A review of Tyler, The Creator's deluxe album | Axel Aguilar
Breathing new life into CMIYGL:
Tyler, The Creator has entered the fray once again with an album of loosies/side b’s that didn’t make it onto CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST. On March 27th, the first single “DOGTOOTH” dropped out of nowhere, with no promotional material or anything. Tyler, The Creator then announced on all social media platforms that an extension/deluxe version of the album would drop on Friday, March 31st, leaving us no wiggle room to prepare. As someone who has been a big Tyler, The Creator fan for a while, I was ecstatic to hear about this project, but I was also wondering what type of unreleased songs might be shared with us. Were we going to finally hear the verse A$AP Rocky was supposed to have on “CORSO”? Well to answer your question very quickly and bluntly, No. However, what he DID share with us instead was nonetheless a delightful meal. Let’s get into it.
CMIYGL: The Estate Sale:
In this version of the album, 8 new tracks were introduced, a very healthy number to make it clear this isn’t some over-bloated “deluxe” project disguising an entire throwaway album. We enter the album with the first track “STUNTMAN (feat. Vince Staples)” that is this hard track that gives a whole West Coast sound, probably attributed to the fact Vince Staples is featured on the track. Immediately we are just hit with this hard rap verse from Tyler that we were introduced to in his CMIYGL era. He just doesn’t let up and continues to showcase how much he’s grown and gotten stronger as a rapper with the more writing he does on these songs. He creates such visuals in his verses, particularly in the CMIYGL era he’s been giving us lately. The feel of luxury and wealth comes across with lines like, “Small Italian town, hittin’ wheelies on a Vespa. Stamps on my passport is longer than a lecture (Y'all Ready?).” It seems like such a miniscule thing to flex about, but the way Tyler delivers himself on these verses just gives such confidence you can’t help but be infected by it.
The next track, “WHAT A DAY” is produced by Madlib (shoutout Madlib by the way) and follows another track where he’s just showcasing his rapping chops over this smooth instrumental. It feels like a one-on-one conversation with the braggadocious attitude of a Tyler, The Creator. This track seems to keep to an underlying theme that will later appear on the closing track “SORRY NOT SORRY” of a seemingly more personal Tyler where he shares his feelings on audiences identifying his era with where he is at right now. We see Tyler sharing these feelings on “SORRY NOT SORRY” where he addresses this theme on this verse with “Sorry to the fans who say I changed, cause I did. Sorry you don’t know me on a personal level to pinpoint what it is.” This tackles the notion of what the fans know of the artist vs. who the person behind the music actually is. To set the record straight before I talk more about this track, this is easily one of the best tracks Tyler has made in his entire discography. The sweet, mellow, soulful instrumental behind this track with Tyler, The Creator seemingly pouring his entire heart out, putting every emotion and thought into this track, is something we haven’t seen in quite a while and is just amazing. The track tackles Tyler’s relationships with people close to him that we in the public may never know and his feelings of remorse, guilt and, as the title track suggests, not being regretful for being the way he is. We get some more fun cuts on the album here and there with the admittingly very horny song anthem “DOGTOOTH” where Tyler wants to make sure this girl is pleased, and he doesn’t care what she’ll make him do for her to reach that pleasure. It’s a fun track that came right in time for the summer and shares that fun, colorful nature we know of Tyler. Then you have “WHARF TALK (feat. A$AP Rocky)'' that sounds like something that could have fit on his previous albums IGOR or Flower Boy. If I’m being honest, as of now, I’m not really too crazy about the track. The track is fine and suits the mood it’s trying to set, but it feels too scarce for my tastes and the singing melody verse laid out by Tyler isn’t anything crazy, just serviceable. A$AP Rocky does deliver a short solid verse that I think services the track pretty well. Then you have “HEAVEN TO ME” that is a lovely soulful beat produced by Kanye West that has Tyler showcasing just what his heaven is with cute imagery of him buying bikes with a future son that he wants to go on rides with. The last track to really talk about here is “BOYFRIEND, GIRLFRIEND (2020 Demo) (feat. YG)” that sounds like a demo. YG’s verse here is cool, but it definitely felt like a work in progress. It just felt (again like the name of the track) like an unfinished song that didn't really fully develop or go anywhere. Overall, I think this was a fun project from Tyler, The Creator to share for us. It was at least enough to hold us over until the next main album and era. I’m very excited to see what will come next.
Tyler, The Creator CMIYGL: The Estate Sale - 8/10
https://www.amazon.com/Call-Me-You-Get-Lost/dp/B09QBXXM32