Tyler, the Creator - CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST Album Review
Harry Mcilroy @harrymcilroy100@gmail.com
Tyler, the Creator is one of hip-hop's foremost auters. For those unaware, an auteur is a film term meaning
a director that leaves such a distinctive mark on their films that they are considered its author. And
although I've now watered the term down through a third medium, it describes Tyler perfectly.
First hitting the scene with the establishment of Odd Future in 2007, Tyler and his brand have been growing and evolving
exponentially ever since. Tyler’s discography and career progression has turned him into one of the most interesting and dynamic rappers in the business. I can vividly remember listening to Goblin, Tyler's second album way back in middle school, not even a teenager, and being very much drawn to the over-the-top edgy lyrics and ultra-distorted beats spilling out of the project. I was a huge Eminem fan at the time (embarrassing I know) and it radiated the same troll-based humour I was really into. What’s really interesting to me is that while Eminem has continued on that exact trajectory to this very day, Tyler actually grew up with his audience. As the years and records went by, his discography grew more and more varied, more intricate and lavish, culminating in 2019’s absolutely fantastic Igor (and to a lesser extent 2017s Flower boy). The shock-value appeal and lo-fi aggression of the earlier records were gone, replaced with beautifully lush and conceptual alternative R&B with a hip-hop flair. Even Tyler himself, after winning “best rap album” at the 2020 Grammy awards, affirmed that Igor should have been in the “pop” category.
Although some older fans were turned off by this shift, it easily became Tyler's biggest album ever. It even earned him the accolade of first number one hip hop artist to be produced and arranged by a single individual. Showing no sign of slowing down, his brand has only grown from here. Fashion lines, music festivals, advertisement deals with major brands like Gucci (all of this mentioned in the CMIYGL interlude “BLESSED”), the sky's the limit (or "the sky is just what we stand on to reach the beyond" as eloquently stated by collaborator DJ Drama). So where does one go after a conceptual masterpiece like Igor? We’re treated with CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST, a victory lap in every sense of the word.
Immediately setting the very deliberate mixtape tone, the album opens with DJ Drama and Tyler rattling off various aliases like it’s the mid aughts all over again. On my first listen I found this inclusion, and DJ Drama in general, to be a little distracting. As the tracks went on and I got a little more familiar with the context of his career, it began to fall into place. A legend in the mixtape scene, Drama helped cultivate the careers of some of the biggest hip-hop artists of the 2000s, including T.I and Jeezy. Working with artists ranging from Snoop Dogg to Megan Thee Stallion, Drama has solidified himself as one of the greats in the hip-hop canon. And although Tyler spent most of his previous album Igor showcasing his talents in more of an alternative R&B context, CMIYGL and dramas inclusion throughout reminds us that hip-hop is his true love, first and foremost. Instrumentally SIR BAUDILAIRE (Charles Baudelaire was a controversial french poet, whose last name is a moniker Tyler has taken on for this project) is a lovely little obtuse and jazzy introduction, filled with thick bass lines, deep bassoon tones, and a guitar tone radiating pure chill energy. The choice not to include drums here gives the track a really light and airy quality, functioning perfectly as a tone setter. The lyrics are similarly amorphous, floating from flex to flex, creating an aura of endless cool confidence. And although braggadocio is nothing new in the rap game, Tylers version of flexing has so much personality and versatile production surrounding it that everything he says is absolutely valid and extremely likeable.
The next track, CORSO, feels very much like “classic” Tyler. The aggressive vocals, distorted instrumentals, intricate and deep synths, it’s a sound a Tyler fan from any era will recognise. This is where I realised how similar this album was in tone to his 2015 album Cherry Bomb. That record was filled with both slower ballads and distorted bangers. The difference here is that the production and lyricism have both improved greatly, showcasing his newfound endless confidence. There are quotables left and right, my favourite being “I hope when they fucking she still thinking of me because i'm that perfect”. It’s just so wonderfully egotistical, especially with that dejectedly aggressive delivery. There’s just this very authentic way the lines are delivered that a lesser rapper would have a hard time pulling off.
What I really love about this track, and most Tyler songs as of late, is that the vocals and instrumentals have an almost symbiotic relationship. A typical hip hop instrumental will be built around a single groove, with the bridge / chorus usually rising in intensity or changing it up a bit. This track on the other hand, the beat ebbs and flows around the verses, very rarely keeping the same loop for more than a few seconds at a time. As Tyler gets more intense, the track gets intense along with it. If Tyler slows down, wanting to make a point, the track slows down as well, shifting to fit the lyrical tone. I really love this, as it adds so much depth and replayability to everything here. This is also why I found myself really enjoying the features here, even if the featured artist isn’t a person I'd generally appreciate. One of the most surprising examples of this would be the Lil Wayne verse on HIT WIND BLOWS, who I usually never get much from, but just exudes charisma during his verse.
On WUSYANAME, which seems to be the album's breakthrough song, is a very mild and summery spot on the tracklist, introducing the love interest that gets explored throughout tracks like SWEET / ITYWTD and WILSHIRE. While I personally don’t find it to be the most exciting thing in the world, the “what's your name girlfriend, what's your name” refrain is really sweet. The features did concern me somewhat, as I wasn't sure how well an artist like NBA Youngboy would fit into Tylers sound, but it actually ended up being one of my favorite parts of the track. He just fits really well on an instrumental that is this carefree and relaxed.
