Perspective From The Beak Of A Bird

Tyler, the Creator “Massa”

Tyler, the Creator spends pretty much the entirety of “Massa” explaining himself to the listener, but with a sort of begrudging attitude – it’s like he can’t tell why he wants to explain himself to you, or why you’d need him to do that in the first place. This is a core tension of a lot of his music, this push-and-pull between wanting to be understood and resenting the implications of that desire. For a song that’s spilling guts about his motivations and pivotal moments in his life he seems very guarded, like he’s more interested in shaping your idea of him and setting the record straight on misconceptions about him and his class origins. The thing that jumps out at me in the lyrics is how many lines explain the context of his previous records – they’re not just mile markers for his personal growth, but clearly the focus of his entire life.

And of course this is the case for a auteur rapper/producer. “Massa” feels as powerful and confessional as it does in large part for Tyler’s expert framing of his own vocal. The production is crisp but the drum loop and organ parts feel just a little grimy, the arrangement is sparse but gets gradually more dense as the drama builds. Nothing is too ham-fisted, nothing is too subtle, nothing gets in the way of the nuances in his voice.

Buy it from Amazon.