Humanity is cursed with imperfection, and overcoming imperfections is what makes life worthwhile. Imperfection creates diversity in society and art, and it differentiates us as individuals. While imperfection is a necessity and something we should be proud of, it should only be embraced to an extent. Tyler, the Creator’s IGOR goes too far in its embrace of imperfection, and that is its downfall.

“IGOR” is Tyler, the Creator’s sixth studio album following 2017’s Flower Boy, which garnered both critical and commercial success, but “IGOR” is a departure from any sort of precedent Tyler had set in the past, whether it be the horror-core style of his debut album, “Bastard”, to the the heavily pop-influenced “Flower Boy”.

Rather, IGOR draws inspiration from artists like Kanye West, having many songs with Kanye-esque production like “I THINK” and “A BOY IS A GUN”, and Zack Villere with an overall psychedelic feel.   

While production is solid and diverse overall, Tyler’s vocals on tracks where he sings (most of them) are lacking, and take a back seat to production. Tyler had stated in the lead up to “IGOR’s” release that he knew he wasn’t the best singer, and that “IGOR” tried to take that in a positive direction, however, it misses the mark. He is pitchy, and the number of vocal effects he relies on detracts from the emotion of his message.

On many songs on “IGOR”, Tyler tends to fall back to a general formula of a repetitive, echoey chorus followed by high pitched vocals; this doesn’t really work the first time and just gets worse as the album keeps going. This happens many times, including, but not limited to: “RUNNING OUT OF TIME”, “I THINK” and “I DONT LOVE YOU ANYMORE”.

IGOR boasts an all-star list of features, including contributions from Lil Uzi Vert, Playboi Carti, Kanye West, Charlie Wilson, Solange and Pharell Williams. Unfortunately, these features are underutilized and would be better suited to take up more track space. This is best exemplified on “IGOR’S THEME”, where Lil Uzi Vert has an extensive singing part, but as a prolific trap rapper, this obviously isn’t his field.

Where Tyler’s creative ideas prevail in the album’s thematics. It is made clear that he has matured as an artist, despite being exposed to the grandeur of the music industry at a very young age. “IGOR” is an ode to heartbreak that is lyrically sound, but simply not up to par sonically. I would give it a 5.5/10.