“IGOR” by Tyler, the Creator: the Renaissance painting of the music industry

Upon listening to Tyler, the Creator’s Grammy-winning fifth studio album, “IGOR”, listeners are instantly transported into the world of the maker’s — or should I say Creator’s — love story. Be warned: there are no butterflies or giggling or first-date pish posh. Instead, through clever metaphors and hidden references, Tyler Okonma (AKA Tyler, the Creator) explores his turbulent yet uncannily realistic infatuation towards a certain someone and — get this! — without rose-colored glasses. 

In just twelve tracks, Okonma’s record requires as much analysis as that of School of Athens by Renaissance artist Michelangelo. But that’s what makes the album so addicting: it’s an auditory painting filled to the brim with clues and implications. Like classical art, every revisit is a new experience. There are countless different interpretations you can get from this 39-minute record — and those multiply due to references to movies like Call Me By Your Name to American sitcom The Office sporadically (but deliberately) being embedded within lyrics. Who knew an album could be so… fulfilling?

Tyler, the Creator’s genius ability to blend 21st century and old-school components brings tracks like “A BOY IS A GUN*” and “EARFQUAKE” to a standing ovation. Only Tyler can masterfully combine the 1971 hit “Bound” by the Ponderosa Twins Plus One and rap solos by Playboi Carti to flow with such euphony.  

Unlike his other albums including “Flower Boy” (2018) and, most recently, “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST” (2021), “IGOR” is an emotional roller-coaster. We follow Okonma’s inner turmoil and obstacles he must overcome and, frankly, this album is a means of escape from his harsh reality, demonstrated in “EXACTLY WHAT YOU RUN FROM YOU END UP CHASING”. With the lyrics being “Exactly what you run from, you end up chasing. / Like, you can’t avoid, but just chasing it and just like trying. / Giving it everything that you can”, Tyler acknowledges the dilemma he is facing. He’s pining after someone who’s toxic yet so irresistible that Okonma can’t help but overlook the bright red flags. It’s tragic and powerful, adjectives you wouldn’t consider ideal when describing a fling. 

So why is this album so praiseworthy? Well, instead of the lovey-dovey, too-good-to-be-true romance story other artists sing about, Okonma shares a different perspective, one that isn’t necessarily appealing. Through piano riffs, trumpet blares, and audio recordings by American comedian Jerrod Carmichael, Tyler presents a whole other aspect of “love”: one that is obsessive, unhealthy, and unrequited (there’s even another woman in the picture!). “IGOR” is a modern Renaissance-esque masterpiece with brushstrokes of ambiguity from Okonma’s palette of emotion and rawness. As Tyler, the Creator once said, “Don’t go into this expecting any album. Just go, jump into it.”