The Dreams You Left On The Shelf

Tyler, the Creator “Take Your Mask Off”

The lyrics of “Take Your Mask Off” is essentially a series of four character sketches – a well-off kid posing as a thug, a pastor on the DL, the bored wife of a rich guy, an insecure rapper who bears a striking resemblance to Tyler, the Creator – all very critical and “tough love” about their particular self-deceptions, but ultimately empathetic. These are vivid portraits of people exhausted by having to perform their identity 24/7, and either denying themselves what they want or indulging their desires in unhealthy ways. The lyrics are clearly on the other side of some personal epiphany on Tyler’s part, but he’s most brutal in talking about the guy who sounds a lot like him. Or at least the version of him the most negative part of himself sees every day.

I think this is one of Tyler’s best musical compositions. As far as I can tell, it’s built around elements of People’s Pleasure and Alive and Well’s 1976 song “A Feeling Inside,” though it doesn’t seem to be officially credited. (It’s been very difficult to get a copy of Chromakopia on CD.) But there’s sampling and interpolating, and then there’s where Tyler goes with this song, which I think is an even more sophisticated piece of music. He’s basically using this very Stevie Wonder-esque groove as a foundation for something with very different architecture. My favorite touch is the piano figure that gets sprinkled around the back half – possibly another sample but Tyler is a talented keyboard player so it could be all him. In any case, that part sounds gorgeous but slightly camp, like an aggressively fancy and elegant piano bar. It’s a brilliant touch, almost a musical non-sequitor, but a totally logical tangent in context of the lyrics.

Buy it from Amazon.