Review: Tyler, The Creator's Call Me If You Get Lost

“Hello Sir Baudelaire?” 

CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST, Tyler, The Creator’s (or to us, “Sir Tyler Baudelaire’s”) seventh studio album, invites listeners into the world building within his own mind. Providing a mix of groove and hip-hop, the “Gangsta Grillz” esque record gets vulnerable as Tyler travels through personal details about his life, a past relationship, an ex-lover who broke his heart, and his success. If you don’t know what “Gangsta Grillz” is, you’re not alone: the mixtape franchise birthed by DJ Drama, or Tyree Cinque Simmons, single handedly defined rap’s anecdotal nature throughout the 2000s. With the inspiration for the sound of the album as the producer and main feature, Tyler did not hesitate to give us the album of the summer, if not the year, supplying intense hip-hop songs to dance around and miserably fail at rapping along to with your friends on infamous summer drives.

After seeing this tweet on my timeline, I did some digging into what “Gangsta Grillz” is and what it has to do with CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST. The creator of “Gangsta Grillz” is the main feature on the opening track and can be heard providing commentary at different points in certain songs, echoing the vibe of his discography and producing style throughout Tyler’s entire album. Well played Sir Baudelaire, well played. 

So with that inspiration, we need to examine another significant concept of the album. Sir Baudelaire is an homage to French poet Charles Baudelaire. Charles Baudelaire was also a notable essayist and art critic. Born in Paris in 1821, Baudelaire wrote only one full body of work, Les Fleurs Du Mal, which translates to The Flowers of Evil in English. The book, scandalous for its 1857 publication date, features themes of sex and death while also discussing homosexuality (specifically lesbianism), lost innocence, love, the burdens of living, the role of the artist, and destiny. Tyler paid attention to Les Fleurs Du Mal in this album, taking some of the most notable themes of the set of poems, such as love, the role of the artist, and the burdens of living, and using his own life to portray them. Les Fleurs Du Mal is an immensely personal set of poems to Baudelaire, much like CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST is an immensely personal album to Tyler. The pseudonym of Sir Baudelaire wasn’t simply crafted out of uniqueness, but as a tribute to the poet. In my opinion, CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST is much more than 16 songs; it’s a carefully choreographed and rich performance. 

An alternative theory to the Sir Baudelaire pseudonym is that Tyler is referencing Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. Sparked by fans, many have pointed out the coincidences between various songs and music video clips to specific books and scenes. One of the biggest pieces of evidence backing this theory is the fact that the children in the series are Baudelaires, and  Tyler’s twitter bio used to say “i'm not count olaf”. From there, fans have taken to Twitter to add their own musings surrounding if Sir Baudelair stems from the famed children’s novel series. “LUMBERJACK,” the fourth track on the album, is the main song being used as leverage for the conspiracy. Apparently, “LUMBERJACK” correlates to the fourth book of the series, “The Miserable Mill.” “The Miserable Mill” is a lumberjack mill, and the book features a character called Mr. Poe. In the “LUMBERJACK” music video, fans who support this theory couldn’t help but notice the resemblance between the character of Mr. Poe in the Netflix series for the books and the character Tyler plays in the video. Also, fourth track, fourth book, it’s pretty coincidental. This theory is still very much a theory, as are most musing where this new persona stems from, but the sleuthing done by fans is impressive to say the least. 

This album is beautiful, but for some it may take a second listen to really appreciate the depth of its stories and messages. It’s easy to overlook the emotion behind the lyrics if you pay too much attention to the sporadic but effective interjections from DJ Drama. This album has a lot going on all at once, like most Tyler albums, but it really is an empowering and vulnerable listening experience when you dedicate your ears to the little details. The backtracks provide accompanying and contrasting moods to the lyrics depending on what song you’re listening to, and if a backing vocalist is featured, they don’t overpower the main vocals of the track. I mean, whoever is the backing vocalist in “HOT WIND BLOWS” deserves a credit on the track because she  seriously adds so much depth to that song. Every decision made on this album was done carefully and methodically, and it shows through the album’s cohesiveness in its overall sound. 

