Say goodbye to Sir Baudelaire

A peek into Tyler, the Creator’s ‘Call Me If You Get Lost: The Estate Sale’

SPENCER BISPHAM / CONTRIBUTOR / THE USD VISTA

Tyler Gregory Okonma, known professionally as Tyler, the Creator, has signaled the start of a new era in his career. His newest project, “Call Me If You Get Lost: The Estate Sale” is an eight-track deluxe edition of his sixth studio album “Call Me If You Get Lost” (CMIYGL), released in 2021. Originally, “CMIYGL”  explored the artist’s concept of luxury in every sense. From his fondness for glitzy accouterments to extended vacations around the globe, the first version of the album was an account of finding fulfillment through uninhibited self-exploration. Now, the additional tracks’ lyrics and accompanying visuals on “The Estate Sale” serve as Tyler’s final farewell to the most recent version of himself. 

The news of this release came relatively unexpected prior to its debut on March 31. Four days earlier, the “Earfquake” rapper took to Twitter to share about the album and its cover artwork.

“‘Call Me If You Get Lost’ was the first album I made with a lot of songs that didn’t make the final cut,” he tweeted. “Some of those songs I really love, and knew they would never see the light of day, so I’ve decided to put a few of them out.”

Also on March 27, Tyler released one of the songs from “The Estate Sale” as a single with a music video, titled “DOGTOOTH.” The track is a nearly-three-minute victory lap celebrating his successes, blessings and how consensual sex is great sex. 

In contrast to the often-misogynistic undertones of hip-hop music, the way Tyler talks about sex on “DOGTOOTH” takes an affirmative stance on female pleasure. During the hook of the song, he sings about a woman that he sleeps with and encourages her to be in a position of dominance. He focuses on her pleasure instead of his own. This contrasts how he’s described sexual experiences in the past. 

Long before Tyler’s current popularity, some of his lyrics were considered controversial at best and “violent” at worst. His debut studio album, “Goblin,” was released in 2011 and caused quite a stir for its references to murder, rape and domestic abuse. 

On a song titled “Tron Cat,” Tyler has a verse describing a non-consensual encounter with a woman who is pregnant. He refers to her as his “victim,” threatens her with sexual violence and then proceeds to brag about it to his friends. 

The perception that this music had the potential to incite violence followed Tyler long after its release. In 2015, he received so much criticism that he was reportedly banned from entering the U.K. More recently, critics have called for Tyler to acknowledge and apologize for the way he has referred to women in his music.

Misogyny notwithstanding, there are several common threads that run through Tyler’s discography. He is known for building worlds around the central themes of each album, complete with characters and destinations from his imagination. In “CMIYGL” he becomes “Tyler Baudelaire,” whose name references the French poet, Charles Baudelaire. This ‘character’ is distinguishable by his ushanka hat, cardigans, jewelry and other unique fashion statements Tyler made during the rollout of the original album and its subsequent tour, similar to the monochromatic suits and blonde wig he wore in connection to his fifth studio album “IGOR.” 

With these visual cues, Tyler Baudelaire represents the essence of “CMIYGL” and his current creative vision — a vision consistent with the songs on the deluxe version as well. 

On “WHARF TALK,” A$AP Rocky joins Tyler for a jaunty, springtime lovers’ anthem. The two talk of spoiling their partners with the finer things in order to prolong the beauty of budding romance. In the video, Tyler is shown riding a bicycle, eating charcuterie in a field, and with A$AP Rocky down at a wharf. The bright clothes and scenery in the first two shots match the colorful essence of the Tyler Baudelaire character, in contrast to a more serious color palette when the two rappers are shown together.

Some of these sequences are inspired by Tyler’s past works, including one scene that is a direct reference to his music video for “See You Again”, released back in 2018. This kind of reminiscing is a theme that appears later on the album as well.

Finally, “SORRY NOT SORRY” was the only other song released ahead of “The Estate Sale” and is essentially an apology letter to all of the people Tyler feels he has wronged throughout his career. He begins almost every verse in the first half of the song with the words, “I’m sorry…” going into depth about hiding his former partners, struggles with personal relationships and how to handle success.

The video for the song shows Tyler dressed as Tyler Baudelaire, Igor and the other personas from his previous albums all together on a stage. One at a time, the artist, dressed in only black Dickies pants and white Vans, murders each of these characters in front of the audience, ending with a gruesome shot of him assaulting Tyler Baudelaire. 

The finality of this scene speaks to the end of his past eras and that of his present, leaving the audience and his listeners anticipating his next move. Since 2009, Tyler has released a full album or mixtape every two years without fail. Although “Call Me If You Get Lost: The Estate Sale” was technically its own project, there are rumors circulating on Reddit that another album titled “Welcome to The Disco” is on the way.