Dissect - S10E8 - WHAT'S GOOD by Tyler, The Creator

Episode Date: December 6, 2022

Our season-long analysis of IGOR continues with WHAT'S GOOD, where Tyler uses the brash, masculine IGOR alter-ego to regain his autonomy after losing himself on the previous song PUPPET. Shop Season 10 merchandise here. Follow on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter. Host, EP, Writer: Cole Cuchna Writer: Camden Ostrander Audio Editor: Kevin Pooler Theme Music: Birocratic Recreations: Andrew Atwood Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From Spotify, this is Dysect, long-form musical analysis broken into short digestible episodes. This is episode 8 of our season-long examination of Tyler the creator's Igor. I'm your host, Cole Kushner. Last time I dissect, we examined Igor's pivotal eighth track puppet. It was there we heard Tyler come to the realization that he'd lost himself and his free will in his attempt to win his crush over. This loss of self is then symbolized musically, as midway through puppet, Tyler disappears from the song. We then heard a guess verse from Ye, who had a guess verse from Ye, who has,

when this critical moment plays the wise patriarch helping to resurrect Tyler and send him back on the correct path. Yay's conclusive message to Tyler is to breathe on a song. Both literally and figuratively, this command to breathe on a song comes to fruition in Igor's next track, the subject of our episode today, What's Good. But at some point, you come to your senses. What's Good was produced by Tyler Coma and features guest vocals by Slow Tie. The song begins with a biting, ascending riff that accents three pairs of minor second intervals. An interval is the distance between two notes, and a minor second interval is the

closest two notes can be to each other. Tyler uses three minor second intervals in the introductory riff for what's good, beginning with a G sharp and A, jumping up to a C sharp in D, and jumping up again to a G sharp in A, now one octave higher. The riff then scales back down using the same notes it climbed up with. Now there's a few interesting things to consider about this opening riff. which will also be heard intermittently throughout the song. First, we noticed the similarities between It and New Magic Wand, which also heavily featured the minor second interval played on a distorted synth. We also recall that New Magic Wand was preceded by the song Running Out of Time,

a heartfelt ballad that sharply contrasted with the aggression and violence of New Magic Wand. When viewed as a pair, we observed how the two songs and their contrasting emotions were a large-scale expression of Igor's beautiful and ugly motif, reflecting the way his passion can swing to and from emotional polarities, from love to hate in a blink of an eye. We now feel a near identical contrast between puppet and what's good, with Tyler even using the same musical interval to convey what will feel like parallel emotions between new magic wand and what's good.

But there's an added layer in the relationship between puppet and what's good, and that's their key signature. Both use notes that belong to the A major key signature, with Puppet using A major to create a beautiful and slightly tragic core progression. Meanwhile, what's good singles out the only two minor second intervals in the A major key signature. Now for me, the fact that we have two contrasting songs back to back, with both using the same set of notes to create vastly different musical beds, is the perfect musical metaphor for what's occurring emotionally in Igor's narrative at this moment.

Just as Tyler's crush, just as the single person that we deeply care for, can elicit contrasting emotions like love and hate. So too can the same set of notes elicit contrasting musical emotions, from the forlorn sigh of puppet to the manic aggression of what's good. Recall that Tyler also expressed another duality in the central gun metaphor that united another pair of back-to-back songs New Magic Wan and a Boy's A Gun. It was here that the gun was used to express both the safety and danger Tyler felt with his crush, another duality derived from a single source.

This kind of album-long multiplicity of expression of a single theme on both a macro and micro-level is true motivic development, all serving to shape the central Igor character, who, as we've seen, can be both poetically beautiful and scornfully ugly. After a brief pause, What's Good continues into its first verse. The drums we hear are sampled from a 1972 song called Black Grass by Bad Basketball. Sustained over these drums, Tyler plays another minor second interval, this time in unison. Over this, we hear Tyler or Igor rapping through a distorted microphone, very similar to the final verse of New Magic Wand.

He begins, Turn My Lights on. With light and its natural evocations of sight, awareness, and clarity of vision, this opening phrase establishes the song's central theme, and feels like a natural progression from Puppet's outro, where Gerard Carmichael said, but at some point you come to your senses. It evokes the idea of the light bulb turning on,

a classic symbol for revelation. Also recall that Puppet ended with the sound of an ambulance, which along with Tyler's disappearance midway through the song, seem to convey a kind of death, a rock-bottom moment for our protagonist. In this way, coming to your senses and turn my light on evokes rebirth or awakening. Symbolically, the light also seems to tie into the album-long idea of Tyler and his crush being in the dark or closeted because of the crush's fear of judgment. Tyler's demand of turning his light on is a demand to be seen, to be free, to emerge from or transcend this darkness and secrecy.

