Tyler, The Creator’s sophomore album “Wolf” is an alternative hip-hop album released in 2013 from Odd Future Records. This album is amazing to me because it shows the more creative side of Tyler.
“Wolf” is the Tyler album that marks the start of his maturing, rapping less about controversial and offensive topics and rapping more about how excited he is to be famous. Also, the production, handled entirely by Tyler himself, is awesome. The chopped drum samples to the nasty hard horns are very nice. According to a 2015 interview with Nardwuar, Tyler said that the album’s production is inspired by ‘90s R&B and I really hear it.
The album’s second track, “Jamba,” comes in with the famous four-count Pharrell producer tag, even though the whole album is produced by Tyler. The song’s’ braggadocious lyrics are clever and sometimes comical, which is a common theme in Tyler’s verses. He talks about smoking marijuana and other ways to consume cannabis, despite many times making it clear throughout the album that he does not smoke. The song’s second verse is performed by Hodgy, a fellow Odd Future rapper and songwriter. His flows and voice is a perfect fit to the weird synthy beat Tyler chose.
Wolf’s fifth track, titled “Domo23” is something real Odd Future fans love, which is the hard-hitting songs with offensive lyrics. A lot of Tyler’s fans in the early days were just like him, messed up in the head and in need of an outlet. And most of those fans still stick around to this day, which I find amazing. Anyway, Domo23 brings fast flows on top of crashing cymbals and a hook that screams “Golf Wang” which is Tyler’s clothing brand. Tyler later confirmed that it was his 8- year- old cousin who sang that chorus.
Jumping to the 14th song named “Rusty,” this song is one of my favorites. It is a 5 minute bar-fest featuring Odd Future members Domo Genesis, and the mysterious, 18 year old Earl Sweatshirt. This was Earl and Tyler’s first song together since 2009, due to Earl being sent away to boarding school, while OF was blowing up, in Samoa. “Rusty” is a great track. It is bundled with a motivating Domo hook with an Earl verse that was cut short for some reason, and a long Tyler verse talking about how he is not treated with respect in the music industry, most likely due to his satanic shenanigans early in his career. But, he didn’t mean any of that, he was just a young kid trying to piss people off.
Overall, this album is a great listening experience for teenagers feeling like they are alone and against the world. This album proves that you are not alone in your struggles. The complaining verses in this album are completely relatable to me as a teenager. This album is my favorite in Tyler’s discography. “Wolf” by Tyler, The Creator gets an 8.5/10 from me.
