New Track: Tyler, The Creator's 'Igor's Theme' Is a Frightening Beginning To Something Beautiful
Tristan Young @talltristan
Tyler, The Creator’s last album, Flower Boy, was one of the most robustly realized and complete hip hop records of the last few years. With that, it’s time for Tyler Okonma to release his proverbial Kid A. His new record IGOR, is unapologetically experimental, synth wave predominant, and also possibly not really a rap album. It’s far more abstract in terms of arrangements and an eccentric shift away from his roots. This is ok! It’s still very much Tyler, The Creator. The horror core allusions, ironically sweet vocal backings, and increasingly literal ruminations on love are all still there. However, as made apparent immediately in the opener ‘Igor’s Theme’, a considerable emphasis on instrumentation and actually singing is the objective in IGOR. ‘Igor’s Theme’ starts with a droning and panicked siren; a warning to scare off as many people as he can. The progression of note structure is very reminiscent of ‘Dumb It Down’ by Lupe Fiasco albeit at a reduced tempo. The searing burn and impending doom of the beat is strikingly audacious. As the totality of it’s shock and awe tactics set in, a transition into nimble piano that is more delicate by orders of magnitude makes for a brilliant switch up. This is accompanied by Okonma’s not quite lucid vocal glides. His voice is more purposed through vague feeling that precise intonations. His simian and muscular vocals supplanted for a pillowy softness. Okonma has always excelled at articulating his messages through blunt instruments, but here there is a technical intricacy and melodically serpentine experience- especially towards the ascending spirals near the conclusion. That he habituates himself in a sonic environment so seemingly foreign with resounding success is one of the many surprises of IGOR. It’s too early to say what the best tracks are but ‘Igor’s Theme’ is bold and exciting way to get things going. We’ll be digging into IGOR for some time we imagine.