Tyler, the Creator has become one of the most well known artists in the music industry over the past few years. With modern classics like Flower Boy and IGOR, Tyler has developed a unique sound that combines hip-hop, funk, and alternative rock. Tyler’s newest album, CHROMAKOPIA, was released at 6 a.m. on Monday, October 28; albums typically release at midnight on Fridays, so CHROMAKOPIA has broken new ground already. The project, consisting of 14 songs and having a duration of 53 minutes, is best listened to from start to finish. The album’s story follows the progression of each song, detailing Tyler’s struggles concerning his identity, his love life, and his father.
Tyler, in achieving worldwide recognition, can’t find true love and continues to look for meaning in his newfound fame. The story itself is not new ground for modern artists. Some of Tyler’s contemporaries in hip hop have told similar stories with their recent albums; namely, Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers. On tracks such as “Tomorrow” and “Noid” Tyler talks about his life in the limelight. “Tomorrow” is a pretty simple song and there’s definitely much better to be found on the album. In “Noid”, which is the album’s lead single, Tyler reflects on how paranoid he feels about just being out in public. He has no idea whether the next person who comes up to him frantically yelling his name means harm or not. The music video for the video represents his fear and I highly recommend watching it. As a single, “Noid” continues to build on Tyler’s sound. With a heavy guitar riff and drums as well as more unique aspects such as a sample in the language Nyanja, the track is a great listen. Another track that deals with Tyler and his identity is “Take Your Mask Off”. Here, Tyler talks about how people try to strip him of his identity because of his homosexuality, as well as the struggles that women face in relationships with toxic partners. By repeating “I hope you find yourself” in the chorus, Tyler hopes that his audience can be true to themselves the same way he has been working on himself throughout his struggles. This song is easily one of my favorite songs on the album and has a great funk-inspired beat.
On top of this, the album covers Tyler’s struggling love life as a result of his paranoia. In “Darling, I”, Tyler reflects on how he cannot help but continue to fall in love with every girl he meets, stating that “monogamy is not for me”. The song utilizes synths beautifully and has the same tongue-snapping sound used in “Drop it like it’s hot” by Snoop Dogg: this track is easily one of the highlights of the whole project. His inability to find a lifelong partner is cemented further with the song “Judge Judy”, where it seems Tyler has finally found someone until it is tragically revealed that she dies of cancer. It’s one of the strongest emotional beats on the record and tells a great story. A similarly heart-wrenching experience that Tyler faces occurs in “Hey Jane”, where Tyler is informed that he got a girl pregnant. Tyler raps from the perspective of himself and of Jane, the girl he’s dating; this track is really heavy. Tyler fights to stay in the child’s life while Jane tells him he’s no longer needed in her life. The song as a whole works better as a story than as a track that is listened to repeatedly; however, it’s definitely one of the album’s top moments. In addition, the track “I Killed You” follows Tyler as he wants to rid himself of a relationship that he cannot see himself continuing in. The track is a little abstract and bizarre for my taste, but tells a good story.
A final major theme that the album covers is Tyler’s relationship with his absent father. On many tracks throughout the album, Tyler’s mother is heard talking to him about being true to himself, letting his “light” show, and finding happiness. Despite these moments, Tyler seems to be haunted by a force that weighs down on him: his father. In “Like Him”, Tyler’s mother mentions how Tyler reminds her of his father, stating that he makes “expressions like him”. From here, Tyler sings that he’s “chasing a ghost” whenever he hears about his father. By the end of the song it is revealed that Tyler’s father actually wanted to remain in the picture but that it was his mother who prevented that from happening: much like what happens to Tyler in “Hey Jane”. The song “Like Him” as a whole is one of Tyler’s best. It’s emotional, beautifully produced and a great listen. I think this track will age the best out of everything on the album.
Beyond these major themes, there are a few songs that don’t fall into these categories. The intro and outro to the project, “St. Chroma” and “I Hope You Find Your Way Home” are less thematically significant but fit the album perfectly. There are also a few songs that I would categorize as “hype” songs, or tracks that have little significant story significance but are great to listen to. This includes “Rah Tah Tah”, “Sticky”, “Thought I Was Dead” and “Balloon”. The features in these songs are great and they all have great beats and intelligent lyric play. In conclusion, Tyler, the Creator’s CHROMAKOPIA is an amazing addition to an already stellar discography. The only tracks I didn’t really enjoy were “Balloon”, “Tomorrow” and “I Killed You”; however, the heights of this album go far beyond its lows. With tracks such as “Like Him”, “Darling, I” and “Take Your Mask Off”, Tyler further cements himself as one of the greatest artists of our time. I give CHROMAKOPIA a 9/10.
