Tyler, The Creator’s CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST

The similarities between the covers of CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST and Ol' Dirty Bastard’s Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version are no coincidence. Tyler, The Creator’s passion for rapping is back and he’s here to flex. With DJ Drama present throughout as a co-sign to the braggadocio, Tyler’s sixth LP is the album fans have been waiting for: a marriage of the raw energy of his Odd Future days with the artistic and creative lessons learned through the successes of Flower Boy and IGOR. While buoyed by a number of quality features that cast an expansive sonic palette—including the breezy sing-rap of the YoungBoy Never Broke Again and Ty Dolla $ign feature “WUSYANAME,” Lil Wayne’s best rapping in a minute on “HOT WIND BLOWS,” the grandiloquent, reggae-infused centerpiece “SWEET / I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE,” and the Lil Uzi Vert and Pharrell Williams tour-de-force “JUGGERNAUT”—it is on the Tyler-only cuts that CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST is at its most impressive. Hinted at by the banger of a lead up single “LUMBERJACK” (which spectacularly samples Gravediggaz’s eerie classic “2 Cups of Blood”), the pummeling “CORSO,” the brooding exposé of “MASSA,” the stream of consciousness soliloquy “WILSHIRE” (that somewhat clumsily ties up the album’s homewrecker narrative arch), and the brassy, boom bap of “SAFARI” all showcase Tyler’s robust rhymes and whimsical wordplay in career-best form. Experience has clearly been an excellent teacher, and uniquely positioned Tyler to deliver his strongest release yet.

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If you like CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST, check out:

• Limbo by Aminé

• ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE by BROCKHAMPTON

• Some Rap Songs by Earl Sweatshirt

• 6 Feet Deep by Gravediggaz

• Vince Staples by Vince Staples