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The Rundown: Tyler, the Creator, Wolf - Today, Odd Future leader Tyler, the Creator howls at the moon with his second album, Wolf. A lot's happened since his 2011 breakthrough, Goblin — hundreds of thousands of indie record sales, critical acclaim, world tours — and he addresses it all and then some throughout the album's 18 tracks. But is the new focus a good thing? Find out here, as BET.com gives you the skinny on Wolf song by song.   —Alex Gale (Photo: Odd Future/ Sony Music Entertainment)

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"Wolf" - The intro and title track to Wolf shows off Tyler's impressive maturity in terms of production. Like later, longer songs on the album, it's downright pretty, complete with pensive piano chords, marching band percussion — and is that glockenspiel? Tyler, of course, brings it all back to reality by spewing curses. (2011 EPA/STEVE C. MITCHELL /LANDOV)

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"Jamba" - Some of Tyler's beatmaking leap forward might come from him more wholeheartedly carrying the Neptunes' torch, who he's long cited as huge influences. Here, the synths, handclaps and vocal samples are a wonky version of Pharrell and Hugo's glory days, a perfect fit for Tyler's rhymes, which here update his old immature tropes with talk of his new success: "Four stories in my home like what the f--k's an apartment?" he asks boastfully. (Photos from Left to Right: STEVE C. MITCHELL /LANDOV, Wendy Refern/Referns)

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"Cowboy" - When Tyler isn't channeling the Neptunes on Wolf, he's going back to early RZA, whose off-kilter drums and spooky melodies are the obvious prototype for "Cowboy." Tyler again talks about his newfound riches, but underneath he's the same troubled manchild: "You think all this money will make a happy me?" he raps. (Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

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"Awkward" - A master of jarring juxtaposition, Tyler here combines a truly sweet ode to a teenage love with his trademark low-octave vocal effect, which gives the whole song a creepy, stalker-y vibe. Even the Frank Ocean feature and a summery beat that sounds like vintage De La Soul can't override the feeling of unease. (Photo: John Shearer/WireImage)

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"Domo23" - Tyler stunts with his meteoric success here, this time with no qualms, over a riotous beat punctuated by horn blasts and synths. "I ate one roach and made a lot of money," Tyler raps, referring to his acclaimed, breakthrough "Yonkers" video. (Photo: Candice Lawler / BET)

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"Answer" - With a vaguely sunny "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" vibe and a sung chorus, this song at first seems like another of the album's many unlikely love songs before transforming into a middle finger for Tyler's absentee father, whom he calls a mere "sperm donor." But the next verses group his father with his dead grandmother and an ex — all people won't "answer" if he were to call them. The effect isn't quite heart-breaking — Tyler's nonstop pity party is familiar ground — but it still cuts deep. (Photo: Greg Tidwell, PacificCoastNews.com)

Photo By Photo: Greg Tidwell

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"Slater" - With 18 songs and over an hour of music, some filler on Wolf was inevitable. And "Slater" is the first fast-forward-worthy song on the album, thanks to plodding production — though the melodic bridge and too-brief Frank Ocean adlibs almost save the day. (Photo: Karl Walter/Getty Images for Coachella)

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"48" - With help from a nice vintage sample of Nas talking about the crack era, Tyler raps from the perspective of a remorseful drug kingpin over lurching drums and ascending piano plinks. It's the first time he breaks out of his relentlessly inwardly focused echo chamber — but hopefully not the last. (Photo: Roger Kisby/Getty Images)

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"Colossus" - Here Tyler, in first person mode as someone else once again, revisits Eminem's classic creeper tale "Stan" as a more common, realistic situation. It's interesting hearing Tyler of all people telling someone else they're crazy — and saying that he's sick of "Yonkers," the biggest song of his career. (Photo: Roger Kisby/Getty Images)

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"PartyIsntOver/Campfire/Bimmer" (feat. Laetitia Sadier & Frank Ocean) - Much like Tyler's 2011 official debut Goblin, Wolf is way too long. It's a pretty daunting moment when you're slogging through the middle of this seven-minute, three-part song and realize that the album is only at its half-way point. "Bimmer," at least, with its icy, classic Clipse vibe, ends the trilogy on a high note. (Photos from left to right: Andy Sheppard/Redferns, Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

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"IFHY" - If you somehow didn't pick up on the album's incessant Neptunes references, this song, which features Pharrell's falsetto crooning, should make it clear. His voice and the spacey keyboard arpeggios recall N.E.R.D. more specifically, but the song's focus — twisted love/hate relationships — is all Tyler. (Photos from Left to Right: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images, Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Dior)

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"Pigs" - Another sparse, scary RZA-inspired backdrop brings out one of Tyler's best verbal performances, and one that a lot of folks will be able to relate to. Taking on bullies, he threatens to go Trenchcoat Mafia — although in light of the Newtown school shooting, it might be way too soon.  (Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)

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"Parking Lot" feat. Mike G and Casey Veggies - Another song that should've been left in the vault. The beat's paucity — there's no snare and barely any bass — drags down even the normally excellent Casey Veggies. (Photos from Left to Right: PAUL BUCK /LANDOV, courtesy of Casey Veggies/Facebook)

Photo By Photos from Left to Right: PAUL BUCK /LANDOV

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"Rusty" feat. Domo Genesis and Earl Sweatshirt - Odd Future's three heaviest hitters unite here for a song that deftly combines the album's Wu-Tang and Neptunes source material via another dynamic, evolving beat. Tyler spazzes out, playfully dissing DJ Khaled, Adele, 2 Chainz and, of course, himself. (Photos from Left to right: Kevin Mazur/WireImage, Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images, Roger Kisby/Getty Images)

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"Trashwang" - Although Tyler's take on trap-rap drums is interesting, the beat's synthy-sparseness and the crew's atonal hook quickly becomes way too grating to carry an eight-man posse cut. Too bad: the Waka Flocka Flame impression by the crew's resident white kid, Lucas, is hilarious. (Photo by Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)

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"Treehome95" feat. Erykah Badu & Coco O. - Tyler is still in love all these tracks later, recruiting Erykah Badu herself to bring some warmth and sheen to his sometimes rough-around-the-edges material (despite some pitchy moments). He seems smitten, rapping, "You're my favorite crayon in the box." (Photo: Roger Kisby/Getty Images)

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"Tamale" - Tyler samples M.I.A., another weirdo iconoclast, and she inspires some of his stranger rhyme patterns over the bizarre, percussive beat. But as the 17th track, it's not hard not to want to skip ahead. (Photo: Michael Tullberg/Getty Images)

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"Lone" - "Lone" finally brings the album to a close, and on an upswing. The warm, jazzy sample is a much-needed respite from the album's lo-fi synth attack, and shows a new side of Tyler's increasingly skiled production. Meanwhile, the themes that dominate the album, and show Tyler's growth since Goblin — the death of his grandmother, the loneliness of fame, his four-story house (again!) — all pop up touchingly here. The shock-jock tendences of his past work are way turned down, which gives room for his much more interesting ideas to shine. (Candice Lawler / BET)