Finally, turning the lights on is in some sense literal. Tyler or Igor is request the spotlight, presumably on a stage, as the next line is, How the fuck you quiet with the mic on. This silence when it matters most is consistent with the crush's lack of communication we've witnessed all album long. With Tyler's frustration at full tilt, it would appear he's taking the mic for himself, alone. This initial image of Igor on a stage with the lights on feels in line with the performative aspect of the Igor character, a kind of emotional costume Tyler assumes when building

himself up as a reaction to rejection. This bravado continues into the the lines, I don't get anxiety, you Sam Bowie ass N-words, I just get my mic on. This claim of no anxiety is yet another parallel to New Magic Wand, specifically the line, I live life with no fear, except the idea that one day you won't be near. Now there's no exception, as Tyler uses Igor to detach himself from the puppet strings that controlled him. Tyler also makes reference to the 1984 NBA draft, one of the most infamous drafts in sports history due to the Portland Trailblazer selecting center Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan. Injuries would cut Bowie's career short, while Jordan, of course, went on to become

the game's greatest player of all time. Tyler's play here is that his competition is Bowie while he gets his Mike Jordan on, clever wordplay with the previous line, Quiet with the mic on. In this crucial moment of the relationship, Igor doesn't crack under pressure, just as Jordan was famously great in clutch situations. The draft's order also connects with the Igor narrative, as Tyler is the second choice for this guy, yet he's going to be the one who comes out on top. The next line, y'all said I wouldn't go nowhere, I took the detour, continues the flex. Another occurrence of the album long travel motif, a detour is the longer or non-traditional route to a destination,

which Tyler compares to his own career following his own path as opposed to following trends. What's Good's next line is a bit puzzling, as it's hard to make out in the song, and Tyler's own self-published official lyric sheet actually has this line half missing. On the lyric sheet it reads, When you see,

then there's a large blank space followed by the seashore. given that Tyler himself omitted whatever was said here, it's possible he fumbled this part of the verse or didn't actually have lyrics for this particular line. In any case, we can infer that Tyler is the person by the seashore, which is consistent with the detour line before this, implying that Tyler took the scenic route, the longer but more enjoyable journey. He then mirrors the structure of this line in the next, rapping, when you see them brand-new leaf floors on the floor. Tyler's calling out his golf-la-floor company's collaboration with Converse, with the first pair of shoes releasing in 2017.

Interestingly, on Puppet, Tyler was asking for the crush's company, saying, that's all I want, other than air, oxygen, and financial freedom, I want your company, I need your company. This dependency has all but vanished on what's good, as Tyler flexes his own company as a boast of independence and self-sufficiency. We also recognize the wordplay, as Lee Floor is a hominine with The Floor, just as Tyler played with Sea and Seashore in the previous line. He wore shoes on stage or the dance floor.

continues the initial imagery of the verse, with Igor holding the mic under the lights. This reference to himself and the third person builds character mystique, similar to the brief He's Coming line from Igor's theme. And just as He's Coming was followed by the shout, Igor, Once Good's first verse concludes, If the cops ask my name, bitch, I'm Igor. With this formal introduction and embodiment of the Igor character, we assume this is the moment of full transformation into the alter ego,

the altar Igor. In the first episode of this season, we explored the inspiration for Tyler's Igor, which might include the bellhop character Igor from West Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel, or the Gothic stock character Igor, the hunchback assistant to the mad scientist and Frankenstein. Crucially, both references are servant characters, in line with Tyler's position in the love triangle of Igor's narrative, but also his lifelong position as a stepchild, a word Tyler would often use to describe himself, from the weirdo black kid that didn't play sports

to the weirdo artist whose music or style never quite aligned with dominant trends in hip-hop. It's fitting that in a verse where Tyler describes taking the detour or alternative route in his career that he would come to embody the Igor character fully. Whereas the rejection from the crush could lead to devastation and insecurity, the Igor alter ego allows Tyler to pump himself up, celebrate his accomplishments, and wear his misfit attributes as badges of honor in order to find the strength and confidence to move on. Tyler's use of an alter ego adheres to its traditional use in various storytelling mediums like literature or film. Perhaps the famous example is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, where Edward Hyde represents the traditional

