"This is what the devil plays before he goes to sleep." Tyler, leader of OFWGKTA says on the opening track 'Bastard', and as Rapgenius puts it:"Throughout the song, Tyler plays what is called a “Tritone”. The tritone has a sinister and dissonant sound, which is an appropriate sound for this rap but much more appropriate given this line. The tritone was once banned by the Catholic Church for being the sound of Satan."
This is just a sample of how clever Tyler is, and the lengths he goes to, to hide little references and meanings in his songs. It's apparent as the album goes on that Tyler isn't a normal rapper or even person, he's messed up to Hell and back. He's genuinely messed up in his head as he talks about how much he hates his father, which a lot of the album is based on, killing himself, killing people, raping people, doing drugs, getting back at his ex-girlfriend for breaking his heart, and other assorted dastardly things.
And the best part is, while he may be joking about raping people and doing drugs (he's straight-edge), he sounds genuinely serious about everything else. His hatred for his father for abandoning his mother practically burns through some tracks, with lines such as "Fuck a deal, I just want my father's email, so I can tell him how much I fucking hate him in detail" delivered with such genuine anger towards his father about being abandoned.That is to be expected, with what Tyler had to go through, but on songs such as 'AssMilk' with his younger brother Earl Sweatshirt, who was about 15 the time of recording, they keep talking about them raping someone, and they keep trying to outdo eachother by exchanging increasingly clever lines and references, it's really hard to choose who's better on the track, with them both delivering lines I'm not even sure if I should blog here.
That's something else about Tyler, he loves the shock factor. He is much more explicit and shocking than even Eminem ever was. Delivering lines that sound innocent, starting with "Cruising around Walmart in my go-kart selling cupcakes", painting a somewhat humorous image in your head, and then ending it with "Go ahead, admit it, faggot, this shit is tighter than butt-rape."
Such is Tyler.
But onto the actual music, it's pretty much great and hard to believe it was just some guys messing around in an amateur recording room. It sounds like a proper studio album, and that's because Tyler did a great job producing on it. He didn't want Super 3, Syd, or Left Brain's help. 'Bastard' is his baby and he wanted to be fully responsible for it, and for the most part, he's pretty good.
And his rapping is pretty great too. Combined with his naturally raspy voice, it almost makes him sound demonic as he raps about certain subjects on this album, and it works. He also slows down his voice a few times on this album to morph into one of his two alter egos, 'Ace', who is a serial rapist, and 'Wolf Haley' who is described by Tyler to be his white serial killer alter ego.
This is also a concept album based around Tyler and a therapist talking about his life, his attitude, and his songs. At times, with Tyler even shocking the therapist with his songs.
This isn't just the Tyler show, though, also featured on the album is brother Earl Sweatshirt, Hodgy Beats, Casey Veggies, Domo Genesis, Taco, Jasper Dolphin, and depending on what version you get of the album, either Brandun DeShay or Mike G. Most of them only appear once, except for Hodgy, who gets three spots on the album, the best being in 'French!' where he does the chorus and a small rap near the end.
The album is explicit, offensive, occasionally deep, and funny. Explicit and offensive in the quotes I sampled above. Deep in the songs where he actually talks about his life, and funny in the way he delivers lines, the stuff he mentions, and the song 'Tina' he does with Jasper Dolphin and Taco, who cannot rap.
Aside from the explicit songs about bad subjects, this is pretty much the bastard child's life soundtrack, especially at the end, during 'Inglorious', where he commands bastard children to sing with him as he talks about how he grew up without his dad and learned how to do many things without him. This is almost like Tyler's diary at points.
Tyler is quickly becoming popular, and for a good reason, he's actually good. Do not dismiss this man or the rest of OFWGKTA because of their fame or some of their retarded fans, they truly are clever, hilarious people, especially Tyler. Tyler himself, aside from the rest of OFWGKTA, could very well be the next leading MC of hip-hop.
The only thing really bringing this album down is the fact that it feels like it doesn't really open up to you the first time you listen to it. You won't get all of the references or the atmosphere, but when you do, it's great. It's pretty friggin' great and it won't be forgotten easily.
8/10
Recommended tracks: Assmilk, French
