I’ll have to admit that I wasn’t a huge Tyler, The Creator fan before this week. I never understood the appeal of Igor and I had merely admired FlowerBoy from a distance. When I saw the promotional material for Call Me If You Get Lost (CMIYGL henceforth) and listened to LUMBERJACK, I decided to give his music another shot. My mind was blown and I finally understood the appeal. Then, on Friday, CMIYGL came out and I was so so impressed. I’ve had this album on constant rotation since then and ever since I heard it for the first time, I knew I wanted to write about it. So here is my review/analysis/appreciation article for CMIYGL by Tyler, The Creator.
★★★★
The opening song on the album introduces us to the main character, Tyler Baudelaire. Referred to as the titular “Sir Baudelaire” in the characters from the sketch Brown Sugar Salmon released prior to the album. Tyler has taken production duties on this album and starting with the opening track, he shows us his talent with an absolutely addictive beat. The character is shown to be wealthy and reflects this romanticized version of Tyler’s actual life. With references to Geneva and the French Open, places which Tyler himself visited in the run-up to the album.
★★★½
Corso is defined as “a street used for social promenades, or where races and parades were formerly held“. This could have two significances. Firstly, he is projecting the extravagant life of Tyler Baudelaire as alluded to in the previous song. That is certainly what the first verse is referencing. It could also be an indication that he feels this album is more of a celebration than his previous work and this song is the street leading into it. In the third verse, we get introduced to the ‘girl’ who will be referenced throughout the album and Tyler describes his initial feelings about the situation. I was not too impressed by this song from a production standpoint, which is a rarity on this pristinely produced album.
★★★½
Lemonhead continues the theme of Tyler ‘flexing’ his opulence. With a hard-hitting feature from 42 Dugg, the production is done in collaboration with DJ Drama who’s ad-lib is Gangsta Grillz. This is a significant thing for Tyler as he tweeted –
We also get a voice message from Frank Ocean interlaced with promotional material for the album in the end which acts as a delicate transition to the next song.
★★★★½
This song goes back to the theme of the ‘The Girl’, now we learn more about her. We learn how she bonded with Tyler and how he fell for her shortly before finding out she was taken. We see how smitten he is with her, but the song definitely has so many witty lines. It’s also produced beautifully, so each line flows so well. YoungBoy NBA and Ty Dola $ign provide great verses and diversify the sound which is a highlight on the album. The album really hits it’s stride on this song and the themes are beginning to culminate more and more.
★★★★★
One of my favourite songs on the album, and the lead single, Tyler mixes things up with an abrasive, nasty beat. He continues to ‘flex’ his material possessions while being extremely witty and humourous. This song is just really fun to listen to and the hook is so catchy.
★★★★★
“Massa” is a reference to the way African-American slaves used to refer to their masters in the 18th and 19th century. Tyler uses this to contrast with his lifestyle now alluding to the success Cherry Bomb (2015) and FlowerBoy (2017) brought him but he is no longer enslaved by the things he was before. He quips that he can now outrun his ‘master’ showing the progress he has made. The song also comments about how in the grand scheme of things, his financial and material success that he was flexing on the album so far are irrelevant in the face of things like love, betrayal and loyalty.
★★★★★
Manifesto has probably my favourite production on the album. Tyler riffs over this sick beat about how Twitter and online platforms have become a place to spread agendas and politics and how he’s progressed from rapping about absolutely vile things especially on his earlier projects like Goblin (2011) and how he’s become more aware. He also talks about the pressure that celebrities face to speak out on huge issues and how that weight can often be overwhelming when they don’t have anything new or meaningful to add. He also humorously comments on how the pressure to comment about an issue usually comes from the people who are not even affected by it because those actually affected understand that words won’t change much.
First released as a teaser on June 14, 2021, “SWEET / I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE” is a two part song that continues the trend appearing on every 10th track of Tyler, The Creator’s discography, beginning with his debut mixtape, BASTARD. “SWEET” is the height of Tyler’s infatuation with this girl, while in “I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE” she begins to have more mixed feelings until she chooses her partner over him, giving Tyler mixed emotions. We see the pain he feels in both these songs as he slowly realizes that she’s slipping away from him.
★★★★★
While this song doesn’t feed into the theme of the album and I can’t analyze the lyrics too much, it continues the theme of opulence and celebrating success. The main reason I wanted to highlight the song are the features by Lil Uzi Vert and Pharrell Williams who makes the song so fun and bring real versatility to the album. It’s a really enjoyable track and I really liked how the three artists played off of each other.
★★★★★
This is not only my favourite song on the album, but it’s my favourite Tyler song and also one of my favourite songs of all time. I’ve listened to all 8 minutes of it so many times at this point. The first time I listened to it, I was nearly in tears. The lyrics are not particularly genius or anything but the utter sincerity with which Tyler delivers the story of the album and tells this heartbreaking tale of love, loyalty and betrayal. He makes you think about the morality of the situation and you contemplate the ethics of the situation. He also explains the situation with “The Girl” that he hints a throughout the album. The song is a rollercoaster ride of ecstasy, and melancholy as you go from hearing about a wholesome ‘relationship’ to its tearful aftermath. The vulnerability that Tyler shows on the song caught me really off guard and even while writing this review I have a lump in my throat because I can relate to the song on such a deep, personal level.
Overall Thoughts
I think its quite obvious that I really liked CMIYGL. It has two themes, one of unfortunate love and the proceeding heartbreak with ‘The Girl’ storyline and another theme of celebrating success and opulence with the Tyler Baudelaire storyline. The constant interchange between the two storylines with beautiful production by Tyler and DJ Drama make this album an instant classic. This is turning out to be one of my favourite albums of all time and I know I’m in the minority but I genuinely think that this is Tyler’s best work.
Reviewland by Arnav 