My favorite song on the whole album would arguably be one of the most vulnerable of the sixteen tracks. “MASSA” covers a lot in three minutes and forty-three seconds. Tyler references slavery by titling the song “MASSA,” which is an ode to the vernacular previously used to describe one’s master. He then uses this reference to contrast his experience as a Black artist in 2021. He recognizes all of the luxuries he has been afforded, but also uses it to reinforce that things may be better now, but the work isn’t over. He begins the track by saying: “Whatever your shit is, man, do it / Whatever brings you that immense joy, do that, that's your luxury.” This encouraging note immediately morphs into a stark confrontation of deeply personal issues that address his relationship with his mother, success, love, and mental health. To me, the most moving verse in the song would have to be the first when Tyler says: 

“Mom was in the shelter when "Yonkers" dropped, I don't say it (I don't say it)

When I got her out, that's the moment I knew I made it (Yeah, yeah)

I don't come from money, they deny it

Since I don't mirror the stereotypical products of my environment

Eight figures in taxes, takin' that shit is stupid

A flower gets its petal, they pluck it but never use it

It's still potholes in the schools, when does it go?

It’s still loopholes that I use, nobody knows”

“MASSA” acknowledges the growth Tyler has experienced from his early days to now, even name-dropping the albums that were of peak significance to his artistic development. He attributes Cherry Bomb, his third studio album, to the start of his growth as an individual, saying “See, I was shiftin', that's really why Cherry Bomb sounded so shifty.” He then goes on to address Flower Boy, his fifth studio album that garnered notoriety for being out of the box for Tyler, as another shift in his personality, saying: “Thoughts change so rapid, turn into a butterfly, Flower Boy happened”

Not only does Tyler mimic Baudelaire’s style by outlining his shed of innocence, he goes into a place of vulnerability that shows his progression as a person through his albums while also uplifting and inspiring his listeners. “MASSA” marks just over the midway point of the album, signaling a shift in tone, mood and overall listening experience. Now, the second half of the album is where all but one of my favorite songs lie. “SWEET / I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE,” featuring Brent Faiyaz and Fana Hues, is the beginning and end of a relationship wrapped into 9 minutes and 48 seconds. The song starts off with lustful and loving sentiments describing the relationship and  person Tyler wrote the song about, yet  suddenly transitions into the falling out of love and breakup period of the relationship. Being one of the two longer songs of the album, “SWEET / I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE” captures a tale as old as time in a way that is still personal to Tyler’s experience. From the “SWEET” section of the song, the verse: 

“Even if you left me out here stranded

My feelings wouldn't change a bit

(You know how I feel about you, are you ready?)

Do you know how I feel 'bout that?

Infinite, the love I have for you

A diamond couldn't put a dent in it”

The verse itself reminded me of something I wrote to my boyfriend before we started dating; as cheesy as it sounds, it proves that this dynamic is deeply relatable to the listener. On the complete flip side, the ending of verse two in “I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE” reminded me of getting over my exes.  The first line hit hard, as I’m sure it did for many of you. That’s the beauty of this song: its dynamic can relate and resonate with all of his listeners on some level.. By combining what could have been two individual songs, we get the full scope of the relationship in a way that is more enrapturing. 

The last song I want to dive into, it being in my top three for the album, is “WILSHIRE.” “WILSHIRE” is the second longest track on the album, timing in at 8 minutes and 35 seconds. Starting with quite possibly my favorite introduction on any track (a simple but commanding “Mhm-mm, fuck, yeah,” )“WILSHIRE” goes in depth about another relationship of Tyler’s, this time addressing a crush he had on one of his friend’s partners. Tyler again is going into a place of romantic vulnerability, a trend of the album, and presenting an authentic recollection of how he felt and still feels for this person. “WILSHIRE” is another one of those songs that hit slightly too close to home, having been in a place (like most of us have) where the person you simply cannot get your heart to stop fixating on is fixating on someone else. In Tyler’s situation, the feeling is mutual, though the pair never began a relationship. “WILSHIRE” creates yet another vivid story, full of twists and turns in its lyrics. He even uses the song to address his sexuality, saying: “I could fuck a trillion bitches every country I done been in / Men or women, it don't matter, if I seen 'em, then I had 'em.” Tyler uses “WILSHIRE,” like “SWEET / I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE,” as a vessel to release his true feelings about these relationships that hurt him. Honestly, if you need to get some advice on relationships and breakups, listen to CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST — it will really reveal the romantic side of Tyler, which he doesn’t show too often.  

Overall, this album gives us a little bit of everything Tyler has ever done. Despite the new persona Tyler has adopted for this story, it’s still a Tyler, The Creator album. But also, can we talk about the art direction behind this era? Whoever is responsible for matching the album to Tyler’s style needs a pay raise. CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST has a song for everyone, even if it takes you a listen or two to get used to all the DJ Drama yells.