- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Jun 26, 2013It's complex, conflicted, and bipolar. Paranoid, even. Most of all, it reveals the harmless and empathetic character behind Tyler, the Creator's complicated persona.
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The WireApr 24, 2013He just keeps getting better at writhing around in this narrow space of homage and usually lands somewhere just between endearing and brilliant. [May 2013, p.67]
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Apr 17, 2013Wolf’s production features a more textured and subtle sound than we’ve ever heard before.
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Apr 15, 2013At times, there's the sense Tyler's charisma outweighs his content, and as such it's probably up to Earl to deliver the group's first bona fide hip-hop classic.
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Apr 10, 2013Whether he does fast angry raps like "Domo23" or revealing personal songs like "Lone," his music is never not fascinating.
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Apr 9, 2013It may not have the global appeal of his OF stable mate’s Channel Orange, but it is certainly his most accessible and enjoyable.
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Apr 9, 2013Wolf is both a departure and a refinement for Tyler, combining his best traits in such a way as to nearly eliminate his weaknesses.
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Apr 9, 2013Tyler's Wolf may lack in editing and aural oomph, but it more than compensates with wit, if you can get past the way he seems to revel in tossing off invectives and then doubling back to defend them.
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Apr 8, 2013Wolf is still packed with signs of potential, and at this point it would be just as foolish to write Tyler off as it would be to call him one of the best in the game.
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Apr 8, 2013Wolf is Tyler's album through and through, a mostly diverting document of juvenile delinquency that defines him better than any prior musical effort.
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Apr 8, 2013We already knew he was a talented composer and producer, but Wolf suggests he now may just be the finished article.
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Apr 5, 2013There’s a lot more diversity in the sound of the album, and it’s there that Wolf immediately shines.
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Apr 4, 2013The emphasis on reacting to criticism and persona-maintenance occasionally overshadows the significant developments and leaps Tyler has made as a producer and musician on this record.
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Apr 4, 2013This album is so enjoyable on a musical level that my qualms with Tyler as a personality are essentially nullified, but I’m not sure that will ring true for most others.
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Apr 3, 2013With Wolf, Tyler, the Creator is exciting again: maybe not as the ringleader of the Odd Future empire, but as a producer who just turned 22.
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Apr 2, 2013If you’ve made your peace with his artistry, the rewards are considerable.
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Apr 2, 2013Using Wolf as a platform to let his imagination run wild while remaining accessible, Tyler, the Creator displays maturation on his own twisted terms.
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Apr 1, 2013While Tyler will almost certainly never outgrow life as a weird, hell-raising provocateur, Wolf shows that he's already growing into life as a smart, diverse artist.
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Apr 1, 2013It's a fun album for fanatics, but the willingness to shock feels too comfortable at this point, so those who found it tiresome before will likely find it devastating here.
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Apr 1, 2013Wolf's mix of retro soul, moody synths and backwards beats doesn't add up to his masterpiece, but the fan-stalker narrative "Colossus/The Bridge of Love" is his own "Stan".
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Apr 1, 2013This is no walk in the park, it has to be said, but Wolf is going to be remembered as the record that sees Tyler deploying his tact as an astute beat-maker and a producer more than allowing his reputation as a Satan-worshiping neo-fascist to swell any further. Musically, it’s a step in the right direction.
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Apr 1, 2013At its best, Wolf manages to make the inroads toward accessibility that Goblin wouldn’t and pulls it off without sacrificing too much of Tyler’s refreshing capriciousness.
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Apr 1, 2013Tyler is his own worst enemy, of course. But the buoyancy of the production and the overall intrigue of hearing him struggle with his idle hands prevent the album from getting mired down in too much vanity.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 301 out of 337
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Mixed: 27 out of 337
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Negative: 9 out of 337
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Apr 2, 2013
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Apr 2, 2013
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Apr 3, 2013