-Trendy white guys have decided that Tyler the Creator is the new messiah - or perhaps more aptly, the new anti-Christ - of black music, and that excites them very much.
-I have listened to his album, and though, as an (ultra) trendy white guy I might be breaking from tradition in saying this, I think that Tyler the Creator is a waste of time, and I don’t buy any of it.
-This is not because it’s too violent, or too provocative, or not provocative enough. But because it’s the literal definition of mediocre hip hop music, just with a bit more rape fantasy. And actually, rape fantasy isn’t that fun, especially when deployed by 19 year old boy, with a voice like a larynx replacement, against a monotonous drone that I’m constantly being told is a revolutionary new sound in music production.
-Call me square, but in and among all the mind-numbing mediocrity of the album, I did actually find some of the misogynistic stuff mildly offensive. Maybe I’m getting soft in my early twenties, but it just seemed a bit of an affront to hear the word ‘cunt’ deployed at me every few seconds in such an unimaginative way. Now, in my day, Ol' Dirty Bastard or Eminem could tell a violent, misogynistic fantasy yarn and I’d be all over it like bitches on Kool Keith’s dick. But there’s something about this little Tyler the Creator squirt that doesn’t quite work. I could be slightly tied up in a resentment that the kid’s probably getting laid more than I am (though only marginally more, I reckon). And I’m sure anyone who disagrees with me will try to convince me that my being offended just shows that he’s made his point, and that I ‘just don’t get it, maaan’ (or ‘bruuuv’, depending on what side of the Atlantic we’re on, or more specifically, whether it’s Brooklyn or Dalston). But that line won’t fly with me. I’m not offended because the album is an unexpected and inventive assault on my middle class sensibilities and respect for the fairer sex. I’m offended because, within the context of it’s own…shitness, I suppose – the fact that it isn’t really anchored to any tangible sense of real originality or creativity - the album’s pointless attempts at being abrasive just seem to accentuate how fucking dull the production is overall.
-I also can't stand the fact that English people feel that they are allowed to talk about Tyler & Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All in stylized, 90s hip hop slang, using phrases like, 'word is born', and ending sentences with 'son', as if they are part of the cast of New Jack City, as opposed to having grown up in Gospel Oak and working a Saturday job at the Stussy store in Seven Dials.
-Anyway, I said it. Tyler the Creator is no big deal. And if any of you Supreme cap-wearing, top button-buttoning, sneaker-collecting, ‘street art’-perpetrating whiteboys try to convince me that OFWGKTA are the new Wu-Tang, or that I’m being a pussy and don’t understand, I promise I’ll shove a pair of Limited edition Air Jordan hi-tops down your throat, son. And then knock ya gurl's boots. Whilst listening to Raekwon.
Paaayce.
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