Yeah, that's right.

Whenever a new album comes out, you listen to it. You jam to it, you let it sink it, and you leave it behind when you finally hit stop. From the time you hit play to when you walk away from the music, that album means whatever you want it to mean. You project your emotions, your stories onto it. Goblin is not that album. Goblin is that rare album that comes along barely where you don’t listen to it, you experience it. It refuses to be left behind when you hit stop and latches onto your brain like a parasitic worm. It’s not a blank slate for you to apply your own meaning, your own experiences onto. It has a clear cut story, a singular meaning. Goblin isn’t a throw-away album you play because it’s catchy. Goblin is an experience you never leave.

Tyler, The Creator is the leader of the LA based rap collective Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, AKA OFWGKTA, AKA Odd Future. Favorites of anyone who uses the internet, has a blog, or is a hipster, they have been blowing up in the past couple months, due to their talent finally getting notice. They have been releasing music for free online until 2008, developing a small cult following which is slowly transforming into a massive legion. Tyler, The Creator has released one previous solo album, Bastard, which you can get directly from Odd Future themselves for free here. Goblin is his major-label debut, after signing a one-album record deal with XL Recordings, who have also worked with the likes of Radiohead and Beck. Being beyond hyped up from everyone who has any sort of internet outlet, does it live up to the hype?

Goblin does something barely any albums, if any album at all, have done before. It does not give a shit about hype or your expectations. Not the slightest shit, like a piece of rabbit shit. Why is this a good thing? Because it surpasses the hype so greatly that it makes you forget there was hype in the first place. This isn’t rap, this is something far greater. Tyler isn’t trying to make something that will stand out as one of the greatest rap albums of all time, but he seems to have stumbled upon just that. So, enough build up… hey Kanye! Kanye! Imma let you finish, but Tyler, The Creator has one of the greatest rap albums of ALL TIME! ALL TIME!

Being serious, Goblin is the best rap album of the best ten years and easily one of the best rap albums of all time. Fuck it, it’s easily one of the greatest albums of all time, period. There is nothing, not a single thing, out there that is anything like this. It is unique enough to make even the most hardcore hipster cream themselves. Barely does an album give you chills, laugh your ass off, and scare the shit out of you all within an hour and a half, and if you asked me if a rap album could do that, I would have asked you if a pig can shit out wings, attach them, and fly. Well, I think some swine just flu (BAHDUMTISH) because that’s exactly what Goblin does. When “Golden”, the final track of the album, ended, I found myself unable to listen to any other music for at least half an hour and could barely speak, as I had chills, goosebumps, and was completely speechless.

While other rap albums just give a friendly “Hello!” or a middle finger from far away, Goblin gets in your face and screams until it’s covered in more saliva than bacteria. Most people say they don’t give a fuck, but then whine about everything everyone says about them. While he does use his music as therapy, Tyler, The Creator makes you believe that he doesn’t even know what a fuck is enough to not give one. He made the beats, the videos, the artwork, and the lyrics in his own way and his own way is pretty damn amazing.

Anyway, let’s rap this up (BAHDUMTISH). Goblin is not for the faint of heart. It hasn’t lost the edge Bastard had, it actually up’s the ante and makes you realize that, even if you wanted to, you can’t do shit to stop it. Rape, murder, drug use, alcohol abuse, suicide, insanity, confusion… the list goes on. But this isn’t just for the fuck of it, and it’s not just shock value to boost record sales. Tyler, The Creator has created (BAHDUMTISH) a line-up of characters that represent the dark and light sides of us all and dives into them headfirst, unintentionally almost becoming the spoke person for the human mentality. He brings the best parts of life out to the spotlight, but also drags the darkest, most ignored and conventionally rejected things into the same light, both with the same lack of care for other’s perception or reaction. But if you can weather the journey, you’ll find an experience that you will never, ever forget.

Long story short: Goblin is one of the greatest rap albums ever released. You must own it.

Goblin gets a 5 out of 5.