Everything You Need to Know Ahead of Tyler the Creator’s Sixth Album

By Enzo Luna, Chronic.Com Staff Writer

A flower blooms slowly but surely, revealing hidden patterns and beautiful colors as it stretches its petals and lays bare all its features for the world to see. Tyler, the Creator’s musical journey has been like seeing a flower’s stem emerge abruptly from soil, only to grow into a flower that is unquestionably the crowning jewel of the garden. 

Since 2011, the Los Angeles native has released music every two years. The first of those projects was Goblin, an album that was not well received by the mainstream, but which helped him gain a cult following. The album was characterized by brash rap lyrics, pitched vocals and a story that chronicled the relationship between Tyler and his imaginary therapist Dr. TC. It featured songs such as “She” featuring Frank Ocean and “Yonkers,” a song whose music video caused a lot of buzz due to Tyler’s choice of food. We’re not going to talk about it, just watch the music video. 

This debut album was followed by Wolf in 2013, which saw Tyler dive into deeper storytelling and more pronounced, intentional production. Musically, this album was a big jump because it was brighter, more soulful and personal. It featured appearances from artists such as Pharrell, Erykah Badu and once again Frank Ocean. Tyler tackled personal topics such as the absence of his father, his feelings on his fame and the contradictory feelings of love. 

In 2015, Tyler released his third studio album titled Cherry Bomb, which saw him take another step forward in his musical development. Songs like “Find Your Wings” showcased Tyler’s ability to hang with the musical great Roy Ayers. Other songs like “FUCKING YOUNG/PERFECT” introduced the bright and dreamy sound that Tyler’s music is characteristic of now. Cherry Bomb proved that Tyler could construct beautiful neo-soul jazz infused songs with dreamy melodies. 

Flower Boy, which was released in 2017 proved this even further. It earned him his first GRAMMY nomination in the rap category and it expanded his audience significantly. He told a cohesive story about self discovery, doubt, love, excitement and everything in between those topics. Songs like “See You Again” featuring Kali Uchis and “911/Mr. Lonely” featuring Frank Ocean were some of the most popular on the album, and rightfully so. Tyler’s use of the piano, strings, and synth keyboard amounted to super bright songs that balanced not so bright topics such as saying goodbye to a lover and dealing with loneliness. This was also the album where Tyler chose to open up to his fans about his sexuality, which he has openly continued talking about in his music.

His latest album release was in 2019 with his GRAMMY award-winning album IGOR, which tells the story of a love triangle between a man, his girlfriend and his side piece: Igor. Songs like “EARFQUAKE” showed off Tyler’s composition skills and the way he could blend distorted instruments, such as fuzzy keyboards and woozy keyboards into catchy songs. That song has a perfect Playboi Carti feature too by the way. IGOR also showcased Tyler’s storytelling abilities. The album takes you on a complete journey through new love, heartbreak, indecision, anger, acceptance and then finally forgiveness. 

Now that it’s 2021, Tyler is slated to release another album. After a lot of teasing, he announced that the album “Call Me If You Get Lost” will be released on June 25. The teasers weren’t meaningless though because they provided a lot of insight into the musical direction he will be taking this time. 

This month, billboards with the words “call me if you get lost” appeared in locations such as Los Angeles. The billboard also had a phone number that would play a musical snippet featuring Tyler’s mom speaking about her love for him. The snippet sounds like classic Tyler, but with the new and exciting element of a flute, which gives the snippet a Bobbi Humphrey sort of feel. The phone number has been updated two times with new snippets that feature pretty chords and even Portuguese lyrics from Tyler. 

Call Me If You Get Lost Billboard

Following the mysterious appearance of this billboard and phone number, he released a short video on social media and YouTube titled “SIDE STREET.” In the video Tyler sits atop a pink Fiat 131 Abarth in a red cardigan, khakis and loafers, while he kisses a woman who is out walking her dog. Her boyfriend appears once Tyler peels away in his car, which hints at another love triangle story. The flute appears again in the music of this short video, further proof of legendary jazz flautist Bobbi Humphrey’s influence. 

SIDE STREET Music Video

A few days after the release of this short video, Tyler made the website www.callmeifyougetlost.com and dropped a single titled “LUMBERJACK” with an accompanying music video. The song sees Tyler revisiting his older musical style that was characterized by abrasive beats. He raps about winning his first GRAMMY, his material success and sledding in Utah. The song heavily samples “2 Cups of Blood” by Gravediggaz. What’s most interesting about this song is that it’s a curveball given the musical direction Tyler appears to be making and because the music video version of this song is different from the one on streaming platforms. 

LUMBERJACK Music Video

The music video version of this song opens up with Flower Boy sounding chords and a gliding synth lead. Tyler narrates about a plan to sled in Brian Head Utah. A few days after this surprising release Tyler announced that he is in fact dropping an album, which will be titled “Call Me If You Get Lost.” The cover features a passport photo of “Tyler Baudelaire” that looks to be inspired by ODB’s 1995 album “Return to the 36 Chambers.” Based on the cover and the narration from the music video, it looks like Tyler will be telling a story involving some sort of trip. 

The single he released after “LUMBERJACK” was another curveball that displayed Tyler’s range. While “LUMBERJACK” sounds darker and more to the style of his older songs, “WUSYANAME” sounds like nothing Tyler has done before. In the music video for this song, Tyler attempts to woo the same girl we saw in “SIDE STREET,” but is unsuccessful. He raps over an r&b track that sounds like it’s straight out of the 90s, both a genre and a decade that Tyler has never really explored. It sounds like he got Ty Dolla $ign to sing on the track, which shows that if Tyler is going to try something new, he’s going to do it the right way. Clever fans who tried to reupload the song on YouTube discovered that NBA Youngboy will also be featured on the song.

With the release of the video “BROWN SUGAR SALMON” Tyler showed that he is committed to telling a deeper story this time around. While his albums have always held some sort of narrative structure, Tyler has never released a video that isn’t centered around music. In “BROWN SUGAR SALMON” we see Tyler on a train acting out a skit where he goes back and forth with a waitress about his meal. Unfortunately for Tyler, a trivial boat shortage at the lake meant no brown sugar salmon for him. Storywise, I think we can expect Tyler’s best story yet, with more visuals than ever that will tie in beautifully with the music. 

Musically, I think Tyler will lean more into jazz and its many iterations, but songs like “LUMBERJACK” and “WUSYANAME” show that this album may include a range of sounds and genres. The way he uses the flute is very reminiscent of Bobbi Humphrey, who I keep mentioning because the vinyl for her album, Satin Doll, makes a background appearance in the music video for “Tamale” from his album Wolf. “LUMBERJACK” sounds like his older catalog and “WUSYANAME” like something completely new.

At this point, it is hard to speculate which direction Tyler will take this album. But, I think it’s only natural that Tyler will step more into jazz given the gradual progression that all his albums have made towards that genre. I think he will have a fresh take on it and will have more neo-soul sensibilities than any of his previous albums. I don’t think he will fully commit to making a jazz album, and his new song and snippets have shown this, but I do think that he will borrow elements from it that will place this album underneath that umbrella. 

“CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST” will be available on all music streaming platforms tomorrow, June 25th.