Goblin is the debut studio album by Odd Future leader Tyler, The Creator. It was released on May 10, 2011 through XL Recordings. The album's production came almost entirely from Tyler himself, along with contributions from fellow Odd Future member Left Brain.Goblin continues Tyler's dialogues with his fictional therapist Dr. TC, first heard on Bastard.
The album was preceded by singles "Sandwitches", featuring Hodgy Beats, "Yonkers", "She", featuring Frank Ocean, and "Bitch Suck Dick", featuring Jasper Dolphin & Taco Bennett. The single "Yonkers" is considered responsible for garnering the significant internet and industry buzz surrounding the OF group at the time of the album's release. Upon its release, Goblin received generally positive reviews from music critics. The album cover features Buffalo Bill at age 19.
Background and release[]
On October 8, 2010, Tyler and Hodgy released "Sandwitches" on Odd Future's official website for free, saying it was not going to be on any albums. On February 10, 2011, Tyler released the music video for the first single, "Yonkers", from the album. An extended version with an extra verse was later released on iTunes four days later, along with an extended version of the previously released track "Sandwitches". On February 16, Tyler and Hodgy performed "Sandwitches" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, making it the first television appearance for any Odd Future member.
Deluxe edition cover
One month later, on March 16, 2011, Tyler and Hodgy performed the tracks "Yonkers" and "Sandwitches" on the mtvU Woodie Awards with the rest of Odd Future. On that same day, a preview of "Tron Cat" was released online as promotion for the album.
Also in March, the album cover was posted online featuring a colored picture of Buffalo Bill when he was 19, and it was featured as a backdrop for Tyler's MTV performance. The cover is credited in the album's personnel notes to "Thebe". On March 24, Tyler posted the track list on his Twitter, and the track "Sandwitches" was to be included on the album. In March and April, pre-orders were released onAmazon for the standard and deluxe editions, respectively. Pre-orders for both versions were then released on iTunes on April 15.
On April 21, Tyler posted several pictures from the filming of a new music video, followed by an announcement that the video is finished on the next day. On April 22, Tyler released a promo video involving himself portraying a character named Thurnis Haley who is a golfer. A second and third promo was released several days later. On April 28, Tron Cat was leaked online. On April 30, snippets of the album appeared on Amazon. On May 3, Tyler and Hodgy performed "Sandwitches" and "Analog" on BBC, along with them performing "65" off of the upcoming MellowHype album.
The third single to be released from the album was "She" featuring Frank Ocean. On May 9, 2011, Tyler posted a picture of a TV screen on his Twitter, with the caption "She". The music video for "She" was released June 3, 2011.
The album's fourth single was announced to be "Bitch Suck Dick", featuring Jasper Dolphin & Taco. The music video was released at 5pm Western Time/8pm Eastern Time on October 11, 2011.
Tyler has said that the album was supposed to feature the song "Llama" featuring Earl Sweatshirt, however, it was removed due to his mother not giving Tyler permission to use his vocals.
Goblin was also released as a deluxe edition with alternate artwork and packaging, a poster, lyrics, and a second disc containing three bonus tracks. Tyler released the deluxe edition cover of the album on his Flickr on April 4, 2011. Goblin was also released in a clean edition removing any profanities.
Reception[]
Commercial performance[]
The album debuted at number 5 on the Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 45,000 copies in the United States. On the week of August 28, 2011, Goblin climbed up 92 spots on the Billboard 200 in the United States. As of April 2013 Goblin has sold 230,000 copies in the United States.
Accolades[]
With moderate success on this album, it made Tyler won for Best New Artist at the 2011's MTV Video Music Awards.
Critical response[]
Upon its release, Goblin received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 72, based on 37 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Jon Dolan from Rolling Stone awarded Goblin 3 and a half, out of 5 stars, complimenting the album's "lush, left-field R&B-tinged tracks" along with its "early-Eminem evil" lyrics. David Jeffries of AllMusic.com also gave it 3 and a half, out of 5 stars, commenting that "Tyler’s production is as attractive as ever, contrasting his disgusting rhymes and gruff voice with subdued, sometimes serene beats that echo and creep." Slant Magazine critic Huw Jones awarded the album a 4 and a half out of 5 stars rating, praising its production and stating that "Goblin could well be one of the decade's most significant releases...a masterpiece for those capable of stomaching it."
The reviewer Jen Long from the BBC enjoyed Tyler's lyrical "run of shock tactics reminiscent of Eminem", many strongly criticized the similarity. Joshua Errett of Now said that someone should have informed Tyler that "Eminem already did this 15 years ago", givingGoblin 2 out of 5 stars. Randal Roberts from the Los Angeles Times commented that the album just "presses the same button that Elvis, Johnny Rotten, Chuck D and Eminem did" and after "about 50 minutes you just want Tyler, the Creator to shut the hell up", giving it 2 out of 4 stars
Track listing[]
All songs produced by Tyler, The Creator (T. Okonma) except "Transylvania", produced by Left Brain.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Goblin" | Tyler Okonma | 6:48 | |
| 2. | "Yonkers" | T. Okonma | 4:09 | |
| 3. | "Radicals" | T. Okonma | 7:18 | |
| 4. | "She" (featuring Frank Ocean) | T. Okonma, Christopher Breaux | 4:13 | |
| 5. | "Transylvania" (produced by Left Brain) | T. Okonma, Vyron Turner | 3:12 | |
| 6. | "Nightmare" | T. Okonma | 5:22 | |
| 7. | "Tron Cat" | T. Okonma | 4:13 | |
| 8. | "Her" | T. Okonma | 3:31 | |
| 9. | "Sandwitches" (featuring Hodgy Beats) | T. Okonma, Gerard Long | 4:51 | |
| 10. | "Fish/Boppin' Bitch" | T. Okonma, C. Breaux* | 6:19 | |
| 11. | "Analog" (featuring Hodgy Beats) | T. Okonma, G. Long | 2:54 | |
| 12. | "Bitch Suck Dick" (featuring Jasper & Taco) | T. Okonma, Davon Wilson, Travis Bennett | 3:36 | |
| 13. | "Window" (featuring Domo Genesis, Frank Ocean, Hodgy Beats, & Mike G) | T. Okonma, Dominique Cole, Christopher Breaux, G. Long, Mike Griffin II | 8:00 | |
| 14. | "AU79" (Instrumental) | T. Okonma | 3:40 | |
| 15. | "Golden" | T. Okonma | 5:43 |
| Deluxe edition bonus disc | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Burger" (featuring Hodgy Beats) | T. Okonma, G. Long | Tyler, The Creator | 3:49 | ||||||
| 2. | "Untitled 63" (Instrumental) | T. Okonma | Tyler, The Creator | 1:06 | ||||||
| 3. | "Steak Sauce" | T. Okonma | Tyler, The Creator | 3:22 | ||||||
Notes[]
- "Fish" contains an uncredited appearance from Frank Ocean.