Tyler the Creator performing under his ‘IGOR’ persona at the Grammys
via: Variety
Tyler the Creator’s 2019 release of ‘IGOR’, a 12-track studio album, was a revolutionary and impactful one, telling a beautiful story about love and heartbreak, friendship and romance, truth and secrecy, and more. The project, once a huge gamble and change in Tyler’s sound, persona, and style, has gone on to become one of, if not his greatest musical achievement. This is how IGOR mastered storytelling.
Tyler Okonma, better known as “Tyler the Creator”, is one of today’s most popular rappers, producers, and songwriters. But originally, he didn’t have the same success early on. His first studio albums from 2009-2015 were polarizing, edgy, and inconsistent in both sound, themes, and lyricism, turning many off. However, things would change with his 2017 release “Flower Boy”, embarking on a whole new tone of music and personality, something cleaner, better sounding, more consistent, and successful. The album peaked at second on the Billboard 200, an astounding improvement from prior numbers. However, Tyler was only just getting started with his musical success.
Tyler’s Twitter message posted on 5/16/19, just one day before the release of the album.
One day ahead of its May 2019 release, Tyler posted a message to social media describing how his upcoming album ‘IGOR’ wouldn’t be just an album, but a full on listening experience. This project wouldn’t just be something completely different in his catalog, but something never seen before in music.
“THIS IS NOT BASTARD, THIS IS NOT GOBLIN, THIS IS NOT WOLF, THIS IS NOT CHERRY BOMB, THIS IS NOT FLOWER BOY. THIS IS IGOR,” he wrote. “DONT GO INTO THIS EXPECTING A RAP ALBUM, DONT GO INTO THIS EXPECTING ANY ALBUM. JUST GO, JUMP INTO IT,” he continued
Before even jumping into the track list, it’s easy to tell how IGOR contrasts with his other projects just by looking at the album cover. ‘Flower Boy’ is complete with a cover depicting a vibrant orange sky and rolling hills. In contrast, IGOR’s cover has a charcoal portrait of Tyler on top of a fully pink background. It’s out there, it’s rough, it’s everything that represents the album’s sounds and story.
‘IGOR’S THEME’ is a perfect way to introduce the album and its themes. The heavy synthesizer use, overlapped and high pitched voices, and brilliant production as a whole sets a tone for the rest of the project. These elements are all found consistently through the rest of the album. Following the intro is ‘EARFQUAKE’, the album’s most commercially successful song. The song kickstarts the romantic narrative of the record, explaining how his love is “For real, for real this time” for another man. “Don’t leave, it’s my fault”, a double entendre late in the song, stresses his intentions shifting from friendly to romantic.
Tyler continues stressing his love growing more and more, and he won’t settle for anything less. On the next track titled ‘I THINK’, many themes of EARFQUAKE are expanded upon, as the protagonist continues stressing his growing love with a funky, groovy beat. However, his chances begin to dwindle. ‘RUNNING OUT OF TIME’ introduces an antagonist to the story, a woman involved with Tyler’s lover, leading to lyrics speaking out to his interest such as “Are you living in pretend?”, “So take your mask off”, and “Stop lyin to yourself”, hinting at their homosexuality and it’s cover up.
The aggressiveness of ‘NEW MAGIC WAND’ shown with flamethrowers in a live performance
Via: cosmos-press on Reddit
‘NEW MAGIC WAND’ is a complete game changer, both in music and theme. A once tame Tyler, seeking shared affection, turns violent, wanting to eliminate the third variable with his ‘magic wand’. “This 60/40 isn’t working, I want a hundred of your time, you’re mine”, “She’s gonna be dead, I just got a magic wand,” he yells out with a heavy bass behind him.
“That’s my favorite song I think I’ve made, I love that song,” Tyler said in a 2019 interview with Kervin Frost
In NEW MAGIC WAND. Tyler’s alternate-ego is in full swing at this point. Using different personas has been a common theme for Tyler, dating all the way back to his first albums, but IGOR as a persona is completely different. IGOR is the story’s main character, a desperate version of Tyler the Creator battling his ugly, messy feelings. His music videos and subsequent concert performances showcase Tyler dressed up as this persona, a vibrant look complete with sunglasses, vibrant suits, and a bleached wig.
