Tyler, The Creator, CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST | Album Review 💿

Once again, Grammy winner Tyler, The Creator delivers an elite, must-hear album with CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST.

It’s amazing when a musician evolves – blooms into a beautiful flower.  Maybe describing 🏆 Grammy winner 🎙 Tyler, The Creator as a flower is pushing it, but the rapper, singer, and producer has grown over the years.  Following two masterpiece albums – 💿 Flower Boy and 💿 IGOR – Tyler has the tall task of releasing another album matching those juggernauts.  💿 CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST may not eclipse Flower Boy or IGOR, but it’s another elite, must-hear LP. 

“Sir Baudelaire”

CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST commences with 🎵 “Sir Baudelaire” featuring 🎙 DJ Drama.  Here, the tone of the album is set.  We’re introduced to Tyler’s character throughout the LP, Tyler Baudelaire as well as reference to travel.  From there, on ✅ 🎵 “Corso,” we see Tyler Baudelaire in action, and the rhymes are L-I-T.  Throughout, Tyler weaves in numerous pop cultural references including Hurricane Chris and 📺 Living Single.  Furthermore, he flexes hard like a boss (“‘Bout to spend millions just to fill voids up”). Strong start to CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST.

“I was too hot TLC ‘Waterfalls’ on my chest help me cool out.” Woo! On the epic ✅ 🎵 “Lemonhead,” Tyler, The Creator brings in 🎙 42 Dugg for the assist.  Tyler delivers stupendous production including malicious brass and a banging, pummeling beat.  Both rappers go H.A.M. understandably, given that ferocious backdrop.  In addition to Tyler’s TLC ode, 42 Dugg comes in ‘turnt’ (“A young turnt nigga, I be fuckin’ these hoes”) and drippy AF (“Two-tone Patek in this bitch goddammit”). ✅ 🎵 “WUSYANAME” marks another triumphant moment early on.  Tyler trades 42 Dugg for 🎙 YoungBoy Never Broke Again and 🎙 Ty Dolla $ign.  Ty Dolla gives us those soulful vocal stylings – always a vibe.  Tyler continues on his ‘journeys’ (“Let’s go to Cannes and watch a couple indie movies that you never heard of”), adding some L-O-V-E along the way. As for YoungBoy, he appears on the second verse, building off T’s verse (“I’m tryna get down to the root of the apple / The deepest I could in them jeans”).

“LUMBERJACK”

“Rolls-Royce pull up, black boy hop out / Shout out to my mother and my father, didn’t pull out.” Tyler, The Creator excels on the potent ✅ 🎵 “LUMBERJACK”, which samples 🎙 Gravediggaz’s 🎵 “2 Cups of Blood” (1994), giving it a vintage hip-hop feel. He begins the record with an excerpt from the eventual chorus before dropping an intro that interestingly sets up the record.  The chorus is the centerpiece:

“...Whips on whips, my ancestors got they backs out
...Call me lumberjack ‘cause I wish a nigga would race.”

Tyler comes through over the course of two verses too.  “I took the gold bitch home, niggas was big mad,” he spits on the first verse, referencing his Grammy. On the second, it’s arguably more outlandish whether “My nigga tall, look like a bitch, I call him Mulan” (a queer reference) or “Used to treat me like that boy from 📺 Malcolm in the Middle.” All in all, “LUMBERJACK” finds Tyler being true to self.  While it runs only two minutes, there’s plenty to unpack.

“We just landed in Geneva / Yeah, that’s in Switzerland,” DJ Drama announces on another elite number, ✅ 🎵 “Hot Wind Blows.” Keeping things star-studded, “Weezy the GOAT,” aka 🎙 Lil Wayne drops bars, following the first verse by Tyler.  For good measure, Tyler remains in character, asserting, “We boated here, it’s Tunechi and Tyler but call me Baudelaire, yeah.”  Also, he keeps the production on-point, no cap, sampling 🎵 “Slow Hot Wind” by 🎙 Penny Goodwin and 🎵 “Senile” by 🎙 Young Money. As for Weezy, he’s true to self, whether it’s mentioning lean, exuding ample confidence, and flexing.

“MASSA”

The flex continues on ✅ 🎵 “MASSA,” which goes deeper beyond money.  Tyler, The Creator uses puberty figuratively to reflect on his changes over the years – very cool.  Furthermore, he continues to travel worldwide, showing us how fortunate he’s been.  The more interesting component of “MASSA,” of course, are the references to slavery and the checkered past of the United States.  The chorus is one of my favorite moments particularly when Tyler spits, “They try to talk me up, but I keep short like Caesar / Eyes open if I pray ‘cause I can’t trust God either, uh.” Just those last couple of lines spawn intriguing stories.