doctor's other self, a psychopath who is unrestrained by the conventions of civilized society, exploring how good and evil reside inside each individual, and how an alter ego is capable of overpowering the original self. A more recent example is found in Fight Club, where a repressed docile insomniac narrator working a dull corporate job develops the alter ego Tyler Durden, a cool, exciting, masculine anarchist, everything the narrator is not. These traditional alter ego characteristics are present in Tyler's Igor, as we've seen Tyler hurt, confused, and weakened by this guy that he just described as a puppet master controlling his every thought and action. And so if Tyler is the subservient, emasculated marionette with no

power, then Igor is the reactionary opposite, masculine, confident, and dangerous. He's a rock star, on stage under the lights holding the microphone. Much like Tyler Durdin, Igor is the vessel through which Tyler will find the strength to escape his current role as puppet and be free. As Woodsgood progresses into its hook, we hear additional production elements, including the return of the introductory riff, only now it's played by a bell-like synthesizer in a much higher register. Behind this, we hear that familiar distorted bass following the riff in a lower register before it maniacally repeats a low A, like someone relentlessly striking a punching bag. Tyler matches this new energy reciting,

let's go, let's go, I ain't playing around. This is Igor's urgent desire to move, to get somewhere, sick of going nowhere in this relationship. The idea of not playing around also seems to reflect his attitude toward the relationship. He was always taking it seriously, as opposed to his crush playing games. He continues, red nose, red nose, all you end words is clowns. Clowns notoriously play around, bridging this idea from the previous line. It's more bravado, with Igor once again building himself up and claiming to be superior to his competition, all of the Samboe

Michael Jordan comparison. It also recalls the line, Where is Rudolph from Puppet? Which was used to refer to the crush's girlfriend. Now Igor flips the red nose of Rudolph to call her a clown. He then continues, N-Words turning it up, well shit, I'm tearing it down. If

everyone's going one direction, Igor is going to take the detour and go the opposite way. Interestingly, back on earthquake, Tyler's worst fear was things falling apart. Now he's the one tearing things down as he reclaims his own power and autonomy, the ability to control his own fate. Igor's boast then reach a pinnacle when he ends the hook wrapping,

hard to believe in God when there ain't no mirrors around. The play here is that Igor's the God, and so if there's no mirrors with which to see himself, then he can't see or believe there's a God. This pays off on a line we heard in a Boy as a Gun, when Tyler rapped, let's see if you're around a God around this time next year. Like the callback to the anxiety line in New Magic Wand, a Boy As a Gun had Tyler going back and forth between ego and fear. and now that fear has dissipated, left with only the all-in expression of confidence.

Now we have to call out some similarities between these final two lines of the hook and two songs from Kanye West's 2013 album, Yeez-Sys. First, there's the line, N-Words turning it up, well, shit I'm tearing it down, which feels like a direct nod to new slaves. Meanwhile, Tyler's hard to believe in God when there ain't no mirrors around, reflects the central message of Yeezus' third track, I Am a God. I am a god. It's in I Am a God that Yeh also compares himself to Michael Jordan,

much like Igor did in the first verse. These back-to-back references to Yeas'n't-nigmas to fight you. These back-to-back references to Yeas makes us the third song in a row that contains a connection to Yeh. A Boy is a Gun sampled the same song as Bound 2. Yee has a pivotal feature on Puppet, which seemed influenced by Yee's Pinocchio story from 808's and Heartbreak, and now the nods to New Slaves and I Am a God. It was also the sonic bond between Yeezus and Igor,

as both albums heavily showcased distorted synths, atypical song structures, and a unique fusion of influences. Perhaps these musical bonds are most obviously revealed in both albums' opening moments, as both feature a distorted synth sustaining a single note. As we covered in Season 8 of Dysect, Yeez is a narrative album that tells the story of the character Yeezus, Yeas alter ego of sorts,

who uses extreme ego, shameless womanizing, and assertive bravado in order to mask the pain and vulnerability felt in the aftermath of losing love. While the first half of the album is consumed with ego, little by little, Yeezes exposes his vulnerability and pain, ultimately coming to reject his hedonistic lifestyle in order to love again, this love is expressed in the album's final song Bound 2. As Chris Lambert wrote in his Igor profile for Forbes, quote,

