After the release of “Call Me If You Get Lost: The Estate Sale” in March 2023, rapper and producer Tyler, the Creator seemed to disappear from the hip-hop scene, leaving fans in the dark about his next project. Fans were shocked, then, when Tyler announced a new album, “Chromakopia,” not even two weeks before its release date. With overlapping themes of paranoia, abandonment and struggles with intimacy, “Chromakopia” explores a personal side of Tyler’s life that has rarely been seen in his previous work.
“Chromakopia” marks Tyler’s seventh studio album. While Tyler’s name has been known in the rap industry since 2011 with the release of his first album, “Goblin”, his popularity and success have especially taken off in recent years. The two albums prior to “Chromakopia” — “IGOR” and “Call Me If You Get Lost” — both won Grammy Awards for Best Rap Album in 2020 and 2022. His 2017 song “See You Again” received a resurgence in popularity in 2023 after going viral on TikTok.
With his career seemingly at a high point, fans could not wait to see what Tyler would put out next. After announcing “Chromakopia,” Tyler built on this anticipation by releasing the album’s single “Noid” and posting snippets of upcoming songs on social media. Tyler also built interest with the chosen release date of a Monday, Oct. 28, instead of the usual Friday, hoping to break away from the music industry’s traditional release dates.
“Chromakopia” contains 14 songs, spanning just under an hour runtime. The opening track, “St. Chroma,” sets the tone for the album with a unique vocal performance and a lyrical focus on the paranoia that comes with fame. The song is best described as a dramatic build, with Tyler’s first verse starting as quiet and whispery over a rather simple beat. As the verse continues, Tyler’s performance and volume grows louder with additional voices and an evolving beat in the background, leading to a climatic chorus performed by Daniel Caesar.
“St. Chroma” introduces us to the central theme Tyler explores throughout the album, trying to discover who he is while under the stress of his popularity and limelight. The weight of fame has led Tyler to being paranoid in his day-to-day life, something he discusses on the third track and single of the album “Noid.” While “Noid” succeeds in its writing and its place in the overall message of the album, it is sonically a little jarring. The various elements of the song — lyrics, verses, chorus, beat, etc. — lack a definitive cohesion that may impact the song’s replay value.
After “Noid,” Tyler shifts the album’s focus from his feelings of paranoia to his struggles with intimacy, or more accurately, his struggles with ”settling down.” Tyler devotes multiple tracks of the album to this concept such as “Darling, I,” “Hey Jane,” and “Tomorrow.” In these songs, Tyler delves into his relationship history, noting the many times he has considered settling down before deciding against it. Interestingly, Tyler does not seem bothered by the notion of still searching for love. Rather, he notes how his history with romantic relationships contributes to his overall sense of confusion about who he is behind his stage persona.
All these themes of self-doubt and fears about discovering his inner self seem to culminate in the song “Like Him.” Unlike the rest of the album, “Like Him” features a raw, melodic performance from Tyler as he discusses the difficulties of him growing up without his father. He cites moments where he’s been told he is just like his father in so many ways, but he still feels he has no idea who his father is. The song hints at the correlation between him not truly knowing his father and him not being able to know himself.
While Tyler has never been afraid of getting personal on his albums, “Chromakopia” feels more open and genuine than anything he’s released before. Delving into his family and relationship history is not original to the album, but he often seems to mask some of these serious themes with his intense producing style and the various characters he pretends to be in his albums.
In “Chromakopia,” Tyler backs away from his typical style in favor of a more raw and authentic performance throughout the album. This performance allows for more focus on the lyrical content on the album and encourages his fans to get to know him a little better, perhaps with the hope that, in turn, he will get to know himself a little better too.
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