On October 28th, Tyler, The Creator, released highly anticipated 8th album, “CHROMAKOPIA.” The album was initially teased on Tyler’s Instagram and YouTube accounts, in the form of a music video to the intro track titled “St. Chroma.” This was the first peek of the album that fans got, and soon after Tyler revealed the cover and title of the album. This was later followed by the release of the music video to “Noid” and the full song being released to streaming services, followed by the music video for “Thought I Was Dead.” The album is be arguably Tyler’s biggest success, and was ranked #1 on Billboard.
“St. Chroma” starts off the album with Tyler speaking in a low, whispering tone, and then follows up with vocals from Daniel Caesar, who is featured on multiple tracks on the album. The track then switches to a more energetic production style. This track works as a great introduction, and debuted at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“Rah Tah Tah” quickly switches to experimental hip hop, and sounds like a more improved version of the production style from Tyler’s 2015 release, “Cherry Bomb.” This track has a very catchy chorus, and playful, unserious lyrics, such as Tyler calling himself a fish. This track was very briefly previewed in a teaser video for the vinyl release of the album.
“Rah Tah Tah” then transitions into, “Noid.” Which touches on more personal experiences in Tyler’s life. Tyler openly expresses how his fame has led him to feel paranoid about being in public, with fans constantly recording him. He says phrases such as “I can’t even buy a home in private,” and “Living between cameras and recorders,” and speaks strongly about how these experiences affect him.
“Darling, I” is a tune that reflects on how Tyler constantly keeps on falling in love, with the chorus saying “Darling, I keep falling in love.” This track features Teezo Touchdown to add on to the emotional appeal of this song. He acknowledges that this is a problem, and it can be assumed that the track could be told in the perspective of him talking to someone about this. He also states that he feels that nobody can fulfill him like music does.
“Hey Jane” is written like a letter, where Tyler unpacks his emotions of his perspective, along with his partner’s perspective, of going through pregnancy. The production on this track along with the raw lyrics make this especially heavy, and takes you through the fear that can be experienced throughout the situation.
“I Killed You” is centered around how Tyler believes the world is often against natural hairstyles, and claims this societal pressure causes them to “kill it” (cut it off.) The track constantly repeats the phrase “I killed you,” and talks about different hairstyles and how a person of color may be pressured into changing this part of themselves for the sake of conformity.
“Judge Judy” continues to remark on emotional experiences from Tyler’s perspective. The song is about a girl who he likes, but cuts contact with him. He later finds from a letter she wrote to him that she has had cancer and has passed. This song features vocals from Childish Gambino, guitar from Steve Lacy, and bass from Thundercat.
“Sticky” is a fan favorite off the album, and debuted at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song features many known artists, such as Glorilla, Sexyy Red, and Lil Wayne. Despite all of these verses being very short, they all do an excellent job and fit the song perfectly. The song is very upbeat compared to the deeper tracks mentioned previously, and every artist has a clear bold attitude.
“Take Your Mask Off” returns to the emotional feel. The song uses the phrase “mask” as a veil people use to hide their true emotions. The chorus features vocals from Daniel Caesar, saying “I hope you find yourself” and “I hope you take your mask off.” Tyler also makes this track personal to him, where Tyler begins to rap about himself.
The song “Tomorrow” might be one of the most heartfelt sounding tracks on the album. Where Tyler begins by singing in a high key about the passage of time. Tyler is brought up with the idea of a child by his mother. The song expands on this by going deep into his thoughts about this idea, and how he wants to “worry bout’ tomorrow” rather than start a family.
“Thought I Was Dead” turns back to the hard hitting production and an amazing verse from ScHoolboy Q. Verse 3 of the song was released on Tyler’s YouTube channel as a music video prior to the album’s release. Tyler doubles down on his hate for parts of hip-hop culture on the song, and points out many problems he sees with how people act, while ranking himself above them.
“Like Him” talks about Tyler’s father, and how he was not present in his life. Until now, Tyler has written songs in the past about his absent relationship with his father, such as “Answer.” Unlike the former resentment he held for his father not being there, the song reveals his mother telling him how she was the one keeping his father out of his life. This song features amazing production, as well as Tyler asking his mother if he “looks like him.”
“Balloon” contrasts from the thematic topics from the last track, and shifts to a more playful tone. The feature from Doechii is a great addition and fits the mood of the track well. The track also features more vocals from Daniel Caesar.
The final track “I Hope You Find Your Way Home” is a calm outro to the album, and ends it off on a grand note, while reflecting on some aforementioned tracks. Overall, I think that “CHROMAKOPIA” has proven to be one of the best, and most successful records released this year.
