It’s Tyler’s world were just living in it.
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, the time is finally here. We saw him rough around the edges at his beginning with “Goblin” and “Wolf”. Then we saw him start to find his voice with the coming of “Flower Boy”. Soon After we saw him go mainstream with his legendary album Igor, where we could tell he knew exactly what he wanted to say and how to say it.
Now after much anticipation, Tyler the creator has released his new album
“CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST”.
Before I review this album, I want to start by saying this man throughout his career has never tried to be somebody he’s not, and I think that’s a big part of why he is in the position he’s at today.
He’s not a great singer or a great rapper, but somehow he uses his raspy voice to articulate his emotions and tell stories that many people can relate too. His use of contrasting instrumentals, cohesive voice-overs, and pure emotion is attractive in a way that you don’t see often. So, because of his ability to use his disadvantages to his advantage(singing/rapping voice) he is more of an artist than most music creators could even dream of.
Anyways, let's get into the album
With 16 songs lasting 53 minutes, this album is a fans dream. “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST”, is everything I've been waiting for and more. From the rough aggressive tone of “CORSO”, to the melodic love song that is “WUSYANAME”, passed down to the beautiful flute runs in “HOT WIND BLOWS”, and that’s only half the album. The range shown from Tyler and his instrumentals really is an exaggerated version of what we’ve seen in the past. The only difference between now and then is that we can hear the confidence and maturity in these songs. You get the vibe from Tyler that he knows he’s great, and he’s no longer trying to prove it. He’s coped with the understanding that not everyone will understand his music and he’s okay with that, in fact he takes pride in his uniqueness. This album is his “I’m the shit”, album and no one can tell him different.
Deep Dive
SIR BAUDELAIRE
“SIRBAUDELAIRE” is a softer toned intro that you wouldn’t expect to be the first song on the album. It features what I believe is an oboe to give a calmer introduction into Tyler new project.
CORSO
“CORSO” is an interesting song because it’s almost Tyler announcing himself. In this song, you can see his confidence and fame peaking through, revealing this “I am here” concept.
LEMONHEAD
“LEMONHEAD” is where things get crazy. What I believe is a baritone comes in hard with a melody that sounds like the intro to a football game. It’s almost a hype song that is a collage of instrumentals followed with Tyler rapping and then a feature from 42 dugg.
WUSYANAME
“WUSYANAME” is probably my favorite song because it is a very melodic love song that very much contrast with the vibe of the previous songs. This 90s love tune with Tyler storytelling in the background is most definitely a summer vibe. And my God NBA youngboy’s feature is the best I’ve ever heard from this rapper which is saying something because NBA Youngboy is not considered a quality artist to give a feature.
HOT WIND BLOWS
I also really enjoy this song. It gives me a picnic in Tokyo type of vibe. The signature flute solo in this song really is just beautiful, and there’s also a Lil Wayne verse, so of course the song is fire.
MASSA
“MASSA” gives me “woke” in a song energy. It could be interpreted in many ways, I think it’s a metaphor saying how the hardships of American racism didn’t hold back Tyler’s success but is still trying to catch him. However, whatever you think of the meaning, I think it’s understood that it’s just a fabulous piece of music with a great beat that blends with Tyler voice as he raps.
SWEET / I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE
This song right here boy, whew! Let me just start by saying this song is 9 minutes and 48 seconds. My initial thought of seeing that length was to just skip the song, but I gave it a chance, and I’m so glad I did. This 9 minute song is filled with transitions leading to new beats and new melodies that make it feel like 3 different songs just put together. It brings elements from previous songs on the album to collage and make this peaceful and calming environment. It brings in aspects of techno music and even the singing from Tyler we got on IGOR. This beginning of this song does not have a rap part in it, instead he describes his feelings towards a woman. Then towards the last 3 minutes of the song, Tyler calmly raps in the same tone that he sang in, showing his unique ability to merge between genres.
RISE
Rise is basically a funky beat that allows Tyler to speak to everyone that ever doubted him. A true coming of age realization that you can hear all throughout the album, but specifically more in this particular song.
WILSHIRE
Wilshire is the 2nd and last long song, spanning at 8 minutes and 35 seconds. This long/ heartbreak song is incredible. The entire song is a chill drum beat with a long Tyler verse of him being just in his bag. You can tell he’s really just comfortable with himself when speaking these lyrics, showing his maturity and his satisfaction with where he’s at in life and his ability as an artist. If you listen to the lyrics he illustrates this picture of pursuing this girl that is already in a relationship with another man, and Tyler knows this, but he continues to ask the girl to leave the other guy and come with him. At the end, the girl finally ends it and claims that she can’t leave the man she’s currently with. Tyler then gets mad and upset at that girl and after reflects on his own actions claiming that even though he’s upset and hurt he understands that he was in the wrong. He even claims earlier in the song that he literally has access to anything he could want, but fixates on the very, very few things he cannot have.
Of course, I couldn’t give all 16 songs a review, but listening to this album was an experience. I feel like I should’ve made this an event with friends and food because it really deserves that. You have to take time to dissect it and appreciate every message each song is trying to illustrate.
Conclusion
To conclude my analysis, I just want to say wow. Like this album is incredible, and sure there are songs I wasn’t too fond of like LUMBERJACK, SAFARI, BLESSED, JUGGERNAUT, SIR BAUDELAIRE, but I still appreciate the creativity and artistry that went into those songs. You can tell a lot of effort went into these songs, from the dynamics of the instrumentals, to the choices of the beats and how to match it with the Tyler voice, to the decisions of where specifically should each feature go to get the most out of them, and of course the intention behind the storytelling aspect of the album. You can tell it was very well-thought-out, and I’m sure required a lot of trial and error. Most importantly, though, I love the contrast between Tyler now and Tyler a few years ago. True fans can really compare and see just how much Tyler has grown and matured from his earlier projects. Even IGOR seemed very chaotic and irrational compared to “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST”, not because IGOR was a bad album but because “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST” sounds so much more put together and cohesive.
This album right here is a game changer for the music industry just like “IGOR” was but even more. It is genre bending, multilayered, cohesive and more importantly it has secured Tyler the Creator as a hall of fame artist. This album was big for him, it could have easily been too messy and uncontrolled, launching Tyler to an abyss of weird edgy music that is a little too much for the mainstream to handle. Fortunately, Tyler did not disappoint, and I’m sure now he will be a marquee person in the music industry, a “great” if you will.
Congratulations to Tyler for raising the bar, and I can’t wait to see how this influences future artist and the overall music world.
