For it's 13 year anniversary, let me explain why i love this album so much despite it's controversy and the immediate hate many listeners have for it while (wo)mansplaining the story behind it! It’s a little hard for me to word these things but I will try my best.. GET READY 4 AN INFODUMP >:P!!!!!

Goblin is Tyler's first ever studio album, released 2 years after Bastard which was Tyler's first ever full-length project. Goblin is an album full of anger, resentment, and absurdism; Tyler discusses with a therapist (revealed later in the album's story to be one of his internal voices/his conscience) his mental state and how his life is going. I've personally had many struggles with mental health and found that this isn't a topic often touched on well in music. The part of Goblin that I appreciate the most is that Goblin is an album made *by* a deranged person *for* deranged people; it doesn't portray mental illness as something that can be easily fixed and it doesn't sugarcoat.

Starting with the opening track, which has the same name as the album, it's very apparent that this album isn't made by someone perfect or necessary mentally well. It begins with Tyler, as his therapist, telling himself that he doesn't have the balls to do anything he raps about. Even though he hates his life, he won't kill himself because he's too scared. Even though he hates everyone else, he won't kill them either because, despite claiming he has 0 empathy, he does care about his friends. Tyler goes on to rap about how he can't live up to what people expect of him, how he can't afford the luxuries that are considered staple items by others, and how he's really just an attention seeker. I find myself relating heavily to these experiences and Tyler shares them so carelessly and bluntly which is very refreshing. He also spends a lot of time responding to critisim and denying pretentious hiphopheads, starting confident in himself and his abilities but quickly dissolving into doubt and asking himself “I mean, I'm not that great of a rapper but as a whole, I'm pretty cool, right?” His therapist/inner voice brings up the possibility of Tyler having ADD but he quickly dismisses it and doesn’t give it a second thought. He ignores his outlandish and nonsensical actions because he wants to believe that he’s normal and has nothing wrong with him. Tyler also denies being LGBTQ+, just so he doesn’t seem different from everybody else. Tyler mentions how he’s often experiences suicidal thoughts and wonders if he’s even allowed to feel bad since he has so much support. From the beginning to the end of this song, Tyler rants about all the issues he finds in his life and argues with himself on the validity of them. Meanwhile, the beat overpowered with heavy-hitting guitar strikes and percussion drive home the aggressive nature that Tyler presents himself with.

Next on the tracklist is Yonkers. Yonkers was Tyler’s big breakout hit single and brought him out of the underground scene into near-mainstream. Tyler claims that he made the beat as a joke in 5 minutes, yet it’s catchy and a better beat than rappers twice Tyler’s age had at the time. Say what you want, but the impact that Yonkers had on hiphop is completely undeniable. The lyrics are nonsensical and gritty, sharing more of Tyler’s internal battles with himself and the characters that plague his mind and his delivery perfectly encapsulates the darkness of the song and album. As he says himself, “It’s just a big mind fuck.” In my opinion, it’s almost poetic how Tyler purposefully tried to make a shitty song, rapping chaotically in an argument with his alter ego, but ended up with the song that made him famous.

Radicals continues the pattern of invoking and spreading chaos, with a chorus chanting words that could come straight out of a crazed terrorist’s manifesto (or a hardcore punk band’s song lol). Tyler loudly expresses his dgaf attitude and rejects the opinions of ‘basic people,’ praising rebellion and defiance of the mainstream that he is now a part of. He mocks the people who call him ‘extreme’ by repeating the phrase “i’m fucking radical” and inviting listeners to join him in setting the world ablaze. Then the beat switch hits. In an instant, the beat switches from strong, harsh, and offensive to relaxed and calm. It feels like Tyler has really set the world on fire with his “sixty fucking wolves” and is now viewing his hellish masterpiece with pride. Time is on pause and the world is burning.

