Angering Fanbases: Tyler, the Creator’s Igor

Mid-Week Update 9/11/24: September Series: Angering Fanbases

A day late, but here we are! My review of one of the most celebrated rapper switch-ups of all time, Tyler, the Creator’s Igor (2019).

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Igor is 12 tracks, 39 minutes in total, a fairly quick listen and one I think is very worth it if you haven’t heard the album before. Its sound is a unique mix of Hip-Hop and Art Pop, with Soul influences. The album has near universal critical acclaim: On Album of the Year, Igor’s critic score is 85 and its user score is 90 out of 100. On Rate Your Music, over 63,000 users rated it an average of 4.09/5 stars, placing it at #38 overall on the site’s list of best albums.

This album marks a pretty significant left turn in Tyler’s career. Tyler, the Creator began his music career in the Hardcore Hip-Hop space, making music so intense and lyrically divisive that he was initially banned from performing in the UK. Over the course of the next decade Tyler would gain more and more relevance and popularity, while also diversifying his sound to include influence from Pop and RnB music. His 2017 release, Flower Boy showed the most significant shift in sound, embracing Neo-Soul and Alternative RnB alongside his more traditional Hip-Hop style. But fans were unprepared when, two years later, he released Igor, his biggest style shift yet.

Igor is a concept record. The titular main character moves through a love triangle involving himself, his male love interest, and the woman that comes between them, progressing during the album from infatuation, to depression, to acceptance and forgiveness. The writing here is generally very good, although I can think of few lyrical moments that really stand out for me. This is probably the first place where I diverge from popular opinion on this album: I don’t particularly care about it being a concept album. I can agree that its pretty unique and interesting for an album in a Hip-Hop-related space, and I’m definitely glad a story like this exists. But as someone who doesn’t go to music for a good story (I’d much rather read a book or watch a movie, that’s just how I am), the concept doesn’t hold a lot of weight for me.

Before getting into the specifics, I’ll give my brief overview.

Igor (2019) by Tyler, the Creator, Overview

Production Quality: 80/100. This is a very creative and well-produced album overall, but some of the songs don’t hit as hard when played out-loud on speakers, I’ve noticed.

Vocal Performance: 35/100. This is the biggest sticking point for me, and the thing that really makes this album hard to listen to. I’ll talk about it more in depth later, but for now suffice it to say that I hate the way most of the vocals on this album are produced.

Lyrical Quality: 85/100. Great writing, strong concept, but nothing particularly standout in each individual song. The way they all come together is good, but I don’t have much more than that.

Favorite Song: “GONE, GONE/THANK YOU”. I think this is one of the best produced songs here, and the vocal performance is (mostly) fitting for the song. It works great, the beat switch is excellent, the whole thing feels like the climax of the album for me.

Least Favorite Song: “WHAT’S GOOD”. I actually love the beat on this song a lot, which is why the vocals being as quiet and fuzzed out as they are makes me so mad. This legitimately could be one of my favorites on the album, but it seems like Tyler was afraid to make just a straight up rap song with hard-hitting, compressed vocals. I hate that the vocals sound the way they do, to me it’s a massive misuse of a great beat.

Favorite Rap Verse: Playboi Carti on “EARFQUAKE”. This verse is iconic, its weird in the way that Carti always is, but because this song is so lush and ethereal, it totally transforms the context of his vocals. Normally Carti sits in a very singular space, raving and moshing and spitting these squeaky, staccato bars in a way that’s often psychedelic and hypnotic. On “EARFQUAKE” he instead comes off like some kind of alien, or tiny Cupid-like deity, rapidly delivering incomprehensible wisdom. It’s very fun, I like it a lot.

Overall Album Rating out of 100: 65

Full Review Below

Most of my opinion is shaped by the sound of this record. And I’ll start off by saying that basically all of the songs here are very well-produced. When I first listened to it I felt like some songs were missing some ranges of frequencies and felt kind of empty, but after revisiting it for this review, I think that was more down to the vocals (which I’ll be talking about later) and the speakers I was using before. I listened to it again out loud on some speakers, and I felt the same way: a lot of these songs sound much better on headphones, especially the more high-energy cuts like “EARFQUAKE” and “NEW MAGIC WAND”. On speakers, these songs don’t hit nearly as hard unless they’re played very loud. I don’t know if this is down to the quality of my speakers or the mix, but I lean the latter simply because I only notice this problem when listening to Igor. Regardless, it’s probably ultimately just a taste thing, these songs just don’t have enough for me.

But the number one problem for me here are the vocals. And specifically Tyler’s vocals, because there are great background singers and feature artists that are mostly produced in a way I enjoy. But for whatever reason, there are basically no times when I actually like the way Tyler’s voice comes off. Sometimes that’s down to the effects, like the fuzzy, distorted, quiet rapping on “WHAT’S GOOD”, or the pitched-up singing on “EARFQUAKE”. Other times, his voice isn’t being run through any effects, like on “THANK YOU”, and instead just sits in a weird place in the mix. I think this has all got to be down the personal preference, because I rarely if ever see these opinions reflected by others, but whatever. Ultimately, it just doesn’t work for me, no matter how much I’d like it to. As an album experience, it typically comes and goes and leaves me wondering if I even heard a complete album.

My final score for Igor is 65/100. I enjoy listening to some of the songs, but I ultimately do not understand the hype. As always, let me know your thoughts, especially if you’ve listened to Igor and agree or disagree with anything I’ve said. If you enjoyed, consider sharing this, subscribing, or even pledging your support! Everything helps, and I appreciate anything you can do to help make my dream of writing for a career a reality! Until next time, take care of yourself and read/watch/listen to/bellyflop onto something interesting!