Tyler, The Creator revisits past work in masterful re-release of 2021 album
Lindy Truitt | Assistant Illustration Editor
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After Tyler, The Creator dropped “Call Me If You Get Lost,” the album would go on to win Best Hip-Hop Album at the Grammy’s in 2022. Now two years later, he has released the missing tracks that never made the cut.
On March 31, he dropped an eight song extension onto his June 2021 project, titled “Call Me If You Get Lost: The Estate Sale.” Becoming one of the faces of hip-hop ever since his breakout album “Flower Boy” in 2017, Tyler, The Creator has combined creativity, countless sub-genres and flawless production into his work, which are all reflected on his next installment.
Receiving nominations and wins for every album he has released since “Flower Boy,” his first burst onto the music scene would come in 2011 when he won MTV’s Music Award for best new artist.
He also helped found the music group Odd Future with Left Brain, Hodgy Beats and many others while also having his television program “Loiter Squad,” displaying the many years he has spent mastering the entertainment world. Transitioning into his next era of music and style, Tyler, The Creator unleashes the vault and a new version of himself on “The Estate Sale” package.
Album Overview & Rollout
The first edition, “Call Me If You Get Lost,” featured 16 tracks, and served as the highly-anticipated follow up to 2019’s “IGOR.” Listed as a composer, producer and engineer on the album, Tyler contributes a lot to his own work, while letting a stacked supporting cast still contribute to the production and lyricism.
As for other producers on the project, Pharell, DJ Drama and Jay Versace assist Tyler, The Creator in creating the unique beats that scatter throughout, while NBA Youngboy, 42 Dugg and Brent Faiyaz deliver some of the best features for “Call Me If You Get Lost.”
Rolling out “The Estate Sale,” Tyler would post the music video for the lead single “DOGTOOTH” on March 27, announcing on his Twitter the rest of the deluxe would be coming out soon. He also took to Twitter to share the album cover, which would be different from the original version, seeing Tyler carrying suitcases ahead of a paper sail boat.
Two days after “DOGTOOTH,” another music video dropped for “SORRY NOT SORRY,” a creative art display that goes through the many eras of the California rapper’s career. Ending with a new picture of Tyler beating up his “Call Me If You Get Lost” era, he is clearly trying to show that the next phase is on the horizon, possibly in another album in the near future.
The eight songs within the deluxe include new features from Vince Staples, A$AP Rocky and YG, unlocking the vault from songs that he wanted to add to the Grammy Award-winning album. DJ Drama’s continuous narration in the deluxe also gives a refreshing glimpse back to the 2021 release, and sets up yet another amazing piece of work from Tyler.
Standout Tracks
“EVERYTHING MUST GO,” serves as the introductory segway from the standard edition to “The Estate Sale,” utilizing DJ Drama and Tyler, The Creator’s narrations to commence the next chapter of the album.
Vince Staples hops in on the second track “STUNTMAN,” a high, energetic song which sees the two artists trade unblemished lyricism and constant pop culture referencing. While also mixing in some DJ Drama, this is by far the most upbeat song to come off of the deluxe, sounding a lot like the style based on “JUGGERNAUT” or his collaboration with Maxo Kream “Big Persona.”
When it comes to the bars, Tyler murders the beat and instrumental with his best line being, “Different color chess pieces hangin’ from my necklace, stones too heavy, give me red neck, Texas, I cover it with scarves in the closet like my exes.” The amount of hidden implications and references scattered in “STUNTMAN,” even poking at his exes sharing that he was still “in the closet” at the time of their relationships.
As fans continue to wait for the rumored “WANG$AP” album, Tyler gives us a long awaited collaboration with A$AP Rocky in “WHARF TALK.”
Slower paced and produced directly by Tyler, they rap about lavish life and love. The two “got a new boat, you should come with” and don’t allow any questions about it, just “let the wharf talk.”
Yacht parties and the relaxing lifestyle associated with it flood the track, and the lyricism reflects immensely on the cover of the deluxe album. It might not be as iconic as “Potato Salad,” but still puts together the prolific minds of the two hip-hop figures in what Tyler says is “my favorite” on Twitter. Like the majority of “Call Me If You Get Lost,” this track really makes the audience fall away from the surrounding world and dive into the laid back content within.
“BOYFRIEND, GIRLFRIEND” was an unreleased song with YG made in 2020, which is why it is listed as a 2020 demo in the tracklist, but the unexpected collaboration proved to me a great addition to “The Estate Sale.”
Blending their two west coast styles together, YG’s strong opening verse combined with the amazing bridges and pre-chorus’ from Tyler prove for an entertaining song where they want to “start something new” and launch a fresh relationship, whether it be a boyfriend or girlfriend.
The finishing touch to the lost tapes of “Call Me If You Get Lost: The Estate Sale” is the solo performance “SORRY NOT SORRY,” where Tyler apologizes for people he disappointed in the past.
“Sis’, I’m sorry I’m your kin, sorry we ain’t close as we should’ve been” and “sorry to my old friends, the stories we coulda wrote if our egos didn’t take the pen,” serve as some of the more sincere regrets Tyler lists.
Snarky, passive aggressive apologies leak into other verses such as “sorry if you gotta dig for info I don’t wanna give, so you stalk, make up fibs, just to talk about my private life.” He believes he does have people he cares about that he has to show forgiveness, while also displaying his distaste towards those who have wronged him. It’s a conscious outlook into the fame of Tyler, The Creator, and a conclusion to the Sir Bauledaire self he will leave behind.
Published on April 5, 2023 at 11:48 pm