Tyler the Creator - Yonkers

This first thing you notice is the beat. Simplicity is a great thing, but Tyler the Creator takes it a step further with a hesitating low bass and a frightening, repeating sample. If you're not familiar with OFWGKTA, you're in for a ride here. Tyler raps of "threesomes with a fucking triceratops", wanting to murder B.O.B and Bruno Mars, and his dream of having Stevie Wonder as a wide receiver on his football team. The beauty here is Tyler's seamless transitions and the dark lyrics.

Actually, dark is a bit of an understatement here, but you don't need to look much further than the shocking music video that accompanies "Yonkers". A single camera remains focused on Tyler as he raps, eats a cockroach, coughs up blood, gets a nose bleed, and then decides to kill himself. It's surprisingly straightforward, but man if it isn't horrifying.

At one point, Tyler raps "Jesus called he said he is sick of the disses. I told him to quit bitchin’. This isn’t a fucking hotline." It's just a dope line in every meaning of the word, but upon further thought, I don't think he'd react to a call like this in any other way. This kid is crazy (oh, did I forget to mention he's only 19?), psychotic even; but when it comes down to it, the only word I can really choose to summarize Tyler the Creator is genius.

4.5/5