I think Tyler's using the Igor character much in the way Kanye did Yeezes. There are the personas that help cope with heartache and pain. When you have in Gerard Carmichael's words, given it everything that you can, what other option is there than to focus on yourself again. Too much ego for too long is a problem, but a little bit here and there can be just what someone needs to get back on their feet. What we get on what's good is that,

outpouring of ego, the full-blown Igor persona that helps Tyler cleanse himself with the heartache and confusion that had consumed him. He reestablishes the free will that he had lost, unquote. The clear parallels between Igor and Yeezus only reinforce Yeas' role in Igor's narrative as a sage. Both in real life and in this fictitious narrative based on real events, Tyler looks to his creative forefathers for guidance, lacking as he does, a biological father to fulfill that role. And as it turns out, the influence works both ways, as Tyler has reached a place where he's now influencing the same artist that influenced him. Here's a clip of Yee in the studio with Tyler during the Cherry Bomb era,

telling Tyler there would be no Yeezus without him. But that's one of your jobs in hip-hop. I don't think it would have been a Yeezus if it wasn't for you. I don't think it would have been like this verse right here if it wasn't for you. It's like, or the shit that Wayne just did. Because it's certain things that push you different than it's just right. In an incredible cycle of reciprocity, the continual push and evolution from Yee to Tyler, from Yeez's to Igor, we see their familiar

bond laid bare. Now, returning to What's Good, the hook's final tag, What's Up, seems to explain the song's title, as the two phrases are somewhat interchangeable. Sometimes you'll hear what's good used confrontationally, like in the moments just before a physical fight, and is this confrontational use of the phrase that Igor is likely using here, in line with his instigative aggression throughout the song so far. In a sudden musical twist, Tyler juxtaping The interposes the dissonance of the verse and chorus with a contrasting section that features a two-core progression, beginning with an A-flat major 9th chord and a B-major 7th chord. In the second half of this section, Tyler adds a catchy descending synth melody.

At this point in the album, we shouldn't be too surprised by Tyler's choice to compose a bright, harmonious part to contrast with the serrated harshness of the verse and chorus, as it contributes to his album and really career-long commitment to juxtaposing the beautiful with the ugly we've tracked all season. The danceability of this section also recalls Igor's third track, I Think, only now Igor is on stage, dancing like there's nobody watching, enjoying his newfound freedom. This brief respite ends when What's Good continues into its second verse, where the music switches back to the original dissonance and Tyler performs another overbearing verse. We'll dissect that verse along with the rest of What's Good right after the break.

Welcome back to Dissect. Before the break, we heard What's Good's contrasting post-chorus, which seemingly disappears as suddenly as it appears, as it's overtaken by the song's second verse. Verse 2 opens with a line, running till the rims fall, a variation of the idiom until the wheels fall off, which is used to mean doing something until the absolute end, often implying commitment, loyalty, and even recklessness. Once again, we find the running motif so present on the album. Recall that running was the very first thing we heard Tyler say on Igor. It then reappeared on the interlude exactly what you run from you end up chasing, which led to the song, out of time. It also showed up on the bridge of New Magic Wand, where background vocals

repeated run while Tyler outlanded his murder plan, implying the idea of run for your life. Now the idea of running until the wheels fall adds another dimension to the motif, as Tyler fully embraces the Igor alter ego to run from this relationship with reckless abandon. This is framed within a metaphor of running from the cops, likely implying that Igor went through with his plan to metaphorically murder the crush and the girl, killing his attachment, and escaping the toxic love trying. This idea is cemented with the next line, had them N-words and the cops looking jigsaw. The wordplay centers on a jigsaw puzzle, with Tyler replacing looking puzzled or confused with

looking jigsaw. The boasts continue, I done fucked around and turned into the big dog. Igor once again flexes his great stature, his alpha dog status, the leader of the pack. It's the second time on the album Tyler's used this analogy when flexing, the first being the line Big Dog popping big wheelies on the six-speed from Boy as a Gun. While that song found Tyler wavering between confidence and insecurity, embodying the Igor alter ego allows Tyler to fully indulge in his bravado throughout what's good, where we find no trace of self-doubt. The next line, Better Get God, Get Caught, Bitch, I Think Not, continues the multiple analogies