She featuring Frank Ocean is a fan favorite track off this album. Even Goblin haters can admit how good of a song it is. From Frank’s flowy voice and talk-singing to Tyler’s chill rapping to the soft instrumental, it isn’t hard to see why this song is so loved. But when you listen closer and pay attention to the lyrics, you hear the eerieness that was present in every other track. She is about how obsessive two characters (both in Tyler’s mind) are over a certain girl but one hides and denies this part of him a lot more than the other. They’re both absolute creeps but only one of them is obvious about it and only he is denied by the girl. This goes back to Goblin, with Tyler wanting to fit in with the rest, and the previous track, Radicals, where Tyler denies all expectations. He fights boldness with secrecy and secrecy with boldness and can’t stick to one. She perfectly exemplifies something that Tyler has said has always been his goal in music; mixing the worst of the worst with the most beautiful of beautiful. The beat is full of heart and more like a chill r&b song while the lyrics are terrifying and unspeakable but you really don’t notice it unless you really listen. Tyler even innocently interpolates a fucking Barney song throughout the track where he speaks of dragging a girl’s lifeless body through the forrest, the contrast is insane and helps draw how grimey intrusive thoughts mixed with love can be.

In Transylvania, Tyler shows resentment to this girl after she doesn’t respond to his advances and he absolutely breaks. It’s a common and immature teenager thing to lash out when you don’t get what you want and Tyler’s inner evils all seep out in this song. To cover up the fact that he was truly hurt, he constantly states that he never wanted love and, just like Dracula, only wanted blood. Transylvania is the only song off Goblin not produced by Tyler and it matches the feel of the song perfectly; it’s aggressive, outlandish, dark, and just dirty.

Following his breakdown Transylvania, Tyler faces the music in Nightmare and vents about his life. Bringing back the topic of suicidality, Tyler states he’s surprised he hasn’t killed himself yet and names himself his mothers nightmare on a gloomy piano beat. This song has always been one that I deeply connected with as someone with who deals with suicidal thoughts and only has a mother who didn’t always understand me fully or provide what i needed but i believe she has good intentions most of the time. I grew up without a father figure and as a part of the lower middle class while my mother was often too busy to look after me. I’ve had low self-esteem since a young age and never felt worthy of love so Nightmare really does hit me deep because it just perfectly explains how i feel like a burden to everybody around me. As the song continues, Tyler dissolves into madness more and more, emotions spilling out of the bottle they were stuffed into until it all explodes. Tyler apologizes for simply speaking his mind, a habit I share, and justifies his actions by saying he feels like a different person at times.

That ‘different person’ is the infamous Tron Cat. Tron Cat opens with innocent, yet very eerie, “lalala”s before detonating into insanity. Tron Cat is rapped by Tyler as another one of his inner voices, one that’s just purely fucked up.This song resulted in Tyler being banned from multiple countries and I commend Tyler for his bravery. Tron Cat is easily Tyler’s most controversial song, but it’s something that needed to be made. Tron Cat is obviously not what Tyler stands for but they are his intrusive thoughts, the same ones that pop out in She and Transylvania, and this song helped me feel better about my own intrusive thoughts because this isn’t something that is ever talked about in music. There’s no fairy dust sprinkled on this shit, it’s honest and real.

Her is another song like Nightmare that hits close to home for me. Coincidentally, it’s another slower, venting one where Tyler vents about his life. It’s a sister song to She but, rather than being creepy and stalker-like, it shows the actually affectionate side of Tyler. Tyler shows, for the first time, true feelings of love and warmth when speaking about a girl he’s hopelessly in love with but, the thing is, she doesn’t see him the same way. This song is my most listened to song of all time due to my personal experience of being in the same situation and it’s simply miserable, like the simple metronome beat.

On the other hand, Sandwitches provides a stark contrast to that simple and slow beat with another aggressive song where Tyler, along with Hodgy, yell and shout out the philosophy of Odd Future. It’s similar to Transylvania and the first part of Radicals in the sense that it’s loud and brash and chant-y. Tyler mocks critics yet again, but sincerity and openess is still present in the lyrics as Tyler makes fun of his own dgaf attitude and his financial issues while screaming fuck you to everybody who doesn’t fw him.

Fish/Boppin Bitch is a disturbing song that, despite having little true lyrical value, is still a good track imo. The cold, sinister nature of Fish quickly switches to the playful tune of Boppin Bitch to display how quickly Tyler’s alter egos can change. There’s not a lot to say about the lyrics but the extreme contrast between the silly instrumental and offensive lyrics is sorta funny and can almost leave you speechless if you weren’t expecting it.

