Why I Didn't Like IGOR

For the last little while I have posted many reviews of albums on the DarkDiscussion Instagram account. I take suggestions from people and give my honest opinion in a way that is much easier than writing a full article. And as I predicted, some people had a problem with my review of Tyler, The Creator's IGOR. Given the format of the posts on that account it would be difficult to explain my reasoning in detail so I asked my followers if they would like to see a full review, and I guess it's here. (Bet you're excited).

To get this out of the way, my reviews are never meant to be disrespectful. When I listen to an album, I keep focus on it, read the lyrics and re-listen to each song until I can form an opinion (based on my personal thoughts/preferences). If you enjoy an album that I despise, that is perfectly fine with me. It's all just an opinion. Second of all, my critical reviews (on Instagram) aren't meant to disrespect the artist. There are musicians that I dislike as people, but when I review albums or any music, I judge the music and not the artist. Overall, I don't mean to disrespect anyone with the reviews I release. I simply share my thoughts and opinions to anyone that wants to hear them.

Moving on from that, I want to make clear my reasoning for disliking IGOR. But before I state my cons of the project, I will acknowledge the pros that I found.

There are many moments in this album that feature very nice vocals from Tyler and his collaborators. The opening track titled IGOR'S THEME has a very good chorus that grabs the attention of the listener. As well as that, there are some solid verses in multiple songs. My best examples are verses 3 and 4 of WHAT'S GOOD, the first verse of I THINK and verse 3 of GONE, GONE/THANK YOU. Personally, my favorite songs of this album are WHAT'S GOOD and ARE WE STILL FRIENDS?. Both have superior production to the rest of the project, good verses and great performances from the artists.

Acknowledging the elephant in the room, I gave the album an overall rating of 4/10 on my original review. And despite what you think, I have my reasoning.

Although I give Tyler a lot of credit for trying a different style, there are many moments on this album that have very poor production. There are multiple songs that probably would've received a higher rating with better production. My best example would definitely be I THINK. I THINK doesn't have many good moments, but the mixing and mastering of this track makes the better parts worse. I DON'T LOVE YOU ANYMORE was bad all-around, but the mixing of this song was simply not well done. IGOR has many brilliant instrumentals but that doesn't mean that's all I want to hear.

The length of IGOR is less than forty minutes, I can't help but feel that there is either a lot of filler or simply nothing happening. There are multiple moments in multiple songs where there are no vocals, repetition and pauses that make the track frustrating to listen to. The song RUNNING OUT OF TIME has around 40 seconds (not including the beginning) of just an instrumental that adds nothing but runtime into the song. I'm not sure if Tyler just thought it sounded nice, but I think it's very average and says nothing. Again, I have no idea if that's filler or a personal choice, but I simply feel like it was useless. This structure really frustrates me in songs like A BOY IS A GUN, where the verses are pretty decent but the refrain, chorus and post-chorus are repeated many times despite them not even being nice to the ear. That song in particular had a lot of potential but was frustrating as hell to listen to.

With the technical parts aside, I have to be blunt and just say that this album is not my style of music. IGOR is a cross between Funk, R&B and Hip Hop, and I can respect Tyler, The Creator's creative muscle but I don't enjoy the sound of this mix at all. And I, myself, enjoy many different types of music. I'd say that rap is my most listened to, but I enjoy nearly every single genre of music to an extent. But the style of this album is very focused on the instrumentals, which I do not like, and has a lot of choir-sounding vocals. And when I say "choir", I don't mean it just sounds like a lot of people, it almost sounds like church music on Easter.

There were also sections of this project that were just boring to me. I can't be less simple than that. The freakishly long yet empty choruses on I THINK and PUPPET just made me want to fall asleep. Once again, that is just my opinion but I found multiple parts dull.

As I said before, I enjoy a lot of musical genres aside from rap, but a massive reason I love rap is because of lyricism. I will never back down on the fact that rap is highly unappreciated because the lyricism of the best rappers is so phenomenal it's unreal. The reason I mention this is because, for whatever reason, there are some pretty horrendous lyrics in this project. I don't think repetition is bad, but when it is overused it's an issue. The song I DON'T LOVE YOU ANYMORE has such annoying lyrics that I want to be strapped up in a guillotine when I hear it. I don't believe that lyrics mean everything but Tyler has shown that he has a talent for writing lyrics, solid flows and great punchlines but this whole album has nothing to say. I understand that Tyler wasn't trying to fill these songs with bars but I can't help but feel that the lack of lyrics causes tons and tons of emptiness.

Before I conclude my review, I want to reiterate a couple things. I don't disrespect any artists that worked on this project or any of the people that enjoyed this project. Also, just because I didn't enjoy it, that doesn't mean I think Tyler, The Creator didn't deserve his Grammy or doesn't deserve his fans. Tyler, The Creator has worked hard and has his talents and he deserves anything he works and grinds for. You can tell me that my opinion is stupid or doesn't matter, but I only voice my opinions to those that want to listen. If you don't care about what I have to say, you are welcome to unfollow and block me at any moment.

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