By KEVIN JACOB
Staff Writer
Welcome all to another amazing edition of Kickin’ It. This week not much has released besides Tyler, The Creator’s WOLF album. Besides reviewing that, I’m going to review an album that I’ve been listening to quite a bit of lately—Kid Cudi’s Man on the Moon II for a little bit of a throwback for you guys. Let’s get into it.
Tyler, The Creator: WOLF
Let me start off this review by stating that Tyler, The Creator is my dude. Definitely not the best rapper, but to me, Tyler is one of the more entertaining ones out there doing it today. My freshmen year I caught onto the OF wave and heard Tyler’s first album BASTARD. In my teenage angst it fit right in, and after letting it sit with me for a while, I found out that his second album GOBLIN would be coming out that year. Again, for the time period I was in, GOBLIN got me through some pretty tough times. Now we find ourselves two years later. Tyler’s long awaited album WOLF is finally out. And it’s great.
Where BASTARD and GOBLIN both were really hyped-out and anger-filled albums, Tyler has kind of chilled out on WOLF. His emotions aren’t nearly as all over the place, and not only has his rapping gotten better, but the production has improved amazingly. WOLF starts out with its self-titled intro and you can already tell that this album’s going to be good.
Then we have “Jamba” which sounds a little Cool Kids-influenced and Hodgy Beats ripping his guest verse. Next we get “Cowboy,” a personal favorite of mine, and tracks such as “Answer,” “48,” and “Rusty” are all great tracks. Tyler even makes his own version of Eminem’s “Stan” with Colossus which is kind of creepy but very detailed. For me “Lone” is the best song on the album. It shows Tyler at his most vulnerable talking about the death of his grandmother who died of cancer last year. Its jazzy beat is very grandiose in a sense. It’s the perfect finale to the album.
The only songs I wasn’t fully into was “Awkward” and “Domo 23” but besides that, the album is pretty flawless. Upon hearing the album, besides a very few select albums, this one makes you actually feel something when listening to it, whether it be anger, joy, sadness, etc. I haven’t heard an album in a while that’s made me feel that way when listening to it. WOLF will not only be Tyler’s breakthrough album to the mainstream, but it’s one of my favorite records so far this year. Do yourself a favor and check it out.
Rating: 10/10
Throwback Album of the Week—Kid Cudi: Man on the Moon II
This album was vastly underrated. After the success of Man on the Moon I, fans expected more of the same, but Cudder took a bit of a left turn and was a bit more emotional on this one. It was a dark album, and many didn’t like that, but I for one loved it. Cuts like “Maniac,” “Ghost!” and “Mr. Rager” are amazing and the eerie production makes the songs sound even more dangerous. “Don’t Play This Song” challenged his fan base to accept him without the drugs that he endorsed. This album had Cudder baring his soul and revealing pretty much all of his demons. You started to understand him more, in a sense. The best track on here,“The End,” had not only Cudi, but Chip Tha Ripper and GLC at their finest hour. They all spit fire on that track.
In the end this was a great album, and if you missed out on it when it first came out, you should go check it out because this is true art right here, and Cudi’s new album Indicud is set to be released in the next couple weeks. Get hyped, because it’s sure to be a banger.
Rating: 9/10
That’s all we have this week for Kickin’ It. I have no idea what’s supposed to be coming out besides Indicud in the next couple weeks. But we’ll have to wait and see. Until then, keep listening and reading. Peace.