IGOR’s costume showcased in the music video of ‘EARFQUAKE’
While NEW MAGIC WAND shows the extremes he’ll go to in order to be with this man, the next two songs, ‘A BOY IS A GUN*’ and ‘PUPPET’ take a turn. Our protagonist realizes the damage that his feelings are causing, told in lines like “You so motherf***ing’ dangerous, you got me by my neck”, “No, don’t shoot me down”, “Stay the f*** away from me”, and “You got me by a string, oh lawd”. Now, the idea of settling on platonic ideals may not be so distant if he wants to stay involved with his lover.
While the two songs blend well with similar themes, they heavily contrast each other in sound. A BOY IS A GUN* involves more of a sad, deep, intricate rap sound than the rest of the album, sampling the early 1970s soul track ‘Bound’ by Ponderosa Twins Plus One. PUPPET is an even more mellow track, driven by strong melodies and subtle Kanye West vocals. The following song, ‘WHATS GOOD’, is a heavily layered, aggressive song that again, contrasts a lot of other songs yet fits in so well.
The final three songs have some of, if not the best moments on IGOR. ‘GONE, GONE/THANK YOU’ reminisces on his lover, as his affection has faded away. “Whether it’s rain or shine, I know I’m fine for now. My love’s gone, my love’s gone. My love’s gone, oh, gone (two, three, go). Or maybe it’s just a dream that I can’t seem to wake up from,” he sings.
On the second half of the track, he gives thanks for the memories, but says he never wants to go through it all again. Tyler samples lines from Tatsuro Yamashita’s ‘Fragile’, containing lines like: “Thank you for the love, thank you for the joy. But I will never want to fall in love again (again). Thank you for the time, thank you for your mind, oh. But I don’t ever want to fall in love again”.
‘I DONT LOVE YOU ANYMORE’, one of the album’s most underrated songs, expands upon a lot of themes on the prior track. Tyler screams “I don’t love you anymore!” behind an epic beat drop, pouring his heart out. He finishes the song with an eerie, dark tone, saying “But this might just be better for us, you kn-“, leading right into the album’s finale.
‘ARE WE STILL FRIENDS’ is the perfect conclusion to IGOR’s love story. Our protagonist wants to be friends, he wants this person in his life, further pouring everything out into it. “Don’t get green skin (green skin), keep contact (keep contact). Don’t say, ‘Goodbye, smell you later’ (bye, later). Nah, I can’t. I don’t want to end this season on a bad episode,” he says, leading up to a final call out of “Can’t say goodbye”, a perfect finish to the song and the album.
Ultimately, the meticulous details, perfectly paced and mastered sound, and ability to craft a brilliant record from start to finish all creates the perfect storm for Tyler the Creator, allowing his career to reach new heights. The project, while worked on by a number of successful artists, was arranged and produced every single song of the track list by Tyler, becoming one of his most intricate works. He even goes as far as making the first note of ‘IGORS THEME’ and the final note of ‘ARE WE STILL FRIENDS’ the same.
Tyler onstage with his mother after winning his first Grammy in 2020
Via: ABC7
The album debuted at number one in the US, a huge feat for Tyler, followed by a Grammy win the next year. Despite winning best rap album, the project is considered to lean more towards neo soul, hip hop, funk, pop, and R&B, a completely unique sound in his discography. Less than 50% of his vocals were rapping, though most songs did still feature rap performances.
“IGOR was definitely like all feeling. Woke up in the morning, this is how I felt, made that song, did that for like two weeks, and then I was like ‘oh s*** I have something’,” he remarked in a 2019 interview with Apple Music.
The story of a love triangle, revealing one’s true identity, and settling for less is something hardly ever seen before in a concept album, but it worked for Tyler the Creator. Even after 4 years, it has proved to age excellently, placing among top albums in this century and modern hip-hop. IGOR is beautiful, IGOR is ugly, IGOR is everything that a story and concept album should be.
If you haven’t already, take the time to listen to IGOR from start to finish. You won’t regret it.
Adam Cooke Journalism 