The always-controversial Tyler, The Creator returns with the follow-up to his sixth studio album, “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST.” The album serves as a deluxe edition to his 2021 release, adding an extra eight songs to the record. Tyler, known mainly for his irreverent attitude and highly controversial lyrics, dials down his controversial nature here. This results in an extremely diverse record sonically that feels extremely satisfying to listen to from beginning to end. Given that the first release of this album won Best Rap Album at the 2022 Grammy Awards, it’s no surprise that this album is fantastic. “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST: The Estate Sale” released on March 31, 2023.
The production is absolutely incredible throughout the entire 24-track album. The amount of experimenting and combining of different musical styles and approaches feels so refreshing. In a genre that gets quite repetitive, it’s so nice to hear Tyler experiment with so many different sounds and production styles. The layering of different instruments and sounds here feels extremely lush; for lack of a better term, every song feels full.
Tyler’s lyrical content feels much more mature throughout the album. Instead of relying on shock value as he did in the past, he instead leans more toward philosophical and introspective lyrics, touching on topics such as race, love and his career throughout the album.
The features on “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST” are extremely good throughout the album. Tyler brings in a plethora of rap and R&B artists as features, ranging from established rappers Lil Wayne, Lil Uzi Vert and A$AP Rocky to Ty Dolla $ign and NBA Youngboy. Pharell Williams even makes an appearance here.
The biggest hit of the album is easily “WUSYANAME,” peaking inside the Billboard Top 20. It’s not hard to understand why; it’s simply an extremely fun track. The smooth production feels like it’s straight out of the ‘70s. NBA Youngboy and A$AP Rocky’s features are excellent additions to this already strong track. The trio’s different vocal styles provide a great contrast that works extremely well together throughout the breezy two-minute track.
However, the album standout is “SWEET / I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE.” The nearly 10-minute track takes you on a musical journey, covering a wide variety of musical styles throughout. The song begins with a lighter, airy production that flirts with synth pop for a majority of the runtime. Later, there are touches of traditional R&B elements and even some reggae in the production.
It’s honestly incredible how short this 10-minute song feels. In my experience, a lot of songs that stretch over the six or seven-minute mark often feel unnecessary and repetitive at times. However, this song feels like it uses every single second to its fullest. I’d argue that this is one of the most unique and fresh-sounding songs I’ve heard in a long while.
My only minor nitpick would once again be the length of the album. While I don’t think that any two songs in the album sound the same or feel like filler, the 24 songs and hour and 15-minute runtime are a bit much. It’s simply a lot to ask from the listener, in my opinion.
It is absolutely no surprise that “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST” won Best Rap Album last year. “The Estate Sale” is no different. The eight tracks serve the previous album extremely well and simply pack the album with more quality tracks. While I would argue that it’s a bit on the long side, there is never a repetitive section of this 24-track album. Tyler, The Creator once again proves why he is one of the best rappers in the genre today.
8.5/10