Igor has established. The command Better Get God relates to the cop's inability to catch Igor, with God being the only one who has a chance. But as Igor already established, he is God, and we realize here that Tyler is likely employing some clever wordplay, as God spelled backwards is dog, relating to the previous line turned into the big dog. Thus, bitch, I think not, continues the canine analogy, with bitch being a female dog inferior to his alpha dog or God status. Igor then describes his attire saying new suit, new boots, same inward, like what? The specificity of a new wardrobe relates to Igor

as an alter ego, something Tyler changes into, like Peter Parker or Bruce Wayne changing into the respective superhero costumes. Wardrobe is consistently a part of Tyler's album World Building. From the demented pink mask of Cherrybaum or the Ushanka hat of Call Me If You Get Lost, if you know his music, you can look at a photo of Tyler out of context and guess the album era with accuracy. The primary look of Igor was the brightly colored, highly tailored suit and white Doc Martins, usually the 1461 model, though sometimes swat for a loafer.

Combined with the wig, it's a pop art ensemble bordering on androgy. a portrait of a tightly wound self-pervest icon. Igor then caps off the verse with another comparison, rapping, lukewarm as N-words always talk, I'm hot, I'm heat to the core like Earth, don't touch, don't go, N-words might get buck. With Igor being the temperature of the Earth's core,

a scorching 5,200 degrees Celsius, his lukewarm rivals aren't nearly as hot as him. Now as what's good continues into another pre-chorus, listen closely in the background and you'll hear Tyler repeat, Igor, Igor throughout. After a repetition of the hook, what's good transitions into an entirely new section,

which we might at first assume to be a bridge, except none of the previous sections of the song will be heard again. Thus, we enter a point of no return, as Tyler once again bends the conventional song structure to his creative will. Tyler begins this new half of the song by establishing its main riff played on Igor's instrument of choice, the distorted synth. This new riff actually has a cool musical, relationship with the initial riff heard in the first half. It begins with the G, moves up to a D,

up again to a G, before oscillating back and forth between the high G and the D. Next, Tyler repeats the riff, only this time the Gs move up a half step to G sharps. The distance between the initial Gs and now these G sharps is a minor second, the same dissonant interval that dominates what's good's first half. Also the G sharp moving to the D is what's called a tritone, which is along with the minor second, one of the most dissonant intervals in music. The combination of the minor second and the tritone, as well as this riff being played on Igor's distorted synth, makes it feel musically related to the initial riff, speaking the

same musical language. Now over this new part, we hear UK artist Slow Tye repeat the phrase, I see the light. It's a classic image of revelation foreshadowed by what's good's opening line, turn my lights on. With its roots in religion, the phrase I See the Light was originally used to describe religious conversion, but is now used informally to denote finally understanding something that was previously confusing or unclear. It relates to Gerard Carmichael's, but at some point you come to your senses, as Tyler escapes the love-drunk fog of infatuation and gains clarity, finally able to see the relationship for what it is and what it's doing to him.

During the second half of this section, we hear Tyler's loud, rhythmic breathing in sync with the song's tempo. The breathing introduced here will actually continue for the remainder of the song. Recall that Yee's command at the end of Puppet was to breathe on a song. And here, with the help of his alter ego, Igor, Tyler has found his breath. He's been resurrected. He's alive again. Now as What's Good continues, Tyler pulls one of the more effective and ingenious musical moves on the entire album. Because we're hearing this new riff without drums or much accompaniment at all,

we're primed to think that what will happen next is for this riff to continue, only with vocal, drums, bass, and other instruments joining in. But that's not what happens, at least not at first. In what is probably my favorite musical moment on the entire album, Tyler pulls the rug out from under us and switches to a face-melting halftime beat. There's a few musical tricks that helped make this part such an effective and visceral experience, beginning with the drumbeat. The entire song up until this point featured a common-time drum beat,

in which the bass drum accented beats 1 and 3, while the snare drum hits on beats 2 and 4. Let's hear this original drum beat and we'll focus on those snare hits on 2 and 4. When What's Good switches to its second half and we hear the new distorted riff and Tyler's rhythmic breathing. You'll notice that those breasts are also mimicking this beat pattern. This sets us up to think that whatever happens next will continue this common-time beat pattern with the snares on the 2s and 4s. But when it switches to the Dracula section, Tyler chops the drum sample so that the snare drum 4s, falls only on beat 3, effectively creating a halftime feel.

