Tyler, the Creator

If you're looking for more over-the-top, inflammatory for the sake of shock rap from Tyler, the Creator, you'll be fairly pleased with his third solo album, Wolf. If, on the other hand, you're kind of over the Odd Future frontman's horror rap shtick, Wolf will pleasantly surprise you beyond your wildest dreams. Songs like "Jamba," "Domo23" and "Pigs" have enough hooliganism and cartoon violence to satisfy Tyler's core fanbase of feral 15-year olds. The rest of the album, however, is deep, dark, intensely personally and occasionally downright beautiful. On "Answer," Tyler revisits his non-relationship with his father. While this isn't new territory for him, he attacks the subject with more anger and sadness than ever before. On "Colossus," he talks about his sudden rise to fame and his discomfort around fans. "Awkward" is one of the most touching rap love songs ever produced; it's delivered over lush, textured, jazzy production that's far mellower and more atmospheric than anything we've heard from Tyler to date. While 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.