Now, this album isn’t completely without it’s faults. I find the track RUNITUP to have a bit of a redundant feel to it, as it doesn't really set out to accomplish anything we haven't already heard on the album. I appreciate the sentiment of the introductory spoken word passage and some of the lyrics, with Tyler sounding as confident as ever with a more inspirational edge. That’s really the only positive thing I can say about it. Instrumentally there isn’t much going on, as it’s much simpler than other tracks surrounding it. The group vocals of “we gon run it up” repeated over and over get old fast. I’m sure it was a fun track to record in the studio, but I don't see massive replayability in it. It's not terrible, just a bit sparse on dynamics.
Things go way up from here though, with the two-parter of SWEET / ITYWTD being what I believe to be the best song on the record. It begins with a pretty little spoken word section, where Tyler is asking his unnamed love interest to come hang out with him, and her boyfriend doesn’t approve. It’s based thematically around what we hear later fully realised in WILSHIRE. It only lasts twenty seconds or so but paired with the slowly swirling melancholic flutes and what sounds like a harpsichord it sets a very particular tone, exemplified by his exacerbated “come on” just before the first part begins. SWEET is a really charming track where we find Tyler at his poppiest. It’s funny, Igor proved so strongly that Tyler could produce tracks like this that I find myself taking it for granted, but if I were to compare this to a Bastard or Goblin era track the difference really is night and day. The instrumental is so dynamic and boldly saccharine, sweet really is the best way to describe it. I’m also loving the detail throughout the track. Blink-and-you’ll-miss-them vocal samples, synth arpeggios, Tyler saying “go to the bridge then” right before the bridge of the song itself, it’s the way these are subtly integrated which impresses me so much. And In one of my favourite moments on the whole album, SWEET seamlessly and beautifully transitions into ITYWTD. Similarly to the beginning of the track we get a relationship-based spoken word segment. This feels thematically connected to Igor, or at least a continuation, with the reuse of the “drowning” metaphor relating to the overwhelming, inescapable feeling of falling in love. Vocal harmonies begin to cascade, xylophones and keys softly ring out, we’re hit with a french vocal sample, all building into one of the best beat switches of the year.
I Thought You Wanted to Dance is a beautiful dub-backed exploration of unrequited love. Reggae is not a genre I'd have pinned on Tyler, but here it’s done with such care and finesse that it sounds like the most natural combination in the world. I want to mention the drums, because they are absolutely perfect. They’re just so thick and well recorded, and the way the huge cymbal crash cuts off right before each loop, it’s one of my favourite details from the album released this year. Keys quietly glide and flourish in the background, dissonant air-horn like synths ring out while somehow perfectly complimenting the beautifully stoned atmosphere, and each verse and hook floats in and out of this musical landscape effortlessly. The titular refrain of “I thought you wanted to dance” is positively haunting. I love how it’s surrounded by intricate swirling vocal harmonies and dejected “yeah, yeah, yeah” vocal riffing, wordless affirmations of pain and rejection that encapsulate the feeling of heartbreak just as powerfully as any lyric could. To complete the song's narrative, vocalist Fana Hues plays the voice of the aforementioned love interest, more properly introduced on the penultimate track WILSHIRE. Her voice is perfectly downcast, and the last few lines of “I'll save a dance just for you'' give the track a wonderfully forlorn conclusion.
Another moment worth mentioning is the insane JUGGERNAUT, which after a catchy but unassuming intro consisting of a drum loop and keys breaks into a crazy bass-heavy industrial-tinged rager. Tyler goes absolutely in on this song, with his yelled flexing reaching a fever pitch. Featured rappers Lil Uzi Vert and Pharrel unfortunately don’t ride the momentum as strongly, but the almost schizophrenic instrumental more than makes up for it.
The penultimate track WILSHIRE is what I believe to be the emotional heart of the album. Akin to Kendrick Lamar’s “Sing About Me I'm Dying of Thirst”, this is the album's lyrical slow burner. Focusing on storytelling as opposed to intricate production or posturing, Tyler paints a detailed picture of his relationship with his somewhat unrequited love interest. A few tracks on the album so far have been in reference to the situation, namely SWEET / ITYWTD, and this explores it with more depth. And although it’s not the most instrumentally compelling track on the album, built around a simple thick and pleasant jazzy loop, I believe that it’s lyrically one of the most compelling. Throughout the entire project, Tyler has been showing off his success, how he gets anything and anybody he wants, and his seemingly endless wealth. What makes WILSHIRE particularly affecting is this very context as what he truly wants, this love interest, is forever out of reach. The slightly agitated resignation of the line “You know, I got every damn car, multiple cribs, But it's like, "No, I want that, ha” sums it all up. I find this to be quite poignant, and explains why it annoys me when people say that an artist is no longer compelling once they reach success. Of course the vast majority of us can’t relate to having multiple cars, or houses, or a damn fashion line, but we all know what it’s like to feel unsatisfied. WILSHIRE and what it represents is a macrocosm of sorts for this exact feeling,
Overall, I'm really loving this project. Although it’s not the conceptual masterpiece Igor was, there's no point in comparing them because this shoots for something entirely different. This is Tyler’s most fun album to date, and is what I’m assuming was the most fun to record. Positively drowning in both cool, confident braggadocio and heartbroken musings on semi-unrequited love, CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST has as much heart as it does swagger. He has cultivated one of the more interesting and dynamic discographies in this generation of hip-hop, and I'm highly anticipating whatever comes next. Who knows, maybe it’ll be that jazz record he’s been talking about. It sure wouldn’t surprise me.
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