The Estate Sale: Quality Over Quantity
Tyler, The Creator added eight tracks to his critically acclaimed 2021 project CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST. The re-released album, CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST: The Estate Sale, dropped March 31, 2023. The quality of the new songs is absolute.
The eight new tracks on The Estate Sale start strong. After a 27 second interlude aptly titled “EVERYTHING MUST GO,” the first full song, “STUNTMAN,” has a fantastic Vince Staples feature. The beat is layered, loud, and hard-hitting, with a heart-thumping siren playing in the background. Both artists provide great rap performances, and Tyler, The Creator’s hook is fantastic. The next track, “WHAT A DAY,” is equally impressive — it consists of three and a half minutes of Tyler, The Creator rapping over an old Madlib beat. There is honestly nothing more to ask for on this track; the beat is simple but gorgeous, and Tyler, The Creator has never sounded better.
While it’s not clear how the first two songs were cut from the original album, the same cannot be said for the next three tracks. On “WHARF TALK,” Tyler, The Creator uses high-pitched vocals reminiscent of his 2019 album, IGOR. A$AP Rocky’s feature is great, but the instrumental is nothing special. Next on the tracklist comes the fun lead single, “DOGTOOTH.” The beat is catchy and the song is simple, but it doesn’t stand out as much as songs from the original album. “HEAVEN TO ME” is another solid track, with a beat produced by Kanye West. The song is another simple, quality track, but nothing mind-blowing.
After three mid-level tracks comes “BOYFRIEND, GIRLFRIEND” with YG, where Tyler, The Creator brings back the high-pitched vocals from “WHARF TALK.” This track is groovy and bouncy; it grows on you over time. YG’s feature is a nice addition, enhancing an overall decent song. It’s definitely not one of the best songs on the new tracklist, but it’s not bad by any means.
The album closer, “SORRY NOT SORRY,” is so good that it genuinely does not make sense why it was cut from the original tracklist. The song consists of Tyler, The Creator rapping in the perspective of different versions of himself from each album era. He changes his lyrics and tone to match the vibe of each album he released. For example, the “Cherry Bomb” Tyler is a lot louder and crazier than the “Flower Boy” Tyler, The Creator. Instrumentally, this song is fantastic as well, with a beat made by Tyler, The Creator himself.
The Estate Sale speaks volumes to Tyler, The Creator’s talents — CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST’s leftovers are far better than most rappers’ main projects. Living up to the title’s annexation, The Estate Sale proves the old adage: One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
