Tyler, The Creator - CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST Review
“Having seemingly moved through a sea of creative change, now Tyler is merely reflecting on his success, a theme that could have probably been more enjoyable on a shorter project.”
It was 10 years ago when Tyler became a household name with his weird yet wonderful video for breakout single ‘Yonkers’. Rewatching the video of him eating a cockroach kind of feels now like foreshadowing in the way he and the rest of Odd Future would take a bite out of the vile beast that is the music industry. In the time since Tyler has shape-shifted as an artist, eternally pushing his creativity and exploring a plethora of avenues. With his debut and last three albums being pivotal releases in the greater hip-hip canon. On his latest release, CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST Tyler is rightfully braggadocios but the theme wears thin sooner rather than later. Gone is the painful self-doubt that made his last three albums endearing. Equally, the creativity in songwriting and production seem to have congealed into a homogenous oversaturated mass on this release.
The album opens to ‘SIR BAUDELAIRE’, a track that lyrically introduces us to Tyler Baudelaire. Baudelaire serves as the narrator of the album, along with DJ Drama who gave Tyler an abundance of vocal material to choose from and layer the album with. Tyler initiates glowing warmth in the opening lyrics: “the sun beaming” a perfect image for Tyler’s journey as an artist and where he is now. The following song ‘CORSO’ stands out with its slick arrangement and rich production. This is probably one of the most sonically experimental on the record, with chilling synths and haunting piano. Lyrically Tyler foreshadows a story that comes later on in the album on track ‘WILSHIRE’: “Look, tried to take somebody bitch 'cause I'm a bad person’’. At the end of this track he notes “I don’t even like using the word bitch, it just sounded cool”.
‘LEMONHEAD’ is one of the most dance floor ready tracks, full of familiar-yet-refined Tyler production and songwriting. The soaring horns, filthy bass and tight percussion on the track show Tyler is still capable of pushing his creativity. It also features some great performances from 42 Dugg and Frank Ocean. Tyler’s rapping is at his strongest, although lyrically he seems to admit he’s “Stuck in his ways”. ‘WUSYANAME’ is without a doubt the sweetest song on the record, definitely taking influence from 90s R&B and pop, feeling like a lost relic from another era and surprisingly unlike anything Tyler’s released in recent memory. This is another track that really benefits from the incredible feature on it from none other than frequent Tyler collaborator Ty Dolla $ign.
Lead single ‘LUMBERJACK’ was a vitriolic return for Tyler. Having barely rapped at all on IGOR, this track saw a return to those heavier sounds. It almost recalls the experimental nature of Cherry Bomb. ‘LUMBERJACK’ has some of the most exciting bars and urgent songwriting on CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST but ends up leaving you wanting more. ‘HOT WIND BLOWS’ starts with jazz flutes and syncopated drums and piano and is a smooth follow-up to the ‘LUMBERJACKS’ style of abrasive sound. DJ Drama’s chants “A young lady just fed me vanilla French ice cream” and paves the way for a tongue in cheek silliness that’s typical of Tyler’s writing. ‘HOT WIND BLOWS’ is, here, a reference to the sample Penny Goodwin’s ‘Slow Hot Wind’ except the wind is no longer slow.
The first six tracks on the record are unyielding, captivating pieces of music, especially the way that they move into one another. However, once the smooth takeoff of these six has occurred you’re lulled into a false sense of security, unknowing of the storm that brews ahead.
‘MASSA’ is where things start to take a downward turn. The bass line is repetitive and underwhelming. Lyrically there’s only so much you can hear Tyler talk about himself, speaking of buying cribs in Seattle before it starts to sound insipid. The album often feels like Tyler is revelling in his success, which is completely reasonable and totally fine but it starts to feel lacklustre and unfocussed way too quickly as a result. ‘RUNITUP’ is another forgettable track. It feels like it’s always building to something that just never comes. ‘MANIFESTO’ has some relatively interesting lyrics, addressing the days when Tyler was wanting to fuck Bieber but the beat is boring, repetitive and borderline annoying by the time you’ve hit the 2:20 wall.
