On Call Me If You Get Lost, Tyler, the Creator masterfully reminds us that life is all about the journey, growth, confusion, pain and magic in between. So often, we focus on beginnings and endings. It’s a tender invitation that comes late into an album that has already guided the listener through a bright, expansive and occasionally sentimental world drawn together seamlessly, with the tracks – in true mixtape fashion – melding into one another. “Come get lost with me,” Tyler offers on Blessed. (Yet in telling this muddy story, he has given way to speculation on who the friend and would-be lover are, arguably predestining them to the same.) For all that he can brag about his successes and achievements (though, in the interest of being humble, he notes on Blessed that he still can’t get his hair to grow), they have obstructed his ability to live a normal life. He continues that he has to keep his loved ones “safe from the commentary and spotlight and thoughts / ’Cause it’s just a story for the people outside of it / But I guess you’re just another chapter in the book”. Gangsta Grillz tapes have fallen off the mainstream radar in recent years: for Tyler to breathe new life into the format in 2021 is a testament not only to his ambition and vision, but his ability to fulfil them.ĭuring the eight minutes of Wilshire, he recounts in raw detail “the only thing missing” in his life, falling for the partner of a friend, and the heavy guilt as he tries to figure out what to do. Between tracks, DJ Drama “hosts” the record, offering wry tags and playful stories from their global travels (like how in Switzerland, “a young lady just fed me French vanilla ice-cream!”). His sixth album, Call Me If You Get Lost, finds the artist reaching 30 and reflecting on his life so far: the joys and luxuries (“It’s opulence, baby!”), his growth from the shock-rap days in the context of contemporary social media “activism” (“Internet bringin’ old lyrics up like I hide the shit”), and the sacrifices along the way (“Everyone I ever loved had to be loved in the shadows”). He’s written music scores and scripted TV shows he won a Grammy he runs a revered fashion line and a successful festival. He’s collaborated with many of the artists he obsessed over back then. After his collective Odd Future changed the game in the early 2010s, their hellraising gave way to radical art from members Frank Ocean, Earl Sweatshirt, Syd and Tyler, who became one of the most respected rappers and producers around. by David Crone + Not two seconds into his sixth LP, CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST, Tyler, the Creator boldly stakes his claim with rap: ''Y'all ready' booms the voice of DJ Drama, before the iconic 'GANGSTA GRIZZILZ' tag jolts the album to life. ![]() Tyler has lived out a lot of his dreams in the intervening years. I wanted to relinquish some of the control and let him do what he always dreamed about.In 2010, Tyler, the Creator tweeted that he wanted a Gangsta Grillz tape, the prolific DJ Drama mixtape series which informed much of the best hip-hop of the 2000s. ![]() "With Tyler, it was a little different: I came in, gave him an abundance of things-even more than what I had originally placed-and just gave him enough material to choose from and layer it out."ĭJ Drama goes on to explain what makes CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST so special, saying, "It has that Gangsta Grillz feel, but this is Tyler’s album. "Normally in these types of situations, if I do a Gangsta Grillz with somebody, they compile their music together and hand it over to me, and then I’ll go in on my own without them and do my thing and return the finished product," DJ Drama tells Complex's Andre Gee. Apparently, contributing to Tyler's latest album was unlike anything that he's ever done with other Gangsta Grillz projects. Now, in a recent interview with Complex, DJ Drama offers some insight into the work that he and Tyler, The Creator put into CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST. I love you and I'm going to give you a hard hug after this." He recently filmed a video with Drama and praised the veteran artist, saying, "The legend. ![]() Childish Gambino's STN MTN project in 2014 was one of the last notable post- Gangsta Grillz era projects that enlisted DJ Drama for his services, but Tyler, The Creator's latest work took that concept to an entirely different level.
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