Tyler, the Creator, from the Odd Future group, is a pretty controversial, polarizing figure. Some people love him, some people hate him. Critics either praise his vision, or call him the most disgusting, repulsive thing to happen to music. I wouldn't say I belong with either, but I respect his artistry, and he's a solid MC. Bastard, his debut effort, is a good introduction to him, and a pretty good determining factor on whether you'll like him or not. The mixtape is definitely not for everybody, but there is definitely an audience for it as well.
Tyler is not a highly lyrical MC, but he has a great vocal presence and voice. Tyler's subject matter and language is what people often have a problem with. Tyler often gets called a homophobe because of his heavy use of the word "faggot", which is often where a lot of the criticism directed toward him lies. A lot of the mixtape's content is about rape, and Tyler bragging about being a rapist, which is another aspect of it that people may hate. The biggest example of this on the project is the song "Sarah", which is the most gruesome song here, and arguably the most gruesome song in his catalog. The premise is that Tyler gets rejected by this girl he asks to prom, and proceeds to kidnap her. Another example is on the song "French", where Tyler says "I tell her it's my house, give her a tour/In my basement, and keep that bitch locked up in my storage/Rape her and record it, then edit it with more s**t". However, this isn't part of some theme of the song, this is just another brag rap to Tyler, which goes to show just how sinister his character is. These are just a few examples of his controversial content.
The production on this mixtape is the star, as it's innovative and interesting. The full mixtape is self-produced, and goes to show why Tyler is one of the best producers in the current state of hip hop. It also makes me wish Tyler would produce for people outside of Odd Future more often. The best track on the album, "Inglorious", has a creative beat, and Tyler rapping about his father being gone. Some of the other best tracks on the mixtape include "VCR/Wheels", "Blow", and "Slow It Down", which each have creative, unique beats as well, and laced with a lot of detail, as most beats on the project are. The lyrics are mostly about rape, but they don't come off as sick and evil, they often come off as forced and used for shock value. Rather than coming off as brutally brilliant and demented like Eminem or Brotha Lynch Hung, he comes off as an edgy teenager trying to shock as many people as possible. With hip hop, I don't have a problem with subject matter most of the time, but I do have a problem when it becomes repetitive or forced like it does here. However, lyrically Tyler does show moments of genius and impressive wordplay.
Overall, Bastard is a solid mixtape from a young artist who seems to know what he's doing, but doesn't quite get the execution right most of the time. The production is pretty great for the most part, and while Tyler does show promise as an MC, he just needed to work on fixing some of his faults, like his often forced subject matter and lyrics. Overall though, I do recommend the mixtape, as the overall sound is interesting, and Tyler shows enough promise to make up for what he lacks as an MC.
Ratings:
1. Bastard: 4/5
2. Seven: 4/5
3. Odd Toddlers (feat. Casey Veggies): 3.5/5
4. French! (feat. Hodgy Beats): 3.5/5
5. Blow: 4/5
6. Pigs Fly (feat. Domo Genesis): 3.5/5
7. Parade: 4/5
8. Slow It Down (feat. Hodgy Beats): 4/5
9. AssMilk (feat. Earl Sweatshirt): 4/5
10. VCR/Wheels: 4/5
11. Session (feat. Hodgy Beats & brandUn DeShay/Mike G): 3.5/5
12. Sarah: 3/5
13. Jack and the Beanstalk: 3.5/5
14. Tina (feat. Jasper and Taco): 2/5
15. Inglorious: 4/5
Best songs:
Inglorious
Blow
VCR/Wheels
Slow It Down
Bastard
Weakest song: Tina
Production: 7.9/10
Lyrics: 7.4/10
Overall rating: 76/100
Grade: C
