Just a few days after Tyler, The Creator released his “St. Chroma” preview on Instagram, he dropped his highly-anticipated album, CHROMAKOPIA, on Oct. 28. The album introduces the rapper’s new era and alter ego to the world. In the first sneak peek of the album on his IG, captioned, “1. st chroma,” the video shows Tyler in a brand new look, wearing a face mask, and followed by a dozen figures chanting “chromakopia.” The album has 14 tracks, but its title, CHROMAKOPIA, doesn’t come from any of the songs. So, does this mean “St. Chroma” is the name of Tyler’s brand-new alter ego? Yes! Allow me to explain.
According to Culted, Tyler’s new alter ego seems to emulate a character from Norton Juster’s fantasy novel The Phantom Tollbooth called Chroma the Great. In the book, Chroma conducts an orchestra that colors the world. Without Chroma and his orchestra, there wouldn’t be any color in the world and it would just be black and white.
There has been much debate online about the true meaning of Tyler’s new alter ego and if it has anything to do with the word “color”, which reflects “chroma.” Although the latter is correct, St. Chroma is a person who grapples with numerous fears such as falling in love and becoming a father.
In Tyler’s video, St. Chroma dresses in a military-like uniform, with a mask over his face and seems to have an erratic behavior. This alter ego could mirror the effects of paranoia, as this factor is represented in the “NOID” music video. It also shows how Tyler is as an artist, as he’s always been known to have control over his artistic abilities. St. Chroma shares strong similarities with the rapper’s other alter ego, Igor, who also had themes associated with personal identity.
Another interesting theory is that St. Chroma represents racial identity, since “chroma” means color and “kopia” means “labor” in Greek. To elaborate, St. Chroma could be wearing the mask as a way to hide his skin color from the world and to avoid judgment. The “kopia” part could easily be tied to how musical artists are always on tight schedules and are demanded to meet their fan’s wants.
Songs like “Sticky” and “Take Your Mask Off” relate to one struggling with their sexuality, which is a common theme in Tyler’s music. Other songs like “Thought I Was Dead” and “Like Him” relate to other personal issues such as fame and race. Whichever theory you believe, the album sums up Tyler’s incredible songwriting and braggadocious style.