Honestly, if you were around the internet in 2011, you remember the "Yonkers" video. It was inescapable. A tall, skinny kid in a Supreme cap eating a cockroach and then hanging himself in black and white. It felt dangerous. It felt like something your parents would definitely hate. That kid was Tyler, The Creator, and the album was Goblin.
Looking back from 2026, it’s wild to see how much has changed. Tyler is a Grammy-winning fashion icon now, but Tyler the Creator Goblin songs were the raw, messy, and deeply controversial foundation of everything he built. People love to argue about this album. Is it a masterpiece of teen angst? Or is it just a bloated, offensive relic of a time when shock value was the only currency that mattered?
The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.
The Therapy Session: More Than Just Shock Value
The biggest thing people get wrong about Goblin is thinking it’s just a collection of random "horrorcore" tracks. It’s actually a concept album. It follows a narrative where Tyler is talking to his fictional therapist, Dr. TC.
This isn't just a gimmick. It’s the connective tissue that turns a bunch of aggressive songs into a psychological profile. Throughout the tracklist, Dr. TC (who we later find out is just a voice in Tyler's head—spoiler alert for a 15-year-old album) tries to figure out why Tyler is so angry.
The Heavy Hitters
You can't talk about this album without the "Big Three." These are the songs that defined the era:
- Yonkers: This is the one. That "sick" beat that Tyler famously said he made as a joke to parody New York rap. It ended up being his ticket to the moon. The lyrics are a chaotic stream of consciousness, taking shots at everyone from B.o.B to Bruno Mars.
- She (feat. Frank Ocean): This is arguably the best song on the record. It showed that Tyler actually had a melodic ear. Frank Ocean’s hook is silky smooth, which makes the lyrics about stalking a girl through her window even more unsettling. It’s a beautiful song about something totally creepy.
- Radicals: This was the anthem for every "misfit" kid in high school. The "Kill people, burn sht, fck school" chorus became a rallying cry for Odd Future fans, though Tyler starts the song with a disclaimer telling people not to actually do that.
Why the Tracklist is So Polarizing
If you sit down and listen to all 15 tracks (or 18 if you have the Deluxe), it’s a lot. It’s over 70 minutes long. That’s a massive commitment for an album that is frequently loud, distorted, and intentionally "ugly."
Some of the deeper cuts like "Tron Cat" and "Bitch Suck Dick" are where things get dicey. This is the stuff that got Tyler banned from countries like the UK and New Zealand years later. The lyrics are graphic. They’re meant to provoke. In 2026, some of these lines feel like a relic from a different planet.
But then you have songs like "Nightmare" or "Golden." These are the moments where the mask slips. You hear a 19-year-old kid who is genuinely overwhelmed by his sudden fame, his absent father, and the fact that his best friend (Earl Sweatshirt) was sent away to a boarding school in Samoa right when they were blowing up.
"N*ggas sayin' Free Earl without even knowin' him / See they're missin' an album, I'm missin' my only friend." — Golden
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That line hits different when you realize he was just a teenager dealing with real-world loss while the whole world was watching him.
The Production Style
Tyler produced almost the entire thing himself. It sounds "crunchy." The synths are buzzy, the drums are often thin, and there’s a lot of dissonance. It’s not "polished" like IGOR or Call Me If You Get Lost.
But that’s why it worked. It felt DIY. It sounded like it was made in a bedroom because it basically was. It gave permission to a whole generation of kids to start making "weird" music without needing a million-dollar studio.
Key Songs You Might Have Skipped
- Analog: A surprisingly laid-back track with Hodgy Beats. It’s just about hanging out at the park. It’s a rare moment of peace on a very violent album.
- Transylvania: Produced by Left Brain, this one is pure vampire-themed chaos. It’s fast, aggressive, and features Tyler’s voice pitched down to a demonic level.
- Window: This is an 8-minute-long posse cut where the members of Odd Future (Domo Genesis, Frank Ocean, Mike G, Hodgy) all gather at Tyler's fictional house for a "meeting" that ends in a massacre. It’s basically a radio play set to a beat.
The Legacy of Tyler the Creator Goblin Songs
So, does it hold up?
Musically, it’s uneven. There is definitely "filler" on here. "Fish" and "Untitled 63" don't always need to be there. But historically? It’s essential. You can’t understand the current landscape of alternative rap or the "e-boy" aesthetic without Goblin.
It was the bridge between the underground blog-era of the late 2000s and the superstar-driven 2010s. It proved that you could be "offensive," "weird," and "independent" and still debut at #5 on the Billboard 200.
If you’re revisiting Tyler the Creator Goblin songs today, try to look past the shock tactics. Underneath the "horrorcore" label is a very lonely, very creative kid trying to figure out his place in a world that suddenly wanted a piece of him.
What to do next:
If you want to see how far Tyler has come, listen to "Golden" (the final track on Goblin) and then immediately play "ARE WE STILL FRIENDS?" from IGOR. The growth in production and emotional maturity is one of the most fascinating arcs in music history. Also, check out the original "Yonkers" music video on YouTube—it’s still a masterclass in low-budget, high-impact filmmaking.