Written by Tom Bedding
On the sixth album, Tyler matches the expectations and past successes on action packed and hyped new record. There is a whole blend of styles and hella lot of ambition, something that comes naturally to an artist who has been so prolific over the years.
We are introduced to a new persona (Sir Tyler Baudelaire) on the opening track, ‘SIR BAUDELAIRE (feat. DJ Drama), where the rapper simply talks about how creators are suppose to be conflicted and unapologetic characters, who in a way should not be held to certain standards due to pursuing their art. It’s over a slightly messy mix that contains horns and other traditional instruments, leaving the start of the record to feel disjointed and purposely unhinged in a rather refined way?
‘CORSO’ has a thick beat and a some great hype shouting in the mix, with eventually the song introduceing an even more unhinged mix that feels instantly captivating. Tyler spits strongly on this track, offering words that are filled with passion and diction, you are left in awe with the execution here as it really goes to both some wonderful and odd sounds.
The pandemic is then referenced by DJ Drama on ‘LEMONHEAD (feat. Doug 2), who is fucking brilliant as being the host of this mixtape/album, before it goes to town with its stomping presence and solid lines by Tyler, The Creator. You can just feel how strong and gifted the artist is by the third track, he can easily offer the listener such an expansive and impressive sound, that leaves them floored nearly every single time and especially with such an attitude this time around.
‘WUSYANAME’ brings some lovely soul-pop textures, which is teased at the end of the previous track, it is rather imprrssive how ‘CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST’ goes hard with going from one impressive style to the next, you have to say that not many can pull it off like he can. The chord progression feels lovely in all truth and the deliveries by the features are very solid, it really feels classic and perfect for the summer.
The first single we heard felt a tad underwhelming (‘LUMBERJACK’0, it just left many wondering what its purpose worse, despite the grime like beat having a great feel to it. Within the album, it makes more sense and fits well within the track list but it still needs something else to to it that I can’t simply place still. But then next, we have a Lil Wayne feature on ‘HOT WIND BLOWS’, which samples the song ‘Slow Hot Wind’ by Penny Goodwin and flips the whole meaning of the song…as you can guess it is making the wind super HOT.
The lyrics are constantly about luxuries and excessive behaviour in the modern world, which is delivered so well by Tyler, Wayne and Drama! And yes this is a rare golden moment by Lil Wayne, who knows when he last hit such a high.
Next is a track that has a title which is a southern America way of pronouncing ‘master’ and Tyler uses the irony of using the word, while going into his success and his career path. There is a great flow and almost freestyle feel to it, here we have a rapper who is going through the past and present, it is such a well put together song and a great insight into the rappers headspace and thoughts on his rise. Interestingly, the closing moments are rather insane with the mixing, which really feels like a throwback and a potential musical representation on how Tyler copes with his success and where he is now with dealing with it.
‘RUNITUP’ features Teezo tochdown, yet it still feels very introspective despite having someone featuring on the cut. Tyler looks back at his past success and how his self-confidence has been such a key factor in all of it, even if it left him to feel slightly alienated in his youth. The song begins with a spoken word part, over a piano, where we hear about his peers back in the day not understanding Tyler’s mindset and ambitions of success after high school. Some great sounding trumpets then come along, representing the hope and ambition the artist has, before an over used beat introduces Tyler, The Creator’s flows and solid, introspective lyrics.
credit: thesongissick
Now do we have a response to cancel culture with ‘MANIFESTO’??? Well, the entire mixtape touches on how an artist should not have to reach the standards that others want to set them, with this track being the main cut that goes into this premise. Tyler goes into the ‘controversial’ parts of his past but keeps going on about how he does not to apologise for them, while commenting on the social activism culture that is now found on social media. Here the rapper really goes to town with it, giving his take on cancel culture while still wanting to make sure certain issues are addressed, it is truly fascinating to hear the man spit about his thoughts on such a topic.
I love the production on ‘SWEET / I THOUGHT YOU WANT TO DANCE’ as we go from a woodwind opening, before a soulful 80’s synth style that feels so smooth and moody (it is also 9 minutes long). The hook is solid, with the mixing being very loud and bringing the drums very close to you. ’SWEET..’ offers a great twist as it enters the second part of the song, which brings reggae inspired influences into the fray and a lovely vocal performance by Fans Hues.
Sadly the girl in question in the song goes to dance with another dude, leaving Tyler with such mixed emotions but still wanting to dance with this woman. This two parter is a great centrepiece of the album and are both extremely fun, it will be fascinating to see how this segment is received by the masses.
We are then given a cut that is just over a minute long (thankfully after the near 10 minute track beforehand) and it is a voice memo of Tyler’s mum, where she talks about her love for kids through how she would confront anyone to keep them safe. It feels fitting on this project in truth, you can hear a very ‘elevator music’ instrumentation in the background that goes really well, especially as you could ring a number recently to hear this track as a voicemail.
The heavy street like beat feels amazing as it smashes in on ‘RISE!’, with DJ Drama giving another amazing hype opening for Tyler. Everything feels busy within the songs mix, with the rapper going for it as DASIY WORLD harmonies in the background. The hook feels classic by the artist and impressively does not get lost amongst the heavy production, which thankfully does not take away DAISY WORLD’s vocal part too.
It’s yet another impressive cut, it feels endless doesn’t it? There’s so many strong and confident moments, which feels even more mind-blowing as this release follows up the monumental album, that was ‘IGOR’. Sadly the album does dip a bit with ‘BLESSED’ and to a certain extent ‘JUGGERNAUT’….it does hit hard that the standard slips but in no way would you say these tracks are throwaways or bad tracks.
However, ‘WILSHIRE’ is another long cut and for some reason was done all in one take, seems a tad excessive but fair play! It follows the journey of a past relationship, going through the all the moments and thoughts during the typical story arc of a previous relationship, without really offering anything interesting with its perception of what happened. It is incredible how this runtime became such a thing, the only fun thing about the song is the cool sounding drums that feel so fresh and live.
‘CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST’ has a lot more outward thinking moments than the rappers previous release, ‘IGOR’, even to the point that it feels like that Tyler is on vacation somewhere. With that in mind, ‘SAFARI’ is a great closer with its horn section and ambitious tone that creates such an exploration tone and a mood of anticipation. You can not deny Tyler The Creators ambition and consistency, following up ‘IGOR’ with such a strong record is impressive and earns a lot of praise, so many could have fallen flat after such a high. So here we have his sixth studio album, a release that matches up to the high standards he has set himself and I generally believe we should be celebrating a lot that we have such a prolific artist around.
Bring Me The Music Recommended Tracks: CORSO, LEMONHEAD, MASSA, SWEET / I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE and RISE!
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