‘SWEET / I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE’ is a 10 minute track that is infinitely forgettable and tethered like a ball and chain to the rest of the album, easily one of the biggest offenders on the record. If it’s not the genuinely god-awful synth melody at the start, it’s the generic chorus melody during the first half that really ramps up the dullness. The lyrics are uninspired. By the three-minute mark you’re looking at your watch waiting for something interesting to happen, oh wow and then it does, oh no wait just back to the “sugar” chorus with some arpeggiated synths. This feels all too familiar in a spiritless way. The latter half of the track feels out of place too, kind of similar to a track from the quirkier crappier end of the Childish Gambino discography. At least the latter half seems to have more going for it with some nice call and response between Tyler and Fana Hues.
The next three are really more of a slump than anything else. ‘MOMMA TALK’ is a track-full of his mum on the phone. It’s okay. ‘RISE’ has more repetitive, dull instrumentation and arrangement choices. There are far too many moments on this record where it feels like Tyler’s writing weaker versions of songs from Flower Boy or simply recycling old ideas. ‘BLESSED’ is another track like ‘MOMMA TALK’ that just feels a bit pointless.
‘JUGGERNAUT’ is where things take a momentary upward turn. The arrangement is simple and sweet at first but grows invasively into a murky banger. Lil Uzi Vert and Pharrell Williams feature on this track with Lil Uzi Vert stealing the spotlight with his slack delivery. It’s a redeeming moment.
As alluded to previously, we now come to ‘WILSHIRE’. Here we learn the story of a failed relationship but it really just comes across as more of a humble brag — that his power and influence can do that to someone, only for him to refer to this person as a bitch at the start of the album but regretting that enough to mention that he regrets it in the album. It all seems suspect, and it’s not to say that Tyler hasn’t had his fair share of scandal. It just feels like a story people didn’t need to hear, and it adds nothing fulfilling to the coherence of the record at large.
The first third of the album is genuinely really enjoyable with interesting arrangements and songwriting on tracks like ‘CORSO’, ‘LEMONHEAD’ and ‘WUSYANAME’ that will make you feel like this is Tyler’s grandiose and braggadocios return to rapping on an album. But by the time you get towards the end, you feel like those entertaining moments at the start are a distant memory. With two of the tracks towards the back end being close to 20 minutes long together, it’s a waste; there was very little reason to warrant that kind of time, due to the repetitive and boring melodies and songwriting. Lyrically, it’s no surprise Tyler is talking about buying cars, cars, buying things, other things he owns, cars, travelling and bicycles. But on this album it feels boring, there’s no introspection. Only positive outward projection, which is fun for a while, but the songwriting doesn’t manage to keep up.
‘SAFARI’ is the last track on the album and features a really repetitive tedious horn melody. The title almost sums up the album, a safari of mediocre tracks and ideas, which I guess if Tyler was going for the “mixtape” aesthetic then he probably pulled it off with flying colours. However it’s at this point you realise the journey is over and the wobbly nature of the crash landing leaves a bitter anti-climactic impression.
This album is a celebration. Tyler has come leaps and bounds since the days of eating cockroaches; he’s now one of the most important artists of the 21st century, and if anyone has a right to a little self-gratification it’s him. However, there’s only so much people can talk about themselves, their cars, and money, and power without noticing a serious substance deficit in the lyrics. Perhaps that’s why this record doesn’t shape up emotionally the same way IGOR or Flower Boy or even Cherry Bomb did. There was more of an intimacy, and creatively Tyler was at his most fertile, pushing his boundaries as hard as possible. On CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST, Tyler doesn’t need to do any of this because he’s made it. Truly, he’s come a long way from his past.
However, there’s an emotional depth on IGOR and Flower Boy that just isn’t there on CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST. He’s no longer a fucking walking paradox. He’s predictable. Ultimately, the album falls flat and more often than not bores the listener. The melodies can feel worn-out, and as a whole the project is bloated at sixteen tracks of wildly varying lengths running the gauntlet from less than a minute to almost ten. The catchy melodies and genuinely engaging music in the first third just about convince the listener that this is a good album. But even then, it lacks a lot of what made his last three albums so interesting. Where on IGOR, Flower Boy and Cherry Bomb there was self-discovery painstakingly dripping in self-doubt. Having seemingly moved through a sea of creative change, now Tyler is merely reflecting on his success, a theme that could have probably been more enjoyable on a shorter project. But here? CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST gets boring, repetitive, vain, and stale halfway through the journey, with a long ride left till the end.
