Tyler, The Creator rediscovers himself on 'CHROMAKOPIA'
By Taylor P.H.
As you walk through the halls of Airport High School, you’ll notice students with their earbuds or Airpods, blasting their favorite albums. Among those, I can almost guarantee that Tyler, The Creator’s CHROMAKOPIA will be a hot topic within these halls for the coming weeks. Having listened to it right the day it was released, I enjoyed the project and wanted to share my thoughts!
Tyler Okonma, known more popularly as Tyler, The Creator, is an American rapper, designer, and producer from Hawthorne, California. He has been a pivotal figure in the alternative hip-hop scene of the 2010s, and this album perfectly showcases why he’s such a beloved figure in modern hip-hop. CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST, released in 2021.
Featuring the likes of Daniel Caesar, Teezo Touchdown, Schoolboy Q, and many other incredible artists, CHROMAKOPIA offers a bold and genre-blending exploration of adulthood, self-reflection, artistic maturity, and the overall psyche of the 33-year-old artist.
Like the majority of his previous albums, the production throughout the album was a big standout to me with the project featuring a blend of many different genres like jazz, neo-soul, and, of course, hip-hop with tracks like “Rah Tah Tah” and “Sticky” that show this clash of styles perfectly. Tyler mixes the intensity of the beats with live instruments like horns and flutes, which gives them a more energetic, almost cinematic feel, almost like we are listening to a soundtrack to his life rather than an album inspired by his life. The mix of sounds makes the album more dynamic, constantly shifting in its mood and style while still maintaining its cohesiveness throughout. A great example of this is on the intro track “St. Chroma” with featured vocals from R&B singer-songwriter Daniel Caesar.
The track features sounds of marching, loud breathing and the repetition of the album’s title, giving it a rough, militaristic tone before creating a suspenseful build-up that pays off in the chorus sung by Caesar. This, to me, sets the tone for the album in such a beautiful way, making it one of the best intro tracks to an album I’ve heard in a while.
Another aspect that stood out to me was his songwriting--especially his lyrics--with songs like “Take Your Mask Off” and “Like Him” exploring Tyler’s maturity and growth as an artist as he navigates personal themes of fatherhood and identity; this raw, self-critical approach adds a layer of honesty to the already incredibly vulnerable album. One of the standout lines is featured on the track “Like Him,” where Tyler explores fatherhood and the absence of his father growing up. On the track, the lyrics read: “She says that I make expressions like him… Mama, I’m chasin’ a ghost.” These lines reveal Tyler’s inner battle with the confrontation of both the innate and absent parts of his identity caused by the absence of his father.
He also addresses the paranoia, which he and many other artists face in their everyday lives. Tracks like the intense “Noid,” along with the music video that was released before the album’s release, as well as the track “St. Chroma,” speak to the feeling of always being watched as a celebrity. The self-directed video, starring actress Ayo Edebiri, further explores Tyler’s concerns and feelings of paranoia and parasocial relationships with fans.
Amongst the exploration of Tyler’s mental state, he also addresses larger societal issues concerning race and identity, best exemplified on the track “I Killed You,” which tackles themes of Western beauty standards and Black identity.
CHROMAKOPIA stands out to me for both its songwriting and masterful production, but it’s not just me who thinks so—students all over Airport are buzzing about the album, like Airport’s Timothy W. who, when interviewed about CHROMAKOPIA, said, “It’s a really fun album and honestly probably one of the best albums of the year.”
As CHROMAKOPIA continues to resonate with fans, it’s clear that the album has the potential to be one of the best, if not the best, album of the year; Airport students haven’t been the only ones loving the album, and music critics are raving about the newest installment into the illustrious discography of Tyler, The Creator.
An article from Pitchfork, written by Heven Haile, called the project an “electric, revealing, and perennially odd journey back into his aging psyche.”
Anthony Fantano of the popular YouTube channel theneedledrop, known for his harsh reviews and lack of generosity when rating albums, gave it an 8/10, which, to anyone aware or a fan of Fantano, is a pretty big deal.
Another critic, Mark Chinapen of Medium, showed his love for the album, saying, “Overall though, I was pleased with CHROMAKOPIA. It’s hard to compare this to Tyler’s past releases, or anything else for that matter, but that’s the joy of a new Tyler, The Creator album.”
I’d give the album an 8/10 and while it’s by no means his best album, it gets the job done in the areas it needs to and serves as a solid addition to the already amazing discography of the constantly evolving Tyler, The Creator.
CHROMAKOPIA by Tyler, The Creator was released on all streaming platforms on Monday, October 28, 2024, and was accompanied by the announcement of a world tour shortly after its release, respectively named CHROMAKOPIA: THE WORLD TOUR.