In the lead-up to Tyler, The Creator’s eighth studio album Chromakopia, Tyler repeatedly expressed his desire for fans to tune in with their full attention. His hope was that people would form their own opinions without external influence. As this is a review of the album, this is your last warning before I spoil it. I urge you to listen to Tyler before reading what I have to say.
First Listen
Welcome back. My first listen to Chromakopia wasn’t what I expected. In the snippets and singles released leading up to Oct. 28, I expected a bombastic record; a refined take on Cherry Bomb. That’s not what Chromakopia is, but that’s not a negative in the slightest. What Tyler has released is a deeply personal record, with bombastic moments that are intended to cover up the exploration of his insecurities around aging, relationships, and parenthood.
The Highlights
Giving Tyler his first Billboard top 10 hit, “St. Chroma” is a fantastic opener that sets up the narrative for the rest of the project. Joined by his mother plus Canadian artist Daniel Caesar, Tyler begins the album questioning whether he wants to continue creating music or “gracefully bow out” in order to grow up and start a family. Throughout the album Tyler goes back and forth with this question, debating what tomorrow might hold for him.
Just to note, I listened to this album at 7 am. That’s the earliest I’ve woken up for a release. If the opener hadn’t already, “Rah Tah Tah” woke me right up. This song has some of Tyler’s funniest lines and deliveries that I’ve heard from him in a long time.
If you were a fan of “WHARF TALK” off of The Estate Sale, you’ll love “Darling, I”. Here Tyler raps about his struggle settling down with one person, and debating if that’s even the future he wants for himself. Featuring the underrated Teezo Touchdown (check out their song “Mood Swings”), the two deliver a song that I’m expecting to hear everywhere for the foreseeable future.
“Hey Jane” is a conversation between Tyler and ‘Jane’ about an unplanned pregnancy. Talking from both perspectives, Tyler and Jane share how unprepared they are to be parents. The two go back and forth discussing what they should do with the baby, eventually coming to the difficult decision that Jane should get an abortion. The song’s title refers to this outcome rather explicitly, sharing a name with a New York-based healthcare company, Hey Jane, centred around abortion access. It’s captivating to hear Tyler experiment with his storytelling, especially when the subject matter is this personal.
“Sticky” has the craziest production on Chromakopia, along with some features I didn’t expect to hear or think I’d enjoy this much. Leave it to Tyler to make a song with GloRilla, Sexyy Redd, and Lil Wayne that works this well. I need some more Tyler songs with horns like this one has.
“Take Your Mask Off” is another song integral to the narrative of the album. On the cover, as well as in the music videos leading up to the album’s release, Tyler has depicted himself in a mask and military uniform. In this song, he explains why. He addresses other people’s insecurities as well as his own, describing the ways we all try to hide them with a mask. Chromakopia represents the creativity that comes from being yourself; the creativity that Tyler has suppressed in the past. It’s another very solid track that I think might be overlooked in the grand scheme of the album.
For me, “Like Him” is already up there as one of Tyler’s best songs he’s released. It’s a culmination of feelings Tyler’s been expressing since Wolf with the song “Answer”, and comparing the two really displays the growth Tyler’s gone through. He wrestles with the experience of not having a father figure present throughout his life, and the pain that comes with not knowing the man he came from. The chord progression on this track is incredible, with the shortest Baby Keem feature I’ve ever heard leading into the best moment on the album. If you aren’t going to listen to all of Chromakopia, this is the song I’d recommend checking out.
Final Thoughts
It’s a good sign that I really struggled to cut down the amount of songs I wrote about. I’m sure that in a year, or even a week I’ll probably look back at this and regret not talking about others (I’m already upset I didn’t talk about “Balloon”). To me, that’s the sign of a great project.
Chromakopia sounds like the culmination of what he’s been working toward for the last few projects, and I couldn’t be happier about it. Tyler seems comfortable exploring the style he’s been steadily carving out for himself throughout his career up to this point. I’m already seeing discussions online calling this album a disappointment because of that, and it’s probably pretty clear that I disagree with those people wholeheartedly.
I wouldn’t say Tyler reinvented his music style with this album, but he didn’t have to. With that said, I probably wouldn’t recommend this as an introduction to Tyler. I think knowing some of his history (luckily I wrote an article about it) helps to connect with this record.
This album is pure Tyler creativity spread out across 14 tracks. Chromakopia may not be what I thought it’d be, but I’m very happy to find that he’s subverted my expectations once again. In a culture of constant collaboration, Tyler is one of the few artists out there writing, arranging, and producing his work all by himself. As he continually proves album after album, there really is no one else doing it like Tyler.