1, 2, 3, 4. When contrasted with the common time beat before it, the switch to halftime is incredibly effective, as we had no musical cues that would lead us to expect it. In fact, it's the opposite. All things seem to be pointing toward a return of the standard common time beat. And adding to the moment is the bass drop. It begins on a low G, which is actually the first note of the new riff we heard just before the drop. But rather than moving up to the D like that riff, or even up to the music,

a minor second to the G sharp we talked about, and another surprising move, it actually moves down a minor second to a G flat. Another surprise in this part is the way Tyler wraps. Given how heavy and monstrous this section is, we might expect him to match the energy and come in screaming, but instead he's more casual than ever, because what's more powerful than someone keeping their cool amidst chaos? He begins the section wrapping, Dracula, Dracula, Dracula, suck me first, I might get back at you. associating himself with one of the most famous gothic characters add to a growing portrait of Igor. Playing off vampire sucking blood, Igor demands oral sex with the half promise of returning the favor, insinuating it's a guy giving him the blowjob, perhaps his crush.

What's important here is that the power dynamics have completely shifted. On puppet, Tyler realized he'd lost his free will, completely a slave to the crush, and we literally heard him ask, what do you need? Do you need bread? Do you need this? Do you need head? In this scenario, Tyler was offering to pleasure the guy with little to no thought about his own needs. Now Igor prioritizes himself with little to no thought about the other guy. It's small details like this that propel the story forward, showing us how the burst of ego that is Igor helps Tyler cut himself loose and regain his autonomy. It's also interesting to observe that the original novel, 1897's Dracula,

is noted for its queer undertones, written by a closeted gay man in Brom Stoker. Many have come to view Dracula as a character representing the ways Victorian society feared otherness, specifically homosexuality. Igor then continues, Is that shit clear, change the aperture. Altering the common phrase, Am I making myself clear, into a more explicit rendition, Igor is being extremely direct in his communication.

This is another blatant contrast with the lack of communication that plagued Tyler's relationship with his crush, as Tyler always feared that the crush would leave if he sought communication on how the crush felt. Check the aperture brings back a familiar photo metaphor found on both running out of time and new magic wand. It's an extremely clever line as a camera's aperture controls how much light enters the camera, relating to the line I see the light, while also controls the depth of field, which is defined by the level of clarity of certain elements in the photo, relating to the previous line is that clear.

Igor sees the light and is demanding his crush make adjustments to see it too. Now free to express himself without reservation, Igor is making things crystal clear. He then mimics a laugh saying, Ha, ha, ha, ha, I can't laugh at you. This seems to tie into the Dracula reference, known for his trademark staccato laugh. Igor's dark laugh is followed by him stating, This, that shit that make you nervous,

a line that applies equally to the laugh, the haunting soundscape of what's good in this moment, and Tyler's sudden transformation into Igor, who seems eerily comfortable inhabiting such darkness. He continues, about to go buck wild, Nward Steve Irwin. Star of the show The Cross crocodile hunter, Steve Irwin was a wildlife expert, so he recognized the wordplay of Buck Wild and

wildlife. The line also ties into the previous, this is the shit that make you nervous. As part of Irwin's appeal was his proximity to danger. He would regularly interact with crocodiles, snakes, and even stingrays, the latter being the cause of his death. Igor caps off the verse pivoting to Carr saying, sick of that Claren talk, I'm on my third one. N-words talking reckless, I never heard him. Here he flexes that he's purchased three McLaren supercars, which include the 650s, MP412C, and 675LT. The idea of Tyler being sick of the Claren talk might reference the fact that many rappers since Tyler's purchase of his first McLaren in 2015, have copped their own and flexed their purchase on social media. For example, in 2017, rapper Cuevo posted a photo of himself with a new McLaren with the caption, Only Rapper with it. Tyler commented on the post saying,

that's a lie, I'm on my third one, we can race, it's nothing. Tyler's own vehicle flex here at the end of the verse is another moment of comparative swagger. Interestingly, throughout the album, we've noticed Tyler using the recurring vehicle motif as a metaphor for life's journey, and Tyler stating his desire to be in the passenger seat with his crush, that he wants to take his life's journey together. Now Igor transforms the vehicle motif into a self-aggrandizing boast, adding to a number of motivic reversals we've tracked in the song. The final line, N-words talking reckless, I never heard him, is clever in that on the surface it continues Igor's defiance as he silence or ignores his haters taking shots. But reckless, as in careless,

can also be heard as rec W-R-E-C-K, which as we'll see sets up the next verse, which centers on the car wreck Tyler experienced in 2018. I see the ride. The car crash couldn't take me. Green hair, angels all the ground fire. No tears to cry. In point like me neck, I ain't have nobody to cheat on like What's good, I don't know, repeat, I reset. Everything I didn't love a special like keep dead. Two of them, I total, Kim and Pam, me and theft, you know, death. Quick nap, kick back like horse, I shut out, sound no scratch.

