Chromakopia – Tyler The Creator

 

Tyler, The Creator is an artist who needs no introduction. Rapper, fashion designer, producer, and actor, Tyler has proven himself to be a creative force and one of the biggest influences on American pop culture in the past decade. In the last year, Tyler has worried his fans by breaking his biannual album release cycle, delaying his Camp Flog Gnaw music festival lineup until only a month before the festival, and hinting at the idea of retirement in interviews, but finally on October 16th, a video titled St. Chroma was uploaded on his Youtube channel. This music video for the opening track on the album shows Tyler sporting a mask and a new hairstyle as he leads a march of masked people into a shipping container labeled “Chromokopia,” which is then blown up by a person out of frame. A day later, Tyler’s eighth album Chromokopia was announced, and soon after was his tour with Lil Yachty and Paris, Texas.

St. Chroma

The opening track on the album, St. Chroma, opens the album with the sound of marching and minimal synths backing a verse rapped quietly by Tyler that leads into Daniel Caesar’s chorus, beautifully sung over layers of synths and piano as the marching continues. Nearing the two-minute mark, the march disappears and a distorted bass line enters over the drums for Tyler’s final verse. In all honesty, I was a bit disappointed by this opener. While most of Tyler’s opening tracks (with the exception of DEATHCAMP) do not open the album with an explosion of energy, this opener pretends it will, then falls short as the first half builds to a short, bass-heavy section only for it to soon be replaced with piano.

Rah Tah Tah

Following St. Chroma is the burst of energy that is Rah Tah Tah. This is the type of track that Tyler is able to execute the best with an aggressive delivery on all his verses, and heavy yet detailed production that sounds so uniquely his style. This is one of the rare tracks on the album that carries over the attitude of the Call Me If You Get Lost era. Closing out this track is his fourth verse, which may be one of his best on the album, as he jumps between flows as the beat changes slightly each time to accompany the verse.

Noid

In Noid, Tyler both sings and raps about the paranoia that comes with his level of fame. Following over a decade of working towards a Grammy, and winning it with Igor, then running the victory lap that was Call Me If You Get Lost where Tyler spends a majority of the album celebrating his stardom, Noid serves as the antithesis to Tyler’s attitude towards fame that was previously explored. In this track, Tyler makes one of my favorite creative choices on the album through his sample of Nizakupanga Ngozi by Ngozi Family for the chorus. Many of the production choices on this track are very reminiscent of Igor through WILLOW’s vocals following each chorus, the synth that drives through the last half of the song, and the piano that can only be heard once the synth makes room for it.

Darling, I

Teezo Touchdown, the world owes you everything. It is unbelievable how much Teezos backing vocals are able to add to a song, and they absolutely shine on the chorus of this track. In this track, Tyler explores his fear of commitment in a relationship and how he consistently falls in love. Tyler famously is a man of many industries. A rapper, producer, designer, and sometimes an actor, he cannot be pinned down by a single career path, and this applies to his relationship status as well. Tyler cannot imagine a life where he is only limited to one person, as he gets “different things from different people,” and does not want to limit his experiences.

Hey Jane

I still am in awe that Tyler made this track. Although Tyler has explored personal themes in the past, there have been none as heavy as this. The subject of this song is weighing the pros and cons of a pregnancy scare with someone you had not previously seen yourself with. Tyler raps from both perspectives on this track, first as himself feeling like having a child may be a bad decision given the instability of the relationship and the impact it may have on his career. Following is a verse from the woman’s perspective who agrees with Tyler’s fears but is scared that if she does not carry through, she won’t be able to have another and that she can raise the child on her own. This part of the song carries extra weight, given the fact that Tyler was raised by a single mother and spent so much of his life resenting his father for not being in his life.

I Killed You

This is the first of several transitions between songs on the album that completely catch me off guard. Although I Killed You and Hey Jane both lyrically focus on a serious topic, the jump between the somber vocals on Hey Jane and the intro of this track is quite jarring. Historically, the natural hair of black people in America has been deemed “threatening,” and as Tyler states, “If they see you on top of me, I gotta leave.” Throughout the Track, Tyler creatively personifies his hair and describes how over the years he has killed it through various methods with chemicals or just cutting it all together. It seems that building up to this album, Tyler has embraced his natural hair by letting it grow out.

Judge Judy

What begins as a short fling between Tyler and a girl he meets quickly becomes something much darker. In this track, Tyler explores a short fling with a girl he spontaneously meets and their “no strings attached” relationship where he doesn’t “judge Judy” for her desires. The track concludes with a letter written to him about a year later explaining her lack of communication. In this letter, “Judy,” explains that she has cancer, and “if you’re reading, it’s too late,” implying that she has passed away, and thanking him for not “judging Judy.”

