On Oct. 28, award winning rapper, Tyler, The Creator, released his album CHROMAKOPIA. This album comes after a very short roll-out with two single releases: “St. Chroma” and “Noid”, along with various teasers and a listening party the night before the release.
Tyler pushes his creative limits to the roof with CHROMAKOPIA while also showing his exceptional ability of storytelling by creating an overarching story of self reflection and maturing that is present throughout the album.
CHROMAKOPIA houses some of the most diverse beats that Tyler has ever released. Whether it’s the more R&B sound on “Tomorrow”, the rock influence on “Noid” or the more pop-like sound in “Darling, I”, they all added to the album in different ways that only someone like Tyler could manage to make work.
Along with different beats, Tyler comes with confidence within this album. He flaunts this in his lyrics by claiming he’s “the biggest out the city after Kenny, that’s a fact now,” in “Rah Tah Tah”. His sound and vocals are flawless and he even experiments with it throughout the album, using a more West Coast flow on “Thought I Was Dead”, while a more emotional tone is present on songs “Like Him” and “Judge Judy”.
Guest vocals also help elevate CHROMAKOPIA even higher. Daniel Caesar and Teezo Touchdown provide background vocals on “St. Chroma” and “Darling, I”, respectively, while Childish Gambino harmonizes with Tyler in the outro of “I Killed You”. Lil Wayne, Sexyy Red and Glorilla all came together on “Sticky”, creating what can only be called the highlight of the album. Other features include ScHoolboy Q’s witty line delivery on “Thought I Was Dead” and Doechii on “Balloon”, whose feature makes up for an otherwise mediocre song.
When Tyler decides to get vulnerable and introspective on his feelings is when CHROMAKOPIA reaches its peak. On “Hey Jane”, Tyler details his thoughts after finding out a woman named Jane is pregnant with his child. The song goes even deeper by not only detailing his point of view but also Jane’s emotions and conflict on whether to keep or terminate the pregnancy. The song feels like a nod to Tylers 2021 song “WILSHIRE” with the conversation-like sound and story building throughout the song.
In one of the final songs “Like Him”, Tyler discusses his absent father. Here, he expresses his feelings on growing up without a father-figure and how his mother saying that Tyler reminds her of his father makes him feel. At the end of the song, Tyler’s mother, Bonita Smith, drops a bomb on the listener saying “It was my fault, not yours, not his, it was my fault, I’m sorry.” This is a significant twist because, throughout Tyler’s discography, there are a handful of songs where Tyler expresses his hatred towards his father for leaving him and his mom.
In the last song of the album “I Hope You Find Your Way Home”, Tyler ends the album by revisiting the themes that were present throughout, such as guilt and fatherhood, while also bragging about his successful career. The song ends with a voice message from his mother, telling Tyler how proud she is of him and all he’s achieved.
Overall, I think CHROMAKOPIA was a very enjoyable listening experience with a lot of replayability. The album contains at least one song for almost any mood imaginable. The only problem I had was that some songs sounded too similar to each other. There were a few times where the song changed and I couldn’t even tell a different track had started. Other than that, CHROMAKOPIA is a must-listen album with a great listening experience.
