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Tyler, the Creator through all of his musical eras
(Still from the “SORRY NOT SORRY” music video)

March 31st, 2023 was a big day for music. With new releases from artists such as Melanie Martinez and the debut album, the record, for group boygenius, composed of Julian Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus, there was a lot of buzz surrounding this day. However, one of the most anticipated releases of this day, especially for me, was Tyler, the Creator’s deluxe edition of his 2021 album, Call Me if You Get Lost. Including the transition track of “EVERYTHING MUST GO,” Tyler dropped 8 strong additional tracks to the original album, to which I’ll detail and give my personal rankings for. But it also leaves many questioning: is this enough of a Tyler drop to last us until his next full length album? Let’s dig a little deeper into my own personal thoughts on this mini-drop & find out!

EVERYTHING MUST GO (7/10)

There’s not much that you can do with a transitional track, especially one that is just short of 30 seconds, but Tyler still takes the time to thank his audience for the everlasting support that they showed him for this album, especially on the tour. To me, it serves as a complement and/or an extension of “Blessed” from the original album. The two songs really feel as if they’re in conversation with each other, from a past Tyler to a future one, which I believe really encompasses the deluxe tracklist as a whole, making it a really solid start to the new tracks, despite not being the best one.

STUNTMAN (feat. Vince Staples) (8.5/10)

I need Tyler to collab with Vince Staples more often, truly. While I know he would have been able to stand his own on this track, Vince adds some much appreciated variety. If I had to compare it to a former Tyler track, this is very reminiscent of “Who Dat Boy” off of Flower Boy, or a companion piece of “Lumberjack” from the original release of CMIYGL. It’s hilarious to me because I know that I won’t ever reach a point where I’ll have to stunt anything of value, but it really feels good to pretend. This is a song that I can put on my hype playlist to feel better about myself, which I definitely will always welcome more of. 

WHAT A DAY (7.5)

I honestly believe that this may be the weakest track from the full songs in the deluxe version. The beat remains relatively the same throughout the entire song, with the exception of the hook repeating the song’s title every once in a while. While you cannot deny Tyler’s overall flow and the strong lyricism of the song, it still feels as if it’s a bit lacking. I’d love a bit more variety in the song overall, then it’d probably rank a little higher for me.

WHARF TALK (feat. A$AP Rocky) (9.2/10)

This is giving the epitome of song of the summer. I know I played it and “SWEET / I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE” on repeat, personally. And of course, we all love a Tyler x A$AP collab. It’s a nice, catchier song, and Tyler himself even said that it was his favorite. Understandably so, as it adds a nice R&B groove to contrast some of Tyler’s more rap heavy songs from the new tracks. This is definitely an earworm of a song and I find myself tapping along to the beat all of the time since its release.

DOGTOOTH (8.5/10)

Given that this song was released as a single prior to the official release of the deluxe album, it gained a lot of popularity in a very short period of time, and ultimately fed into the hype for the release as a whole. Rightfully so, as I believe that it’s one of the best new tracks on the album. This is most definitely one of those songs that I would put on my aforementioned hype playlist that I’m really glad was able to see the light of day. I can really tell that Tyler had a lot of fun making this song and the accompanying music video, and that just adds all the more charm to it.

HEAVEN TO ME (9/10)

I honestly don’t know what else to say about this song other than it just makes me feel so good! It’s a song that you can put on to remind yourself of all of the progress you’ve made in your life and all of the things that you have to look forward to. It helps me realize that there are and there always will be good things going on in my life even when it seems like everything is going wrong. You’ll always be able to look back on your past self and say “look how far you’ve come, and there’s still much you have left to go!” Keep working hard and you’ll reach your heaven.

BOYFRIEND / GIRLFRIEND (2020 Demo) (feat. YG) (8.8/10)

When looking at the tracklist for the deluxe, I saw this song and expected it to be my favorite. While it was beat out by a few other songs, it’s still a solid track, especially for being considered a demo. I really enjoyed how fun and upbeat that it was, and it definitely served as a bit of a soundtrack of my personal summer. YG’s contributions fell nothing short of amazing and served as an amazing and hilarious opener. The bridge/post-chorus provided a nice change of pace that allowed a slower finish to it, and a beautiful transition into the next track. Nothing about this song feels unfinished.

SORRY NOT SORRY (9.8/10)

I think a lot of Tyler fans can agree that “Sorry Not Sorry” is the best song off of the new tracks. The lyrics speak to me as a listener, especially as one who puts so many goals on myself that at times seem insurmountable, in addition to those that others put on me. It’s paced out beautifully and I feel like I can hear a little bit of every Tyler era at a different point. Especially when you put it in combination with the music video and exploring Tyler’s eras throughout the years, it feels like a good reminder that he is not the same person that he was when he released Goblin, nor is he the same person that he was when he released Flower Boy, or even Igor. He’s also not the person that we continue to put on a pedestal. We don’t really know who he is beyond the persona that he displays to the public. And he’s not going to apologize for that.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Overall, I can look back on the original release of Call Me If You Get Lost and feel as if something is missing now that we have these new tracks to listen to. Especially when you consider exactly how many times I’ve played this album this past summer (I’m sure my number one song on wrapped is probably gonna be BOYFRIEND / GIRLFRIEND this year, if not Tyler being my number one artist), I know this is a release for the books. However, I know it’s a point of contention among Tyler’s fans on whether or not this is “enough” for the 2023 release. Given Tyler’s track record of releasing an album every two years, some will argue that eight songs as an addition to an already existing album shouldn’t count, and that we should expect a full length sometime later this year. Well, times ticking and we still have yet to hear about any new projects from him (though there has been a tease of a possible collab with Childish Gambino, which if it does happen will be my Joker.) Me personally, I thought that the new additions were more than enough, and I’m glad that we got any music at all from Tyler, unlike some of his friends… (Frank Ocean I’m looking at you.) I’m more than willing to wait for the new era, even if it does take another two years, because with Tyler, even with only 8 songs, he’s always worth the wait.