Many consider Tyler, the Creator to be one of the top five rap artists this decade. Tyler, who has been an artist since his debut album ”Goblin”, released in 2011, decided to switch up his music and create a non-rap album in 2019 and called it “Igor”.
“Igor” was the fifth album from the rapper, producer and singer Tyler, the Creator. The concept of Tyler’s album builds upon his previous works, but focuses on love, telling a story and personal growth.
The album was released on May 17, 2019, and had some amazing features, such as Playboi Carti, Lil Uzi Vert, Solange, Kanye West and Jerrod Carmichael. The production of the album started somewhere in 2017 after the album “Flower Boy” was released.
Tyler noticed that he had to switch up from his previous albums to reach a larger target audience, and so he looked to change his style of music completely. The style of his album is hard to determine, but it focuses on hip-hop, r&b and soul. He uses a more melodic approach to songwriting on “Igor”. This is a big difference from his previous albums where he focused a lot on rapping and hip-hop beats. The concept of the “Igor” album was a departure from Tyler’s works that centered around unrequited love and personal growth.
The concept album follows a story of a character named Igor, who is struggling with his feelings for someone. On the album, listeners follow Igor’s thinking process as he navigates his desires.
Overall, “Igor” is one of the best albums to be released in the last five years, and deserves a moment in the spotlight, and may attention than it has been given.
The best part about this album is Tyler’s experimentation. He uses a lot of different sounds and music styles which he had not previously combined. Because Tyler, the Creator worked on “Igor” in his home studio, he was able to get creative and take his time crafting the right sound. Audiences can hear how he incorporated these experiments in almost all of his songs on the album.
One that really stands out is the song “New Magic Wand”, which uses distinctive instrumental arrangements: a dark, pulsating beat with a prominent and haunting synth melody.
Tyler, the Creator’s album carries deep meaning as well – much deeper than his previous albums. Listeners follow Igor, who is in love with a boy, as he thinks through his infatuation. The process is emphasized by the lyrics and song names. In fact, only from the song’s names can one truly follow the story.
The blending of different genres on this album is partly what makes it so unique, but also the fact Tyler sings a lot in the album which is something completely different from what he used to do. Tyler gained recognition in 2011 with his first studio album, “Goblin”, which was a hard rapping, hip-hopping album with a lot of curse words and controversial lyrics. Compared to “IGOR”, one can see how much Tyler, the Creator’s music has changed. With “IGOR”, he used his voice to truly sing for the first time, whereas in the past, he had only rapped. The change in style helped Tyler attract a variety of new listeners.
The album absolutely deserves every single award it has won, including the most recognizable award, a Grammy for the Best Rap Album of 2020, a Brit Award in 2020 and a NME in 2020.
Tyler made a perfect album with “IGOR”. His new way of experimenting with music and mixing genres forever changed music, and for sure, Tyler’s career. “IGOR” deserves a listen, not only for the story that is told behind the lyrics, but also for the first time Tyler, the Creator used his singing voice. And that’s a “rap”.
