Itâs been fascinating to watch the progression of Tyler, the Creator over the past 10 years. From Goblin to Cherry Bomb to IGOR (and everything in between) heâs evolved his sound and sharpened his skillset in each era. Tyler is a world-builder who approaches each album rollout as a unit, stitching together intricate storylines across music videos, artwork, lyrics, interviews, and the songs themselves. And every time he releases a new project, he delivers it with a new aesthetic, rarely repeating what heâs done in the past.
What will the next chapter in Tylerâs career arc bring us? It looks like weâll soon find out. This week, he announced that his forthcoming album, Call Me If You Get Lost, is right around the corner. He hasnât done any interviews about this new era yet, but he has left plenty of breadcrumbs, if you pay close attention. As we wait for the new album to arrive, we collected some of these clues for you. Here are 11 things you need to know about Tyler, the Creatorâs next album.
Itâs called âCall Me If You Get Lost' and it's dropping on June 25
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Tyler first previewed the title of his new album on a billboard Los Angeles, followed by a teaser video titled âSide Street,â which depicted the rapper making out with a woman in a vintage pink car and previewed a snippet of new music. Then, he officially announced the album: Call Me If You Get Lost will serve as the follow-up to Tylerâs Grammy-winning project IGOR, and it will be released on Friday, June 25 via Columbia Records. Along with the announcement, he also unveiled the cover artwork, which is a âpermanent license of travelâ photo card of Tyler.
You can hear snippets on your phone
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Before the official announcement of the album, billboards started popping up in major cities like Los Angeles, London, and Paris. The billboards spell out the words, âCall me if you get lost,â followed by a telephone number. When you call the number, it directs you to a hotline that plays snippets of new music and a voicemail conversation between Tyler and his mother. The phone numbers have shown up on billboards, Tylerâs social media accounts, and a website named after his album title.
The first single is âLumberjackâ
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âLumberjackâ appears to be the lead single from Call Me If You Get Lost. Tyler dropped it on June 16, along with a self-directed music video under his alter ego Wolf Haley. The track, which was also produced and written by Tyler, is a bar-heavy song that samples Gravediggazâs 1994 track â2 Cups of Blood.â Tyler brags about his wealth and addresses his haters, spitting lines like, âThatâs my nuance, used to be the weirdo/ Used to laugh at me, listen to me with their ears closed/ Used to treat me like that boy from Malcolm in the Middle.â The music video appears to depict a new character, Tyler Baudelaire, who travels from mansions to the mountains and snowy regions. Halfway through the video, he introduces another character dressed in a black and white suit, who weâll likely learn more about when the album arrives.
Expect a lot of rap (Tyler likes rapping again)
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Remember when Tyler was always talking about how he was bored with rapping? In 2014, he even told Larry King he âhated rappingâ and claimed, âI donât wanna rap anymore. I just want to compose music.â Then, before releasing IGOR, he warned fans, âDONâT GO INTO THIS EXPECTING A RAP ALBUM.â Well, after all these years, it seems like Tyler has fallen in love with rap again. Over the past year and a half, heâs been dropping bar-heavy loosies like âGroup Bâ and collaborating with lyrically-minded rappers like Freddie Gibbs (âSomething to Rap Aboutâ) and Westside Gunn (â327â). Now, âLumberjack,â continues this trend, as Tyler raps over a hard-hitting beat for two minutes straightâeven squeezing in a Gangsta Grillz tag (more on that later). If these clues are anything to go on, it seems like weâre about to get the most rap-heavy project weâve heard from Tyler since at least 2015.
There is speculation it could be a âGangsta Grillzâ project
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DJ Dramaâs Gangsta Grillz mixtape series is legendary. Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, he put together iconic mixtapes with everyone from T.I. to Young Jeezy to Lil Wayne, and his instantly recognizable âGangsta Grillzâ tag became synonymous with the hottest rap music of the era. Well, that tag showed up again on âLumberjack,â igniting rumors that Call Me If You Get Lost could actually be a Gangsta Grillz project hosted by Drama. Tyler hasnât confirmed this himself, but when journalist Andrew Barber tweeted, âI would love for Tyler to drop a Gangsta Grillz tape with DJ Dramaâ shortly after the songâs release this week, Drama replied with a smiling sunglasses emoji, fueling even more speculation. Weâll find out for sure on June 25.
He references classic rap visuals
On the album cover of IGOR, Tyler proudly wrote that âall songs [were] written, produced, and arrangedâ by himself. A week later, he made history as the first solo rapper to ever earn a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart for an entirely self-produced and arranged album. Now, it seems heâs taking the same approach on Call Me If You Get Lost, because the cover artwork includes the following line in small print: âThe holder of this license wrote, composed, and arranged all songs within the attached record, unless stated otherwise.â
After Tyler officially announced the album, fans started poking around his social media accounts for clues and they noticed his Instagram captions look a lot like a tracklist. As early as November 2019, Tyler has been captioning photos with a number followed by what could be a song title. Some of the captions also contain parentheticals with names of possible collaborators, as well as photos of Tyler with musician friends. On February 26, 2020, Tyler captioned of photo of himself with a cow: â3. 3 Kingsâ (Hov only version) which could suggest a Jay-Z collaboration. In April 2020, he captioned a selfie: â2. No Vacancy (gunn) â mustache,â which could be alluding to a collab with the Griselda member. There are also solo captions, like, â5. clevaâ Tyler has not confirmed the tracklist yet, but donât be surprised if some of these song titles pop up on the official album.
Thereâs merch
There are hints it could be another character-driven concept album
Last but definitely not least, we have an important finding from our good friends over at the P&P Stats & Research Department. As they have discovered, Tyler always releases studio albums within 100 days of a Fast & Furious movie. Donât believe them? Look at the stats yourself. Goblin? 11 days after Fast Five. Cherry Bomb? 10 days before Fast & Furious 7. Flower Boy? You guessed it! 98 days after The Fate of the Furious. The list goes on and on. And now, Tyler will be releasing Call Me If You Get Lost on the exact same day (!!!) that the latest installment in the blockbuster franchise (F9) hits theaters. Mindblowing. For more groundbreaking findings (like an original study about how many beats Kanye made when he cooked up 5 beats a day for 3 summers) we encourage you to follow @pnpstatsresearch on Instagram. Aslo, Pigeons & Planes, itâs time to finally fund the research lab! These guys are doing great work.
