Album Review: Tyler, the Creator - IGOR
Even more stunning that Tyler, the Creator's personal reinvention from immature bigot to mature, reflective artiste on his 2017 masterpiece Flower Boy was the musical left turn that project took. Years of abrasive, grimy hip-hop were washed away in a sea of neo-soul and R&B that made all his previous work look pitiful in comparison to such a painfully honest portrayal of his regrets and doubts, both as an artist and in coming to grips with his sexuality. IGOR is very much a thematic sequel to that record, Tyler taking full advantage of his new reputation to spin a tale of romance gone wrong as only he could. In the process, he delivers a fatal blow to any who previously thought they could put him and his music in any sort of box, and bends the boundaries of genre to his will; the result is something that is impossible to quantify, but definitively his.
As much as Tyler has been unable to shed the label of 'rapper' despite his clear distaste for any one designation, to call this a hip-hop album would be woefully inaccurate. There is rapping, certainly, but his voice is used just as often for dreamy, neo-soul crooning and catchy pop hooks, his production talents lending themselves impressively well to whichever mood he inhabits. In addition, a great many cuts here feature drastic shifts in mood around the halfway point, often used to either ramp up the tension (NEW MAGIC WAND) or slow things down (I THINK) as the listener is forced to accept that Tyler's sound can never be pinned down. Every track feels musically distinct from the rest, yet never does the experience feel anything but carefully coherent, the seamless transitions and spoken-word interludes from comedian Jerrod Carmichael helping to make it all appear as a contiguous experience.
Labeling IGOR a neo-soul album seems closest to the truth, especially in the face of charming, groovy moments like the back-to-back A BOY IS A GUN and PUPPET. Comparing his lover to a firearm may seem callous at first, but Tyler's discussion of how his feelings may be unhealthy is very compelling, littered with emotive quips like "How come you the best to me? I know you're the worst for me". The constant interjections from a voice singing the track's title and a well-used soul sample tie all the verses together, and the echoing piano drifting in and out helps strike the perfect balance between soulful and reflective. PUPPET continues to explore the dangers of infatuation, Tyler utilizing a quick, monotone flow to discuss being controlled by his feelings as Kanye West intones woefully in the background of the chorus. West's verse is less impressive, but the track overall is a gorgeous expression of Tyler's internal conflicts.
The rough, unfriendly attitude that defined his early projects still exists, but since Flower Boy has mutated to brief descents into a menacing, bass-heavy madness, thankfully more obsessed with atmosphere and groove than being meaninglessly provocative. WHAT'S GOOD opens on an ominous synth drone that quickly cedes the floor to rattling percussion and (eventually) a dreamy keyboard line as Tyler's voice threatens and brags, filtered as if his words are coming through a phone line, or else uttered as warnings from the ether. Even when boasting about surviving a car crash, hints of an underlying melancholy still poke through amid the endless onslaught of electronic noise: "I ain't have nobody to cheat on, I cheat death/New album, no repeat, I reset". NEW MAGIC WAND, a similarly aggressive cut, represents a brief relapse into the violent imagery and uninhibited rage that made Tyler famous, his clear jealousy of a lover's ex-partner and threats of murder leaving little doubt as to what his 'magic wand' represents.
While Tyler is no stranger to using pitch shifting and autotune to smooth out the edges of his rough, guttural voice, many such adjustments on IGOR turn his unique rasp into a tinny, strained whine that, while it briefly appeared on his previous album, is here an indiscriminate and ubiquitous presence, often ruining the careful ambience of cuts like EARFQUAKE and RUNNING OUT OF TIME. Luckily, the former track is redeemed by a stellar guest verse from, of all people, Playboi Carti, whose signature nasal whine is somehow a perfect compliment to the dreamy synths and beautiful piano line underneath it all. The greatest slight to longtime Tyler fans, however, is the surface-level lyricism; where Flower Boy dealt quite poetically with themes of depression, nostalgia, and Tyler's anxieties at coming out of the closet, underneath all of its innovative production IGOR is practically a pop album, intensely obsessed with the study of a single relationship. The only real ambiguity is in what the 'Igor' character mentioned throughout the record represents, but largely the depth present begins and ends with the instrumentals; Tyler's words are simply too plain to warrant much interest.
It's hard to be too disappointed in IGOR, given how innovative it is on its own merits and how much progression Tyler, the Creator has made in his sound in the relatively brief time since releasing Flower Boy. Inventive and experimental as it is, however, this album is certainly not the magnum opus that his previous effort was, even if it may prove to be just as much of a reinvention. Tyler's talent behind the boards continues to improve and impress, yet any further decline in his lyrical abilities may alienate hardcore and casual fans alike. Still, it's unlikely that he cares too much about how his music is perceived; if this album and its predecessor have proven anything, it's that Tyler will continue to make the music he wants to make, and if his recent output is any indication, such personal efforts will continue to turn out great.
8.5/10
Favourite Tracks: I THINK, A BOY IS A GUN, WHAT'S GOOD
https://open.spotify.com/album/5zi7WsKlIiUXv09tbGLKsE