What's Good's final verse begins, That car crash couldn't take me. Tyler's referring to totaling his car after falling asleep at the wheel and crashing into a parked car in October of 2018. Here's Tyler detailing the incident with Kerman Frost. That whole last verse is actually about that car accident, but I'll never see anyone say anything about it. At the studio late, whatever, took like 15 minute nap in there.

I woke up, I was like, all right, I'm out. Drove home. I'm into Tesla, so like, nigger that bitch comfortable. Yeah, yeah. Seam warmer, shit back. iPad. I don't even got the windows down. I didn't even have music playing.

I was just driving, just gone. I'm not far from home. And then, I don't know. I just hear a boom. Oh my God. And it's just like, oh shit, I'm like, ah, what the fuck? Realize I'm in a car crash. I'm like, fuck, okay, the car's not on fire yet.

Right, right, right. Fuck. I'm in my front seat. Yeah. First thing I do is like, fuck, how do I get out of here? I can't open this door. So I'm like, fuck.

So I get in the middle and I try to open the back door and it won't open and I'm like, okay, this car is smoking. I probably have 25 seconds before I for real can't breathe. I can't break the windows at the top, so I look at the trunk and I'm like, oh yeah. Look at my key, press the button, the trunk opens. I'm like, oh, cool. I go back to the front, make sure I grab my computer because the whole album's on it.

I grab my computer, my bag. Before I get out, I'm like, oh, damn, I'll probably want this hat for next week to wear it. Oh, come on. And I'm like, cool. I'm not religious or anything, but I was like, oh, the universe did not want me to go. Yeah.

Like I had shit to do. And then that's when I was, we had just did the angel, the green angel, the, the, the, little black boy as an angel graphic. Okay. And I just felt like it was some fucking little green hair angels. Like, nigga, you can't die yet. Yeah, no.

You got shit to put out. As Tyler explained, at the time of the crash, she was working on a golf design that featured a black angel with green hair, which he came to view as serendipitous, giving way to the line, green haired angels all around me. No answer why. No tears to cry. Bitch, I'm alive. That wasn't my end point like V-neck.

I ain't have nobody to cheat on. I cheat death. It would seem that divine intervention is the only thing that can explain why Tyler went unscathed. This escape from the clutches of death adds another dimension to the repeated phrase, I see the light, which in this context alludes to the common experience of seeing a bright light in the moments just after death. And just like many survivors of near-death experiences, Tyler seems to have a reinvigorated appreciation of life and perspective, perhaps helping him see the light of this relationship going nowhere. If Tyler can survive a car crash, he can certainly survive the aftermath of this relationship not working out. The phrase, bitch I'm alive continues the transformation or resurrection theme of the track,

and in the hands of Igor, the near-death experience is used as a boast. More evidence, Igor is here for a reason and superior to others. The verse continues, new album, no repeat, I reset. Rather than repeat past formulas that brought him success, Tyler instead sees each new project as an opportunity to creatively re-reactual. set, with each album experimenting with a new sound and concept, while also containing intercontextual links across projects. Combined with the talent and work ethic to execute his ideas, this willingness to evolve has fortified Tyler as one of the most important and exciting working creatives

of our time. Like I went, a dead ass went through puberty at like 23, 24, 25 was like, oh, that's what that is. And then 26 is like, that's when I figured it out. And that's when Flower Boy came out. And then Igor after and now this. And you could just tell and tone, like, my skills got sharpened and everything I figured out. And, like, man, if I put Flower Boy out my first album, it'll be crazy because Flower Boy to Igor to call me if you get lost, it's crazy.

But Cherry Bomb was my, I was getting a mustache and my body was, and I was figuring out, oh, red is the color red. Like, everything was coming together. So having my first three albums and Cherry Bomb in the middle, and then the next three just that, it's really, I'm proud of that. I'm happy I allow myself to. Congratulations, man.

