Day 21

Running Out of Time by Tyler the Creator

I still keep in touch with a core group of friends from high school. We go on a summer trip once a year. It’s been a tradition since our freshman year of college. We still go to this day.

We decided to go to Windsor Canada going into our junior year of college. Mainly because the legal drinking age was 19 which was perfect.

It also happened to lineup with the debut of Igor, Tyler’s fifth studio album.

This trip was a little different for me than the debauchery that had occurred in the past. I remember my dad was so mad I was going. “WHY do you need to go to WINDSOR for your trip?!”

Dad…so we can DRINK!

We had a huge heart to heart. He’s been sober for my whole life… We have a little case of the Irish flu that runs in the family.

Even though I was allowed to go, I felt guilty the whole ride up. I made a pact to myself I would tone down on the debauchery for the weekend, almost live alongside the fun while still partaking, but not to the fullest extent.

Anyways, the album dropped I believe on a Saturday. Tyler sent out a warning that the best way to listen would be front to back with no skips. This would also not be like any of his previous work.

And he was right — it was better. Way better actually.

I will admit though, the first listen was confusing. I pulled up a chair on a dock that looked out on a grey lake out in Windsor and let the tracks run its course.

The album kicked off with the song he had rolled out with which was IGOR’S THEME. I remember watching the skit in my college dorm with all of Tyler’s yellow heads over the buzzing intro, with one peaking its head out just enough for you to notice it moving to the drums. Honestly, the rollout of the album was awesome between that and him falling off the ladder in A BOY IS A GUN.

Anyways, I sat out on that lawn chair on the dock and listened front to back. I didn’t really click for me at the time. I was expecting a combination of raps and bars, but rather got a story. A deep dive into Tyler’s love life. I love when artists take that leap into doing their thing. It’s like he’s had this in his back pocket his whole discography and finally felt comfortable enough to pull it out and share with the world.

It’s a beautiful album through and through. When I got back from Windsor I got really taking my dog on some long walks to kill the time while I was home and when I got to go back to school. Me and Brad man bumped a lot of IGOR that summer. I look back on that fondly.