Chromakopia - Tyler, the Creator
A giant array of different colors and textures mesh together for a unique listening experience.
The lead-up to the release of Chromakopia was one I didn’t follow, but I didn’t need to due to the immense excitement radiating from my peers, from people on social media, and from even the recommended videos on YouTube. Released on October 28th, 2024 by American singer and rapper Tyler, The Creator, Chromakopia is his 8th album and yet another showing of experimentation from the artist.
The album opens with “St. Chroma”, which features hissed vocals, a marching rhythm, and gradually building layers that break away for rising synths and repetitions of the album’s title. This opener sets the tone with something layered and beautiful, with elements of more energetic electronic elements along with piano and harmonized vocals from Daniel Caesar. It is interspersed with narrations from Tyler’s mom, starting with “You are the light, it’s not on you, it’s in you” to set the tone, and the rest of the song helps set up the central character of the album, St. Chroma.
The following song “Rah Tah Tah Tah” is a much coarser, more energetic track with a brief refrain that crops up to tie together talks of money and girls with references to Los Angeles, his hometown, and paranoia. The beat is very chaotic and significantly harsher than the previous track, causing contrast from its peers, and even on the album as a whole. Following it is the very fuzzy “Noid”, with synths and some kind of bass sitting beneath effect-heavy vocals. The song samples “Nizakupanga Ngozi” by Ngozi Family in the chorus, and builds heavily off of the paranoia set up in “Rah Tah Tah Tah”. The claustrophobic instrumentals and rapid vocals in the Nyanja language lend to the paranoia and bits of panic described in the song, which are offset by the harmonized vocals from WILLOW and Tyler, The Creator sprinkled throughout.
“Darling, I” is a very heartfelt, warm song about love and struggles with monogamy, making it a unique song with a very interesting topic. Featuring Teezo Touchdown on vocals alongside Tyler, the vocal runs and lush chords really sell the whole tone of the song. This one is a personal favorite as it strikes a balance between being heartfelt but not cheesy, especially with topics like love and monogamous relationships. This song transitions very well into “Hey Jane”, a song about a relationship and the shock of a pregnancy. I find this one to be sweet, but the instrumental feels very small and almost quaint when compared to the previous track’s. The story is told very well and it’s certainly a great piece on the album, but is a song I likely wouldn’t listen to outside of the album.
As if to truly cement the smaller instrumentation of “Hey Jane” is “I Killed You”, which opens with odd voices in an odd harmony before transitioning into beat with thumping, trumpets, and occasional guitar strums. This is a brief song about the relationship black people have with their hair, and it certainly feels like a short song, but not in an all-bad way. The same can’t be said for “Judge Judy”, which I find a bit too long at about four and a half minutes. It’s a bittersweet song about a brief relationship where the protagonist’s lover ends up cutting him off and leaving him a letter to reveal her death from brain cancer. The flow and voice used in the verses puts me off, and detracts from a really sweet yet gut wrenching song, at least for a listener like me. The instrumentation is really interesting, and I particularly enjoy despite my issues with the vocals.
The opposite problem comes with “Sticky”, where I love the vocals but find both the repeated “It’s getting sticky!” backups and the whistle very grating. Luckily, it leaves this whistle behind pretty early on so the guest vocals from Glorilla, Sexxy Red, and Lil Wayne can shine with horns, thumping bass, and a very fun final minute and a half. While I can’t stand the whistle in the intro, the song as a whole is a favorite. The relaxed outro sets the tone for “Take Your Mask Off”, a much more relaxed track with a catchy and warm chorus that scratches a certain itch in my brain. The song is about literally taking one’s mask off and allowing their hidden woes and self to show, and the warm, sweet message pairs perfectly with such rich vocals.
“Tomorrow” continues the streak of calmer songs, only with a much more somber tone with a clean guitar and ethereal backup vocals beneath an almost shy falsetto. It picks up in pace with the addition of fuzzy bass and more confident rapping, only to sink back into the repeated reassurances of being fine. It ends with a nice solo, tying up a song about a potential family and music vying for Tyler’s time and attention. Opening with militaristic yells, “Thought I Was Dead” is a much different tone with bombastic, warbling horns that feel almost disoriented and some more aggressive vocal delivery. The mentions of old age continue between this pairing of tracks, only now with the tone of continuing to be ahead as a musician, even in old age. I have mixed feelings on the chorus, but the lively, thick beat paired with great verses offset this mild criticism.
Going back into the calmer songs is “Like Him”, yet another emotional track that weaves explosions of instrumentation with yet more dense vocal layers and that same, gentle falsetto. The chorus uses the melody from “Killing Me Softly With His Love”, only changing the lyrics to fit a song about Tyler and his father not being there in his younger years. This is another personal favorite, especially with the sudden leap in volume that includes a twinkling synth paired with various vocal bits of hoarse barks and singing “like him” before the primary vocal part comes back in. I think this song hits one of the hardest emotionally, especially featuring an almost 30 second narration from Bonita Smith to set more of the backdrop of the story alongside the same familiar synth sounds.
Unfortunately, “Balloon” is the next track. For an album with such great instrumentals, it sucks to hear something so unappealing so suddenly. The primary instrumental melody, frankly, makes me think of the music I would hear in an old Roblox game, rather than something such a clearly skilled musician would make. The song reflects on success he has found and such, but I feel like it feels very awkward tonally and instrumentally with the songs that surround it. The album closes with “I Hope You Find Your Way Home”, which returns once again to a more relaxed atmosphere. With a synth melody that meshes with the familiar theme of harmonized vocals, it feels familiar in the best way possible. This vocal harmony feels less uniform, with voices deviating periodically to make it more texturally interesting. It features similar themes of “Hey Jane”, and is less lyrically interesting while being much more instrumentally interesting. I think it ending with the chants of “Chromakopia” like in the first song is very fitting, and cements “I Hope You Find Your Way Home” as a great closer for a good album.
Overall, the album feels a bit disjointed, which can occasionally harm the album but generally just serves to keep the erratic pieces interesting. The different topics presented mesh very well, and the lyrics, both sung and rapped, are well written and oscillate between vivid, humorous, and heartfelt with incredible skill.
Best Song / Worst Song
Tomorrow/Balloon