Thank you. Some people don't get that. Some people say stuck, stay stuck at the idea of themselves when they were 20 or when they were hot. And they stay that way. And that's how you get old. The line, Everything I Deliver Special like G Depp continues the new album boast while referring to the 2001 track Special Delivery by rapper G. Depp, who was signed to Dittie's Bad Boy Records. Tyler links this musical reference with another, rapping, two of them, I Total, Kimma, Pam.

Playing with the fact that he totaled two cars in the crash, his own and the parked car he crashed into, Tyler references the 90s group Total, which featured members Kimma, Pam, and Keisha. There's an added layer to the reference when we realized that, like G. Dep, total was signed to Diddy's Bad Boy Records. Igor then details the car crash in rapid two-word couplets.

quick nap, kickback, like horse, eyes shut, loud sound, no scratch. He then goes on to describe how his survival was met with disappointment from his detractors, rapping, Motherfuckers really thought I died, hoping they could take a spot, Edwards not knowing that I'm one of one. While his contemporaries might have thought his death would have opened up a spot for them to fill, Tyler claims he's one of one, irreplaceable, that he commands his own singular list.

In the same interview with Kirwin Frost, Tyler alludes to this idea of being irreplaceable, requesting that if he were to die, all his creative brands should die with him. Nick, if I would have died, I would have been pissed. Yeah. Like, fucking, I couldn't put Igor out. Then they would have put, like, bad rough drafts out and shit and did a tribute show. Yeah. Also, don't do none of that shit, nigga.

When I'm gone, I want golf flying the end. I want golf the floor gone. Can't flog and all done. I want everything to just stop. Y'all make y'all little Instagram posts. I don't want no rough drives. They put no album out with no. Niggas, I don't fuck with on my shit.

When I'm out of here, that's a fucking rap. Igor caps off the final verse rapping, and they some Helen Keller ass N-words, and I got my eyes open, now I see the light. The play here is that like Helen Keller, his competition is deaf and blind, deaf to Tyler's unique sound and style they believe to be replaceable, and blind to the light he sees,

now that he has his eyes open. Recall that this specific line, I got my eyes open, was actually foreshadowed all the way back on Igor's theme. This phrase being heavily emphasized in the album's prelude clues us into the fact that its reappearance is a crucial moment in the narrative. It's indicative of Tyler's revelation that leads to his freedom from the relationship that's controlled him like a puppet. And if you listen closely, you can actually hear this same voice from Igor's theme come in behind Tyler to double the phrase, Got My Eyes Open.

What's Good winds to a close with Tyler once again surprising us by bringing in a beautiful piano part, contrasting with the distorted chaos that precedes it. Throughout this we hear Tyler or Igor breathing, though now instead of the percussive rhythmic breaths, we hear him attempting to catch his breath. The exertion of transforming into and embodying Igor has left him exhausted and out of breath, cluing us into the fact that such a persona,

while useful in spurts, isn't sustainable. Conclusions Between Puppet and What's Good, we get Igor's most transparent narrative development. After realizing he lost himself in his pursuit of this relationship, Tyler hit rock bottom on puppet and faded out of his own song, only to be resurrected by Ye who tells him to breathe on a song, to rediscover himself through air and art. And now when it's good, we find Tyler doing exactly that, using music to empower himself,

transforming into Igor, a larger-than-life alter ego that provides him with the boost of confidence needed to get back on his feet and begin the process of moving on. This process will consume the remainder of the album, as we'll follow Tyler working through some of the classic stages of separation grief, beginning with Igor's next track, which is prefaced by another short excerpt from the album's narrator, Drod Carmichael. I don't know what's harder letting go or just being okay with it. A track before dinner. Jump off the roof into the mirror.

Felt like summer. Of course, this is Igor's 10th track, Gone Gone, Thank you. A tender, sincere farewell to Tather's love. A track will examine note by note, line by line, next time and dissect. This episode of Dysect was written by Camden Ostrander and Me. If you enjoyed today's episode, please tell a friend about the show or share on social media and tag at Dysect Podcast. It really helps. Limited season 10 merchandise can be purchased at Dysectpodcast.com.

Audio editing by Kevin Pula, song recreations by Andrew Atwood. Theme music by Beowcredit. All right, thanks everyone. Talk to you next week.