Igor - Tyler The Creator (2019)

Ideated from: a Black History Month reminder that black artists largely built the modern world of music

Tyler started out going for shock value along with his wild new ideas. He’s since evolved into a full-powered producer as well as an excellent rapper. He’s also a singer who–due to his rough voice–probably doesn’t get enough credit for his melodic sensibilities.

Igor leans into R&B and pop (Tyler got upset when it won a Grammy for best rap album, and he has a point: It’s no more rap than a lot of other albums in the main album of the year category). Production-wise, it’s a very mature effort. Synths and driving rhythms are undercut by dense bass. There’s a lot of tension and release just in the basic tracks, and it’s made even starker with a range guest vocalists and Tyler’s varied delivery.

Thematically and lyrically is where Tyler has really emerged, though. His early work was criticized for being juvenile and obscene (even by rap standards). But while a lot of people then thought he was just trying to shock, I think it’s fair to say in retrospect that he was a young man with massive ideas, and hadn’t found a good way to voice all the complexities in his head. Now he’s able to take those topics seriously and find a way to address them, which is a perfectly normal progression.

Discog-ology

Next: Call Me If You Get Lost

Previous: Flower Boy

Tracks I Liked

Earfquake - An ultimate pavement-pounder with a soulful vocal

New Magic Wand - a buzzsaw synth line runs through a great vocal performance

A Boy Is A Gun - I think it’s not for nothing that this is one of the more “traditional” deliveries on the album, with Tyler’s untreated voice rapping verses about sorting out the record-long same-sex relationship