Sticky

Listen, hot take, this song is not all that. Yes, it’s cool to hear GloRilla, Sexyy Red, and Lil Wayne in collaboration with Tyler, but in all honesty, the instrumentation on this song is pretty dull for all the features, and it’s not until Tyler’s verse that it really steps it up. I also think the featured verses on this track are entirely too short. I have my fingers crossed that we will see these artists collaborate once again in the future under better production and hopefully a longer spot on the track.

Take Your Mask Off

After numerous listens, I think it’s safe to say that this is my favorite song on the album.

Tyler’s lyrical theme focuses on people hiding their true selves behind a mask. The first verse explores an unnamed person who despite coming from a middle-class, well-off family, has taken the image of a gangster to be seen as cool. The subject of the next verse is a closeted preacher, who deems homosexuality a sin, but secretly has affairs with men. The third verse follows a woman who feels trapped in her relationship, as her husband is able to provide everything for her, except an identity and her dreams she “left on the shelf.” Tyler concludes this track with a verse focusing on himself and his insecurities, claiming that he himself is a hypocrite because he wears a mask too.

Tomorrow

It is really depressing to be faced with the fact that someone you grew up listening to is getting old and contemplating retirement, but I am certain it is even worse to be the person in question. Tyler explores the idea of having children, getting married, and “settling down” while his mother is still alive to be there for it. While his friends are getting married and having children, Tyler feels left behind and as he explains on Hey Jane, he fears the impact that doing this may have on his career, but contemplates that it may be time for him to finally commit.

Thought I Was Dead

The only thing that could improve this song is a verse by Vince Staples. Tyler abandons the serious subject matter of the previous two tracks and returns in a much more aggressive and “hungry” form over one of the most stereotypical Tyler beats ever (in the best way possible). In the second verse on this track, ScHoolboy Q delivers what I would argue to be the best feature verse on the album, as his style and flow perfectly complements Tyler’s production in their first collaboration in nearly a decade.

Like Him

This is undoubtedly one of the most important tracks of Tyler’s entire career. Over the years, Tyler has numerous times explored his relationship (or lack thereof) with his father in his songs. Up until this point, fans of his music have been under the impression that Tyler’s father had abandoned him and his mother when Tyler was a child and he hates him for this. In this song, he explores the emotions that come from his mother’s comparisons between him and his father, stating that he feels like he is “chasing a ghost” who he does not even know. The importance of the song does not only come from the song itself but from the message from his mom that concludes the track. This message reveals that Tyler’s infamous father actually made efforts to be a part of his life, and he did not abandon Tyler and his family.

Balloon

Out of all the completely absurd transitions between songs on this album, Like Him into Balloon takes the cake. Balloon to Chromokopia is like RUNITUP to CMIYGL as it serves as a “celebratory track” on the final half of the album. As expected, Tyler delivers a well-written, fun verse, but the real star of this track is featured artist Doechii. Doechii comes into this track with the energy of Rico Nasty and the lyrics of Nicki Minaj as her verse builds to a bridge where she yells her final line.

I Hope You Find Your Way Home

I Hope You Find Your Way Home closes the album strong, with soulful, yet uniquely “Tyler” production, and a long and well-written verse referencing some of the topics explored on that album including the child he almost had and his value of his career over relationships, all while celebrating his stardom despite the struggles that accompany it. Concluding both the song and the album is a voicemail from his mother in tears, telling him to continue to “do your thing,” and “keep shining.”

 

Although there are no “bad” songs on this album, as a whole the project is structurally weak in comparison to his previous work. The only attempt at a blend between songs is through the wordplay at the ending of Rah Tah Tah and the beginning of Noid, and even that falls short. Tyler’s previous albums often have a story to tell as a conclusive project or a strong general theme. His first album, Goblin, and Wolf sharing the overlapping story of “Wolf Haley,” Cherrybomb sees the extremes of Tyler’s creativity for both the better and for the worse, Flowerboy and its central focus on Tyler’s sexuality and growing career, the love story of Igor, or the victory lap of Tyler’s luxurious life that is Call Me If You Get Lost. Chromokopia, however, sees Tyler in what seems to be a creatively drained state as he struggles to find a cohesive theme to follow besides a loosely followed series of voicemails from his mom. I must restate that every song on this album is good on its own, but they do not complement each other well in the structure of an album. After Tyler has spent years solidifying himself as “top 3” status, and even more establishing his career as a creative force, he has set his own high standards to be held to, and because of this I found Chromokopia to be a good album, but too creatively bare to be a good Tyler album.

RATING: 6.8/10

Best Tracks: Darling, I, Hey Jane, Judge Judy Take Your Mask Off

Worst Tracks: St. Chroma, Tomorrow