"Tamale" is a song by American rapper Tyler, the Creator from his second studio album Wolf (2013).

Composition

The song contains "aggressive percussion which bounces around", which also describes Tyler, the Creator's flow on the track.^[1] In the lyrics, Tyler uses euphemisms for private body parts, mentions masturbation, calls film director Spike Lee a "nigger",^[2] and fantasizes having sex with a woman and planning for her sister to walk in on the act.^[3] The hook features shrill vocals from actress Tallulah Willis (daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore), which has been considered an imitation of British rapper M.I.A.^[4][5][6][7]

Critical reception

Birkut of Tiny Mix Tapes described the song as "overly flamboyant",^[8] while Chris Kelly of Fact described it as "vaguely exotic".^[6] James McKenna of No Ripcord remarked the combination of the song's production and rapping is "an entirely abrasive sound that's easy to hate when you first hear it, but somehow it grows on you. It's still kinda intensely annoying, yet impossible to dismiss."^[1] Andy Baber of MusicOMH regarded the song's high-pitched vocals to be "mildly irritating".^[7] Beats Per Minute's Harriet Suits Baer cited the song as one of the many tracks from Wolf which she considered not worth listening to.^[3] In an album review for Los Angeles Times, Randall Roberts considered "Tamale" among the best of the "minimal tracks with wobbly time signatures that are naturally unbalanced" and wrote it "illustrates a musician taking rhythmic chances to great success, even if they're hobbled by an unfortunate flatness."^[9]

Music video

The music video was directed by Tyler, the Creator under his Wolf Haley alias and released on October 8, 2013. It first shows three floating heads of Tyler rapping in an orange background.^[10][11] After that, the clip shows a pixelated scene that is covered by a message reading: "Due to the 'graphic' nature of this film I was forced to blur because people aren't ready to have intelligent conversations before they judge. Welcome to America."^{[2][10][11][12][13][14][15]} The next scene sees a miniaturized Tyler bouncing on bikini-clad video vixen Bria Myles' butt as if on a trampoline, with the captions "But this shit is allowed."^{[2][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]} In other shots, he reenacts one of the Wolf album covers;^[10] runs wild with Lee Spielman of Trash Talk while wearing all yellow on a golf court, where he also eats an apple and uses a golf cart;^{[2][12][13][14][16][17][20]} rides on a giant tabby cat;^{[2][10][11][12][13][14][15][18][20]} is underwater at a pool party;^{[10][14][16][17][19]} wears whiteface and appears bald as he leads a marching band;^{[10][11][12][15][19]} and reads a book titled Homophobia Beans Misogyny Bad 666 Gimmick in bed^{[2][13][14][20]} while using his own lotion brand^[15] and experiencing a simulated orgasm.^[13] The video concludes with a transition to his song "Answer"^[2][19] and a scene showing a jam session in a basement,^[16][17] during which Tyler lies on a sofa and smokes a cigarette while Pharrell plays the drums and Odd Future manager Christian Clancy takes part in the performance as well.^{[2][12][14][15]}

Charts

Certifications

References