WOLF
This is our review (finally) of Tyler the Creator’s third album WOLF. Now if you are not familiar with how our review system works, I’ll quickly brief you but if you are move onto the next bloody paragraph. How it works is that we consider the album as a whole, whether it is consistent in its theme, we then consider instrumentals, features, the songs that we actually like by rating them 1-5, lyrical content, and album art, once this is all done we then give the artist a rating from ZERO to TEN.
So let’s begin with the albums consistency. Wolf starts off with a melodic introduction which is assembled with a rather contradictory lyrical composition, creating an immediate satirical association with the entire album with tyler singing ‘Fuck you….’ in a soothing tone. The instrumental aspect of this introduction briefs us into the tracks that follow it, this album sounds like it is heavily inspired by soul and RNB music. This beautifully composed introduction is then ruined by a song that I often skip, Jamba, which features fellow ODD future member Hodgy beats. The reason I skip this song is simple, the instrumental doesn’t work for me, there are too many things going on at once and Tyler’s flow doesn’t save the robotic repetitive nature of this track. Instead he leads the song into a ditch by feeding us with too much information.
LYRICS/INSTRUMENTALS(BEATS)
The album for me really begins with Cowboy, which is one of my favourite tracks on the album, why? Because the instrumental is simplistic but effective It’s melodic and provokes a really calming emotion when listened to and because of this, we are able to focus on what is being said. Tyler vaguely taps into Frank Ocean’s sexuality but is also able to illustrate his life, allowing listeners to depict where he is now, informing us of his unhappy state.
Even though he has found success, much of this album focuses on Tyler whining about the fact that he has all this money, but is unhappy. It appears that he wants to lead a normal life and hang out with his friends, however he then contradicts himself. He talks about his friends (who lead normal lives) and mocks the fact that they can’t afford meals when they go out to eat, but yet he boasts about being able to afford what he wants because of his lifestyle. It seems that Tyler is unaware of what he really wants. On one hand he says, I want the life my friends have but on the other he seems happy with his financial status, as he talks about four stories home.
What confuses about this album is his constant referencing of this cockroach from his Yonkers video, he complains about people talking about it and the fact that this is all people associate his career with but yet he brings it up and then brags about the fact that it made him money in Domo 23. He then goes onto to make a track mimicking a fan in Colossus, this song actually made me laugh, ‘Im not gay so its awkward’ was the part that had me laughing out loud but again with this song Tyler continues complaining about his fame and the new fans he gained since Goblin.
HIGHLIGHTS (BEST SONGS RATED 1-5 In order)
My favourite songs on the album are CowBoy , Answer, 48, Campfire, Treehome95 and Lone / Jornada
Lone 4/5 ;
This was probably the most monumental moment of the album, when Tyler really opens up about his grandmothers death, the sound is soulful and soothing , consistent with the rest of the album. He then quickly illustrates his experience of going to the hospital to visit his grandmother, what makes this monumental is the fact that he allows his listeners into a private moment in his life but also tucks away his joker persona for a matter that has appeared to really affect him. The reason we didn’t give this track a 5/5 was because of the first verse of this song, where he complains again about his success and whines about the fact that he has mortgage, I think if he would of talked about his grandmother for the full duration of the song we would of given him a 5.
Treehome95 3.5/5
Cowboy 3.5/5
Answer 3/5
48 3/5
Campfire 2.5/5
WORST SONG
Tamale :
To put it in plain words, this song to me was rubbish. It ruined the flow of the album . The instrumental had too much going on with it and Tyler’s lyrics were rather weak in this song. Read the lyrics here if you don’t own the legal copy :http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/tylerthecreator/tamale.html
OVERALL RATING
7.5 OUT OF TEN