🎵“RUNITUP” featuring 🎙 Teezo Touchdown is another respectable song from CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST, an album with no outright misses.  Not a personal favorite, Tyler continues ‘putting in work.’ On follow-up, 🎵 “Manifesto,” he trades Teezo for 🎙 Domo Genesis. Notably, after the first verse by Tyler, he gives us a beat switch for Domo’s verse. The switch features more aggressive production, which natural fuels more aggressive rhymes from Domo and, on the third verse, Tyler.  One of my favorite lyrics mention a situation with Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber:

“I was a teener, tweetin’ Selena crazy shit
Didn’t wanna offend her, apologize when I seen her
Back when I was tryna fuck Bieber, Just-in.”

Truthfully, Tyler has matured a lot since his early days.  Hard to imagine he’d become such an elite, respected musician.

“Sweet / I Thought You Wanted to Dance”

🎵 “Sweet / I Thought You Wanted to Dance” featuring 🎙 Brent Faiyaz and 🎙 Fana Hues marks the longest record on CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST, running just shy of 10 minutes.  This is a well-rounded number, but lengthy – the biggest drawback (and it’s not even a big deal).  The musicianship, above all else, is terrific.  The production shines on both parts.  Faiyaz (“Sweet”) and Hues (“I Thought You Wanted to Dance”) both do their thing, supporting the star of the show without a hitch.  Here, we get more melodic Tyler, like on IGOR.

On the interlude, 🎵 “Momma Talk,” as you’d guess, Tyler’s mom takes the mic, speaking about how she ‘doesn’t play’ when it comes to her children.  If you wondered where Tyler got his blunt, unapologetic spirit, well, Momma on “Momma Talk” gives us a crystal-clear idea.  On the utterly superb ✅ 🎵 “Rise!” featuring 🎙 DAISY WORLD, Tyler produces alongside 🎛 Jamie xx, one of only two times he isn’t the sole person behind the boards.  The result is my favorite backdrop of the entire album.  Those syncopated drums and synths – woo! As I listen, I hear the influence of say, The Neptunes, one of the greatest production teams of all time.  The jazzy harmonic scheme, the spirited performances (including DAISY WORLD) make this among the best of CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST.

“Blessed”

While it’s clear Tyler, The Creator remains an atheist, he is ‘blessed’ on the interlude, 🎵 “Blessed” – just not spiritually!  Then, he delivers a true juggernaut in ✅ 🎵 “Juggernaut” featuring 🎙 Lil Uzi Vert and 🎙 Pharrell Williams.  Any way you cut it this is a certified banger.  Here, you can see Tyler play around with trap, coupled with his signature style.  T, Uzi and Pharrell spit straight fire over this electrifying backdrop.

“Met you on a Saturday, knew it was somethin’ soon as you spoke it / Eye fuckin’ across the table, don’t think anybody noticed…” On ✅ 🎵 “WILSHIRE,” Tyler, The Creator does an about face.  It marks the second-longest song from CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST, clocking in at just over eight-and-a-half-minutes in duration.  A true narrative cut, the rapper gets personal about a relationship where everyone got hurt.  Tyler admits his wrongs on the outro, which, again, marks evolution for a rapper formerly considered one of the crudest of them all.  The fact that he shows vulnerability is admirable. Like “Rise!”, closing cut 🎵 “Safari” marks another rare moment where Tyler shares production duties with someone else.  In this case, it’s 🎛 Jay Versace.  “WILSHIRE” is a hard act to follow but “Safari” caps off a marvelous album.

Final Thoughts 💭

Ladies and gentlemen, the incredible Tyler, The Creator run continues with CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST.  Back to rapping, Tyler has delivered another, surefire musical gem. From top to bottom, CALL ME… features stellar production, an intriguing concept, fine guests, and strong performances from Tyler.  Even the songs that aren’t ‘top tier’ per se are great overall.  Is another Grammy in store for Tyler? Maybe, just maybe.

✅ Gems 💎: “CORSO,” “LEMONHEAD,” “WUSYANAME,” “LUMBERJACK,” “HOT WIND BLOWS,” “MASSA,” RISE!”, “JUGGERNAUT” & “WILSHIRE”

🎙 Tyler, The Creator • 💿 CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST • 🏷 Columbia • 🗓 6.25.21

[📷: Columbia]