the music is focused, and in many ways organized-chaos, the album feels like some of the freshest Hip Hop I’ve heard in ages, but then tracks like Transylvania make the album feel skewed and juxtaposed in a way that comes off as sloppy. Other downfalls like Bitch Suck Dick, don’t add anything to the album other than a reason to use the skip button. Now, I understand the song is intended as a parody, but I don’t feel like it has any place on a quality album like Goblin.
One final issue I have with Goblin is that it presents a story, and while it seem simple enough at the beginning, Tyler talking to his therapist, it tries to deepen itself later into the album, and while this normally wouldn’t be an issue, it feels as if it incorporates it as an afterthought, and with the exception of the albums final track, this story arc feels tacked on. Certainly it makes sense that a album like this WOULD go that direction, but it does not seem to signal that until much later into Goblin, and when it does, it feels tacked on and awkward.
Awkward story arc aside, as we’re nearing the end of the album we’re brought back to the brilliant closing tracks Window, AU79 and Golden. Firstly, Window is a long track, eight minutes to be exact, and while this deterred me at first, the emcee’s on the track all do a good job and help lead up the final moments quite brilliantly. The production is sparse and laid back, and in many ways, even though the awkwardness of the arc seems tacked on in the prior track, it DOES find some grounding here; I cannot say Window or any of the tracks that follow it make up for the sloppy inclusion of the story arc, but in many ways had the pacing of the album changed with tracks like this one, the story arc would have felt right at home.
AU79 is an instrumental beat and bridges Window into the final track Golden quite nicely, the production sounds like a mix between Mr. Oizo and standard Tyler sound. The atmosphere of AU79 adds greatly to the album overall and to the final track, Golden. Golden starts right when AU79 finishes, and sounds incredible. The production sounds like something out of a sci-fi film but maintains the griminess of Tyler’s prior tracks with hard hitting snares that accompany the wonky-yet epic sounding sample. Genius. Lyrically Tyler raps personal overtop his cinematic beat and unlike the random antics of Bastard, Tyler gives reason for why he acts the way he does on his music. In many ways, this track makes Tyler seem far more well rounded as a rapper than many of his other outings would imply, and prove he has an ability to be more versatile than he had shown in the past.
Is It Worth Your Well Earned Dollar Bills?
Goblin has some excellent moments that prove Tyler is one of the freshest artists to hit the Hip Hop scene in recent times, but at the same time it has a lot of skewed moments that make the album feel weak. Tyler fans will most certainly stand by this as a peak of brilliance in Tyler’s catalogue, but to everyone else it’s a standard Hip Hop album by someone who deserves to be listened to but has too many missteps to be called a classic; no matter where you fall though, Goblin does do enough right to warrant a purchase. So like the initial question posed as to whether or not it’s worth your well earned dollar bills, most definitely yes. Are there missteps and some flaws? Certainly, but does the album present enough GOOD music to keep you listening? Yes it does, and that is why I recommend Goblin whole-heartedly to any fan of good Hip Hop music.
RECOMMENDED FOR:
People looking for something new in Hip Hop, fans of the more horrorcore-style ridiculousness that Kool Keith pioneered, and most certainly (but you don’t need me to tell you this) for fans of OFWGKTA.
Posted by LostMoniker on June 4th, 2011 :: Filed under Out Of The Cage: Album Reviews
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