That, of course, is a stupid question because, A) The answer to questions of this sort is always going to be “somewhere,” and B) “Somewhere” doesn’t always have to be such an extraordinary place.
Sure, IGOR was a full-fledged concept album that was strung together with a narrative of a contentious love triangle between the narrator, his love interest and his love interest’s love interest, but does every album have to be an odyssey? Does coming out with one conceptually ambitious album mean he is condemned to a life of having to thematically one-up that album during the next go-around?
In contrast with IGOR, the backstory for Call Me If You Get Lost has a comparatively simple elegance to it: Tyler rediscovered his love for hip-hop and decided to dive back into it. Full stop. And spare us past soundbites of his in which he expresses disillusionment with being called a rapper.
Did Tyler tell Larry King in 2014 that he wanted people “to mention [his] name next to Wes Anderson or Quentin Tarantino” instead of “other rappers?” Yes, but at his Wednesday show at American Airlines Center, he also rekindled his early hip-hop roots in front of a stage design consisting of a mansion and a vintage Rolls Royce with a matching teal color scheme, making the entire set visually evocative of Anderson’s trademark cinematography.
Tyler’s name deserves to be mentioned next to Wes Anderson and other rappers, especially given how his rapping was accompanied by such dramatic flair.
This flair extended itself to a red speedboat that transported him from the main stage with the mansion (hereinafter referred to as “the main stage”) to a smaller stage on the opposite side of the floor with prop grass installed (hereinafter referred to as “the stage where opener Vince Staples absolutely killed it.”) Pyrotechnics also gave the performance more optical flourish, whether through intermittent flame bursts during “Who Dat Boy” or the waterfall of sparks that fell as he belted out the post-bridge refrain of “EARFQUAKE” with chilling catharsis.
The performance of the latter song proved especially compelling as Tyler guided the audience through an a cappella singalong of the chorus and scat-sang the melody.
“I love this melody dude, fuck,” Tyler said as he “na-na-na’d” the hook.
Luxuriating in the Charlie Wilson-backed chorus, Tyler told his fans that he first offered “EARFQUAKE” to many artists, all of whom passed (condolences on their immeasurable loss). Following this brief aside, he apologized for the production of another IGOR track, “NEW MAGIC WAND,” before beseeching the crowd to ignore any audiological blemish and just match its energy.
The crowd happily obliged, with mosh pits breaking out and continuing through the Call Me If You Get Lost banger “RUNITUP.”
And of course, he played old classics including “Tamale” and “She,” but not before giving the crowd the non-disclaimer that he'd be bringing the set back 11 years.
The crowd was perhaps most receptive to hearing the rudimentary, FL Studio-produced instrumental to Tyler’s breakout hit, 2011’s “Yonkers.” While the caustic use of the F-slur in that song has been a source of controversy, Tyler’s since-revealed non-heterosexuality seemed to exonerate him in the court of collective hindsight.
Tyler, the creator lived up to his name at a Wednesday night show at American Airlines Center.
Carly May
Still, he saw fit to (sort of) bowdlerize the scrutinized lyric in spitting, “I’ll crash that fucking airplane that that pussy n***a B.o.B. is in,” and if you’re having trouble figuring out which word replaced the f-slur, it’s the third most offensive word in that entire bar (the first two are the n-word and the name of rapper B.o.B.)
Unlike the critics who expressed disapproval of such language, Tyler’s fans in Dallas were more than happy to mosey on down the Tyler Memory Lane to his work with producer Edgelord in screaming the opening bar to "Yonkers," “I’m a fucking walking paradox,” so loud that their idol didn't even need to utter it.
And good for them. What good is it to let litigation of that old wound bog down the experience when Tyler has 86’d the slur despite admitting on the song “MANIFESTO” that he previously wanted to have sex with Justin Bieber?
To that end, what good is it to rigorously audit Tyler’s past self when the Tyler that was in front of us on Wednesday was the only version of Tyler that we truly needed to see?
Because contrary to what he told Larry King in 2014, Tyler’s name deserves to be mentioned with legendary rappers such as Lil Wayne, a key influence on Tyler who also had an exemplary feature on the Call Me If You Get Lost track “HOT WIND BLOWS.”
Tyler’s name also deserves to be mentioned next to despised rappers such as NBA YoungBoy, because Call Me managed to extract an NBA YoungBoy feature that earned rare sincere praise from audiences and critics.
Some fans may be inclined to believe that Tyler fished this performance out of YoungBoy. Others may adhere to the belief that YoungBoy had that talent in him all along and Tyler was the only one who was able to see it. However you slice it, it’s a hell of a testament to the vision and creative prowess Mr. The Creator has.
Another testament to this? The fact that Tyler played a secret show at Trees last year and made a much larger show such as this seem just as intimate and special.
Tyler briefly recalled that show in telling fans that Dallas was on a shortlist of three cities where he wanted to make surprise appearances amid the release cycle of Call Me If You Get Lost (the other two were Los Angeles and New York City.) This morsel of stage banter also showed Tyler giving a shoutout to Oak Cliff and Dallas restaurant Sweet Georgia Brown.
As he described it, the show at Trees sounded like a special, once-in-a-lifetime event. But then again, so was this show, and pity the poor soul who went to the Trees show and decided Tyler’s American Airlines Center show had nothing better to offer.
Because regardless of whether Tyler’s name deserves to be mentioned next to that of rappers or auteur film directors, his name being displayed on any venue’s marquee pretty much guarantees that he will devote 100% of his genuine self to a stunning auditory and visual experience.
