Courtesy of Luis “Panch” Perez
Tyler, The Creator’s eighth studio album, “Chromakopia,” takes his honesty to the next level, making this his most introspective and raw effort yet. Known for his eclectic sound and personal lyricism, Tyler dives even deeper into his paranoia regarding fame, struggles with relationships and fears about the future. While the album has low points, Tyler’s emotional maturity and the production, which blends styles from different parts of his career, make “Chromakopia” one of his most compelling projects yet.
The rollout for “Chromakopia” was unusually brief for an artist of Tyler’s stature. Still, its execution was flawless — one of his most apparent skills is promoting his work in a way that creates palatable anticipation but still leaves much to the imagination. Tyler released a snippet of the album’s first track, “St. Chroma,” which features Daniel Caesar, on Oct. 16. The first full single “Noid” was made available on streaming services on Oct. 21, and the full album dropped on Oct. 28, only 12 days after its announcement.
In interviews, Tyler elaborated on the decision to release the album on a Monday (it is common practice to release projects on Fridays to maximize sales numbers on streaming platforms — a practice that is primarily attributed to Beyoncé’s release of her self-titled album in 2013), explaining that he hoped people listening throughout the week would pay more attention to what they were hearing on their commutes to school or work, instead of passively listening on the weekend. This decision played out well for Tyler, as he achieved his highest-selling first week ever (299,500 sales and 212.55 million streams — impressive, considering he did it in three days less than is standard).
The album’s opening track “St. Chroma” showcases a bravado similar to 2021’s “Call Me If You Get Lost”: that album was largely seen as a victory lap for Tyler, having achieved mainstream success while maintaining his artistic direction. However, on “Chromakopia” his attitude seems to have shifted towards a more mature self-confidence. There are plenty of energetic tracks in this project (notably “Sticky” and “Balloon”). However, on “Chromakopia,” Tyler is not as concerned with proving himself (to the benefit of his art), causing the album to have a less aggressive tone than previous projects.
Tyler first rose to fame as part of the “Odd Future” collective, known for their shocking and provocative lyrics (in the past, Tyler has been banned from the UK, Australia and New Zealand for his lyrical content). Tyler is still not afraid to speak his mind and wholly owns his past lyrics, as he illustrates on “Thought I Was Dead”: “Pull up old tweets, pull up old t-shirts, all that, I’ll moonwalk over that.” However, throughout his career, Tyler has relied less and less on shock value as he developed as an artist, and his art can speak for itself without needing controversy.
Tyler explores various themes throughout the album, the most prominent being his vulnerability. “Noid” delves into Tyler’s struggles with celebrity status and his fans’ lack of boundaries. He details how he struggles to trust those close to him, including his friends and romantic partners, along with how he fears danger from ambiguous, unknown threats. Lines such as “I think my neighbors want me dead” and “Nervous system is shook, way before nineteen” reveal a darker side to what some imagine as an idyllic life of fame and artistry. Furthermore, he reflects on feeling alienated from those who support him as people’s intentions around him are unclear, expressed in the lyrics “You sing along, but you don’t know me.” The accompanying music video, featuring actress Ayo Edebiri, shows Tyler constantly avoiding the outside world and his fans, facing real and imagined threats.
Tyler also opens up about his struggles with romantic relationships. “Darling, I” explores his reluctance to commit to one person, instead favoring his music and career in general. With an upbeat production, this track is considerably more lighthearted than the following track, “Hey Jane.” Perhaps the most personal on the album, the song details his experience of getting a woman whom he is not in a relationship with pregnant and the emotional stress that comes from that experience. A unique aspect of this track is that he spends an entire verse wrapping from a woman’s perspective and accomplishes the complicated task of relating her complex and conflicted emotions regarding having a child. Throughout the song, Tyler is at his most vulnerable, recognizing that he isn’t truly ready to be a father and subsequently, his internal conflict over whether the mother of his child should have an abortion (the song’s title refers to a company that provides abortion services by the same name).
The subject of fatherhood is something Tyler has explored throughout his career, as he grew up without a father. “Chromakopia” is no exception. Towards the end of the album, Tyler delves deeper into his feelings about his absent father on “Like Him,” in which he describes chasing the ghost of his father and how confusing it is to be told his appearance and mannerisms are so closely related to someone he never had a relationship with. Tyler’s repetition of the lyric “Do I look like him?” reflects his struggle with his identity and how he has compared himself to his father throughout his life. The song’s outro features Tyler’s mother, Bonita Smith, revealing that her decisions kept Tyler’s father out of his life when he was growing up — a significant revelation considering Tyler has spent most of his career expressing deep resentment towards his father.
Tyler also opens up about newer topics unheard of in his previous work, such as self-doubt about his status in the music industry. In “Take Your Mask Off,” the first three verses explore the hypocrisy of a gang member from a good upbringing, a homophobic preacher who is secretly gay and the struggles of a repressed housewife. However, the fourth verse is directed at himself, in which he exposes his insecurities both physically and in terms of his career. He speaks from the perspective of a harsh critic, criticizing his musical talent and fashion endeavors. He also reveals self-awareness about how he tends to blame others for his shortcomings.
The production is the album’s definite high point. Like on 2019’s “Igor,” Tyler produced, wrote and arranged every track on “Chromakopia.” Overall, the production is tight and well-orchestrated. However, there are a few (intentionally) jarring moments when the mood shifts quickly, such as between “Like Him” and “Balloon,” in which the mood switches from somber to braggadocious in a matter of seconds. Tyler makes use of production styles both from early and later in his career — it is easy to hear influence from both the synth-heavy “Igor” and darker production styles from “Goblin” and “Wolf.”
Notably, Tyler uses horns often on “Chromakopia,” especially when he captures the lively and full sound of a marching band on “Sticky,” an energetic and confident song that features short but excellent features from GloRilla, Lil Wayne and Sexyy Red. Tyler manages to strike the perfect balance of featured artists contributing to the album’s concept rather than diluting it. ScHoolboy Q and Doechii provide compelling verses, and Daniel Caesar’s angelic vocals are a definite highlight. However, Tyler performs best on this project, from confident verses on “Thought I Was Dead” to emotive singing on “Like Him.”
Similar to Kendrick Lamar’s 2022 album “Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers” (which Tyler has publicly praised), “Chromakopia” is the latest in a string of high-profile rappers releasing extremely vulnerable albums, breaking down barriers in a genre that has often placed value in hyper-masculinity and discouraged topics such as therapy or lacking confidence. This album is Tyler’s most honest effort yet, and he blends excellent production, songwriting, feature choice and vulnerability on “Chromakopia,” making it one of the year’s best albums so far.
9/10