Analog is another fan favorite, like She, but with actually sweet lyrics, like Her. Tyler asks a girl to go on a date with him to the lake, a location that is almost like a safe haven for him as it is often mentioned in his music. The vulnerability and genuine sweetness expressed in the lyrics combined with the softness of the instrumental makes it a track like no other on Goblin. He makes it clear throughout the project that he isn’t perfect, but he has his good parts just like almost any other person.

Bitch Suck Dick (B.S.D.) was very obviously a joke track, sorta like Yonkers just if it was a whole lot worse. Yet, it achieves it’s purpose in the album of being funny and compliments the performance of Tyler, Jasper, and Taco. Calling it incredible is a stretch BUT THIS IS MY REVIEW AND I WRITE WANT I WANT!!!!!!

Window goes back to the therapy session in Tyler’s mind as Tyler slowly dissolves further and further into insanity. The instrumental is gloomy, displaying how out of it Tyler is as 3 of his alter egos come together to kill his real life friends; Domo Genesis, Frank Ocean, Mike G, and Hodgy; and he’s left friendless, cold, alone, and confused. Tyler explains throughout the song how his life is depressing and that nobody gets him so the alter egos decide that the best thing to do is to kill Tyler’s friends so he doesn’t feel left out anymore but now he has 0 friends at all. The song encapsulates the feeling of emptiness and Tyler said himself he thinks that it is “what being sad sounds like.”

The next track, AU79, is an instrumental interlude. It’s fast-paced and sounds like what could possibly be running through Tyler’s mind after he kills his friends. He’s panicked, and the track shares that emotion without any lyrics solely through the dramatic feeling of the string instruments. Alternatively, AU79 can also be the sound of Tyler retreating into a safe space in his mind. He’s said that, to him, AU79 is what Adventure Time sounds like and he feels like a happy 5 year old when it plays. The track provides another look into Tyler’s vulnerable side and shows him dealing with all the things going on in his mind by trying to run away from them.

Golden is the final non-deluxe song of the album and matches up with the first song to create the phrase Golden Goblin. The name is representative of Tyler’s sweet, vulnerable (golden) side and his devious, evil (goblin) side. The song continues the fight in Tyler’s head and he again threatens to kill himself because his life isn’t going how he wants it to until he ultimately gets treated with some sort of drug by a nurse and it all comes together in his head that these alter egos aren’t other people, they’re him. This leaves the album on a cliffhanger of not knowing if Tyler’s mental state will ever get better.

That is, until the 3 deluxe tracks. Burger is first, featuring Hodgy beats. Right from the start of the song, Tyler is talking about killing himself with cyanide and it’s clear that, no, his mental state isn’t getting better. It’s admirable of Tyler to show that getting professional mental help isn’t a straight-lined journey and it’s not easy to recover. Throughout the song, he boasts his success from a place of insecurity to make himself feel better about his life.

Untitled 63 is another instrumental interlude and it’s just a beautiful beat to listen to. It was actually an early version of AU79 and sounds like the first blossoming of Tyler’s Flower Boy tree, if that makes sense. It also prepares listeners for the final storm with some calmness.

The final conclusion track of Goblin is Steak Sauce. Simply put, Steak Sauce is angry. It’s a song full of rage, resentment, and bitterness. He just raps for 3 minutes straight, going hard as shit and throwing punches at everybody who goes against him while the noisy instrumental adds to the chaos of it all. Ending the album so abruptly, the final line of Goblin is “all associates can suck cock” and it simply summarizes Tyler’s attitude to external criticism; he doesn’t give a fuck.

So why do I love this album so much? It’s honest, it’s brutal, it’s manic, and it’s real. It’s a display of mental illness and poor mental health in full and none of it is a lie or something that Tyler makes you feel bad about. It’s just a confrontation of what goes on in a brain and so incredibly relatable if you pay attention to more than just the ‘edgelord lyrics.’ In 2018, Tyler said that he thinks Goblin is horrible but I really don’t care, I will always appreciate this album for it’s honesty and it helps me feel not alone in the things I go through, knowing my favorite artist went through it all too and came out great. It gives me hope for myself in the future and maybe I won’t end up a failure, maybe I’m a genius like Tyler and just don’t know it yet.. alr sorry for the glazing i love this album i love tyler thank you for reading this review/rant/analysis/infodump/essay/whatever this is if you did :* goodbye ofwgkta 4evr