You would be forgiven for forgetting Tyler, the Creator is a rapper. He’s spent the years since his 2015 album Cherry Bomb becoming a bit of a media mogul, spreading his tentacles across television, fashion, and social media. It’s no secret that the race to the top can at times be a solitary endeavor. For one of his first songs in two years, “911/Mr. Lonely,” the Odd Future stalwart brings this reality into sharp focus, calling on Frank Ocean for some moral support.

Technically a two-parter, “911/Mr. Lonely” looks at the overarching theme of loneliness, on two contrasting, but equally intriguing beats. “911” is sunny and joyful on the surface, as synths and a soulful bass rhythm skip along in a sample of the Gap Band’s “Outstanding”—a song that Tyler has expressed some love for in the past—until the lyrics reveal a heartsick Tyler, unable to take pleasure in much of anything with his special someone out of the picture (“Yeah I got a sold out show/Crowd wild out, but it don’t matter ’cause you not front row”). Singers Steve Lacy and Anna of the North sweeten the chorus and bridge, urging Tyler’s ex-lover to pick up the phone, seemingly to no avail. In a smooth drawl, Frank Ocean laments a similar sense of abandonment, as he remembers a significant other that used to pick him up from the suburbs when things were going well.

After the transition to “Mr. Lonely,” the song takes on more bluster. Over a thunderous drum pattern and stuttering hi-hats, Tyler delivers an almost breathless deluge of bars that pathologize his condition (“I say the loudest in the room/Is prolly the loneliest in the room/It’s me”). Indeed, both parts display his quick wit and capacity for self-reflection, with a good dose of self-deprecation, which were evident on his earlier work, if often hidden behind distracting shock tactics. Put together, the song is a reminder not only of his dexterity and broad musical influences, but also of the clarity of thought that led to his most interesting lyrics. “911/Mr. Lonely” represents a further maturation in sound, and apparently his problems too.