Tyler, the Creator - Goblin

Let's face it: the last thing the internet needs right now is another Goblin review. So widespread has the online buzz about Tyler the Creator been that he's even seen fit to reference it on this record. And that's where my first gripe stands: he doesn't just reference it, he revels in it. When hype is so rapidly built around someone it usually has a pretty unnoticed effect: teams of PR and agents will drill into the popstar or band how to behave and what to say so as to avoid controversy. Here, it doesn't seem that's in place.

Arguably controversy accounts for 99% of an artist's longevity nowadays. The likes of Eminem, Lady GaGa and Marilyn Manson wouldn't be anywhere if they hadn't indulged in homophobic, sacrilegious or satanic outbursts. And yet, with Tyler there doesn't seem at first to be anything at risk: indeed he references this on opener 'Goblin':

"I'm not a fucking rapist or a serial killer; I lied. I try too hard, huh?"

There's something quite endearing about this self-revelatory stance. Tackling the critics and fans head-on is pretty refreshing in a world of false smiles and forced modesty - just take a look at last year's Kanye West album, a bleak triumph.



But there comes a time when you have to brush aside all of the gossip columns and mumblings about what he said and why - and just assess the record at hand. His second album, Goblin addresses a new fanbase. Most of whom are probably not the intended audience: on several tracks he references hipsters, white kids and blogs disparagingly. "College wasn't working... I wasn't learning shit" he announces on the eponymous opener, and it's a pretty solid start indeed, the most slick and focussed of tracks on offer that sets the scene ably.

It's in what follows that all of my impatience and confusion lies. 'Yonkers', 'Radicals' and 'She' are all again strong, good tracks with a uniquely brusque brush-off - the former of which has been doing the rounds with its stand-out music video displaying cockroaches, metamorphosis and eventual suicide. But after these tracks there's 14 more. 14 long, repetitive, tracks.

Because for me, referencing the critics becomes tiresome. The amount of shock-tactics on show also quickly grows boring - more expletives than Chubby Brown's career (Bitch Suck Dick), more blowjob references than a Justin Bieber YouTube video comment section (Boppin Bitch), more "misogyny" (if you buy this at face value, you're a fool) than all of Facebook's kitchen joke groups (Sandwitches).



There are moments of redemption though - Nightmare is pretty blunt with its storytelling of a bad father relationship, low self-esteem and anger. 'Analog' has a summery tune that offers a little relief with some early-90s rave beats. 'Her' uses a pretty resonant tale of unrequited attention with clever, relevant metaphors ("the closest that I got was when I'm poking her on Facebook"). For me though the biggest weakness has nothing to do with the lyrics - it's the production and the beats. Some of them (notably, the instrumental 'Au79') are almost laughably bad, sort of looping around without direction or intrigue and 90% of the time seriously unddermining and bogging down the punch that Tyler is able to deliver.

Cut out several tracks, boost up the production values and cut out some of the media references and you have a masterpiece. As it is, it's mightily flawed. But one thing's for certain - he's one of the most interesting new personalities around.

Rating: 5.5/10
Highlights: Her, Yonkers, Goblin, She, Analog
Avoid: Au79, Bitch Suck Dick, Fish / Boppin Bitch, Sandwitches
Artwork Watch: Eerie, creepy, staring, solemn, pop-art, bit weird, I love it.