Michael G. BarilleauxPerhaps the musical high point of a summer scarcely short of hot tracks and solid projects, multi-faceted artist Tyler, The Creator’s “Call Me If You Get Lost” is certainly one of 2021’s most enjoyable and well-crafted albums.
Tyler’s opening dialogue on the project’s first track “Sir Baudelaire” – simple, yet evocative of the sizzling, celebratory and preparatory lyrical content and production to come – leaves a fitting impression for the rest of the album. Whether it is Tyler’s own lyric and vocal performances or the abundantly forthright and absolutely smooth pacing of each track, everything about this album is tight and strong.
Tyler lays this project out in a way that is done with such precise attention to each and every detail while still having the foresight of when it is time to bring the hammer down with the rawest of raps, such as on the pounding “LUMBERJACK” or the shamelessly outstretched yet painlessly braggadocious “CORSO”, which boasts lines such as, “She said she like the Royce and I’m like, which one?”
One aspect of this record that adds a priceless degree of curation is the splendidly placed features and their hard to beat deliveries. 42 Dugg and Youngboy Never Broke Again, to point out the arguably most impactful of the guest contributors, both bring indescribable energies to the album that are damn near perfect in their own way.
The manner in which they light these respective tracks ablaze and boost them beyond expectation, even if just by their pure strength and glow of presence alone, catapults the potential of “Lemonhead” and “Wusyaname” out into the stratosphere.
Perhaps this work’s most memorable guest of all, however, is the one and only DJ Drama, who adds a particularly polished engagement and flexible edging to this album. The legendary DJ and Hip-Hop mainstay guides this project track by track with a loose, hands-off but consistent appearance that serves to compliment Tyler through his fittingly declared rise to the top.
Tyler, The Creator does many things well on “Call Me If You Get Lost”. Quite frankly, he rarely makes a notable mistake. If “Igor” didn’t have listeners convinced that Tyler has grown exponentially with regards to his production and songwriting abilities then perhaps his blending of luxury raps with beautiful, robust beats and convincingly effective singing on this album will do the trick.
“Call Me If You Get Lost” is undoubtedly a strong showing by Tyler, The Creator, to say the very least. Despite this album’s fantastic structuring and delivery, however, something that is always to be expected with this artist is that what he creates next will undoubtedly be even better.