Tyler, The Creator, is a pop-rap artist who recently released his eighth studio album, “CHROMAKOPIA”. The record contains compelling lyricism, unique baselines, and a multitude of funky features – and it has infected the earbuds of SUNY Cortland students. Here are some the defining moments of the genre-bending album.
Tyler Okonma, better known as Tyler, The Creator, began his music career by releasing mixtapes and being an essential member of hip-hop group Odd Future with other artists such Frank Ocean and Earl Sweatshirt. Following the group’s ending, Tyler began developing more of his spunky sound through albums such as “Wolf” and “Cherry Bomb”. He then followed that with the groundbreaking “Flower Boy”, giving Tyler a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album in 2017. Every album he has released since “Flower Boy”, which is “IGOR” and “Call Me If You Get Lost” have also been nominated and won best rap album of the year. “CHROMAKOPIA” was released Monday, October 28, 2024, and has since then, flooded music charts.
Throughout each of Tyler’s albums is a one-of-a-kind persona that’s highlighted to further reveal the significance behind the tracks. For example, “IGOR”, one of his previous projects, tells the story of a love triangle through the perspective of Igor, a man who is initially strongly infatuated with an unidentified male interest and later comes to a reconciliation that a romantic relationship with this guy is unattainable. In the case of “CHROMAKOPIA”, the story looks at St. Chroma, a man who has to come to the harsh realities of growing up despite rejecting these ideals.
What’s the Main Idea?
The album starts off strongly with the tracks “Rah Tah Tah” and “Noid”, which delve into a deep paranoia driving Tyler’s thought process. Following this, more of his ideals regarding relationships are revealed, making it clear that he is not ready to commit to something serious. This fear is shown through the song “Hey Jane” when Tyler (or rather St. Chroma) is vulnerable about his anxiousness after having a pregnancy scare with a woman, Jane, and in the song “Darling, I”, where it’s expressed that he has no desire to settle down and plan a family.
As the album progresses, the main protagonist loses his mask and begins to reflect internally, discovering that he must come to terms with the reality he lives in. The idea of concealing one’s true self is shown through the chromatic black-and-white depiction consistent throughout the album, along with the mask on the cover of his own face.
Jessica Hegarty, sophomore early childhood education major at SUNY Cortland, close friend of mine, & Tyler, The Creator superfan shared some of her valuable insight regarding the new release. “My favorite song from the new album is Like Him. Throughout the whole song, the lyrics and instruments worked well together. Also, as I focused on the lyrics, I pieced together the meaning behind the song which relates to Tyler’s life.” The song, “Like Him”, elaborates on how a young boy questions his mother if he has similarities to his absent father. In turn, he discovers that his father didn’t make the choice to not be present in his son’s life, but rather his mother pushed him away. This has potential parallels to Tyler’s own life as he grew up without his father in the picture.
Jess Further elaborates on her appreciation towards an artist sticking to a strong motif: “I enjoy when artists can tell a powerful story through their songs which was accomplished in this song. Tyler always speaks his mind, and through this song, he reveals a vulnerable area of his life story. I highly recommend this song and the rest of the album to everyone!”
Defining Features
Tyler didn’t accomplish this album alone, despite writing, producing, and arranging the music on the record. Various refreshing features entice the listener into a more developed sound with unique flows and vocals. Daniel Caesar’s none other than heavenly voice is featured on the intro track, “St. Chroma” and “Take Your Mask Off”, two songs with the invigorating message of coming to terms with your true self. Another feature seen on the album (and my personal favorite) is SchoolboyQ on “Thought I Was Dead”. The pairing between his straightforward line delivery and partially eerie horn section brings about the perfect setup for Tyler’s song – which doubles as a commentary towards Hollywood media, stating that they “thought he was dead” and were making assumptions about him. But perhaps the most surprising features appeared in “Sticky”, with Sexxy Red, GloRilla, and Lil Wayne all hopping on the thudding beat in a series of rambunctious and playful verses that took listeners for a surprise in the best way possible.
The 53 minute album is a worthwhile listen due to its captivating storytelling and entrancing rhythms. This project combines darker elements and themes of paranoia from earlier projects, such as “Goblin”, while maintaining Tyler’s nature of formulating a protagonist to follow while listening. In conclusion, this album is great, as there is likely a song for everyone, and it’s not only a creative piece – it’s a personal commentary on Tyler’s life, mentioning how being famous can be and how there’s nothing to do but be authentic. However, the best judgement is your own, so next time you get bored of playing the same 6 songs on repeat, pull out those headphones and give “CHROMAKOPIA” a listen if you haven’t already.