Tyler, the Creator released his eighth album and seventh studio album early Monday morning called “CHROMAKOPIA.” The Los Angeles-area native has been regarded as one of the most controversial rap artists for more than a decade. He started off making obscene and nonconformist music as a teenager and into his early 20s that resulted in his music being banned in three different countries. However, one of his mentors and producing icon, Pharrell Williams, told Tyler something that he will never forget. Williams told Tyler that he should make “house music.” No, it is not the EDM sub genre that you are thinking of. In other words, Williams told Tyler to make “good music that could buy you a house.”
“Make something undeniable and make it equally as infectious,” Williams said in an interview for Hulu’s RapCaviar Presents docuseries. “Why are you doing music? Is it just because you want to look cool? Because that will burn out. When it becomes purpose-oriented, it could be as cool as the flashy s--t but it’ll be much more meaningful.”
Tyler knew he had to improve his music and not mess around anymore. After that moment, he created one of the best rap album trilogies in the genre’s history. First came the fluttery “Flower Boy” in 2017, then the artistic masterpiece “IGOR” in 2019, and finally a rap-centric producer-artist collaboration album with DJ Drama called “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST” in 2021.
Since then, he took a three-year hiatus from releasing albums, until the snippet of “St. Chroma” came out 13 days ago.
Throughout those 13 days, Tyler created a masterstroke of a rollout that had his fans all over the world on the edge of their seats, waiting for Oct. 28 to come around. That day has finally come.
The album has a 14-song tracklist that contains a stacked feature list, including Daniel Caesar, ScHoolboy Q, Teezo Touchdown, GloRilla, Sexyy Red, Doechii, WILLOW, and Lil Wayne among others.
Some highlights of the album include “St. Chroma,” “Rah Tah Tah,” “Noid,” “Darling, I,” “Hey Jane,” “I Killed You,” “Take Your Mask Off,” “Tomorrow,” “Thought I Was Dead,” “Like Him” and “I Hope You Find Your Way Home.”
“St. Chroma” was the opening snippet that began this album’s rollout and is the first song on the album. The song has a slow build-up with Tyler rapping in fierce whispers and Daniel Caesar singing with so much emotion. Then, it reaches this climatic beat drop that will make anyone’s head go up and down in appreciation. This is Tyler’s best introductory track in his discography.
“Rah Tah Tah” is the next track on the album, and Tyler returns to his “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST” era with his gritty and tenacious rapping. Additionally, he brags about his come-up story and how he believes he is the best-of-the-best. The song is a great follow-up to an outstanding intro track.
“Noid” is the third track and was the first full single that he dropped on streaming services as a part of the rollout. The song has a rock-heavy production, but it still leaves room for Tyler to find his own pocket on. In the song, he talks about the struggles of being famous and how everyone wants something from him because of his fame. That sentiment has shades of “Colossus,” which is the ninth track on his third album, “Wolf,” which came out in 2013. “Noid” is a really great track and one that will stand the test of time in terms of replay ability.
The fourth song on the album, “Darling, I,” is the second song that Tyler and fellow groundbreaking artist, Teezo Touchdown, have collaborated on. Their first collaboration was “RUNITUP,” the eighth track on “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST.” The combination of Teezo’s singing and Tyler’s singing and rapping over a happy and inspiring beat is what both fanbases dreamed of. The song also pulls back on different groovy “Flower Boy” aesthetics that are present in songs like “Glitter,” “911/Mr. Lonely,” and “See You Again.”
“Hey Jane” is the fifth song on the album and it is basically a love song fit into a rap song. The song includes two long verses of Tyler rapping at his best. In this first verse, Tyler is rapping to his lover, Jane, who he gets pregnant unexpectedly. He tries to comfort her after giving her this shocking news, while also trying to wrestle with whether or not he wants to have this child. In the second verse, Tyler takes on Jane’s perspective and keeps a similar writing structure from the first verse. Tyler does a good job of taking listeners inside of Jane’s thoughts about where she should go from here. Tyler provides introspective rapping on the track, and it is one of the most underrated tracks on the album.
“I Killed You” is the sixth song on this album and at first listen, it felt like the song was not executed well. However, after a few more listens, it was easier to enjoy the song. Although it has some head-scratching moments in the beginning with the production and lyrics, the song gets better and better as it reaches the end. The production had improved by the end of the song and the Childish Gambino feature included amazing singing.
The production on “Take Your Mask Off” had its typical Tyler magic pixie-dust sprinkled all over the beat. Daniel Caesar's feature was executed skillfully. Similar to Kendrick Lamar’s “N95” on “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers,” Tyler talks about how some people tend to put on fronts, or a mask in this case, and act like they are in gang life just to look cool. When in reality, if you “take the mask off,” you actually have a sustainable life that most people dream of.
“Big guns, big guns, what you got, huh?/Slatt, slatt and pop back at the opps, huh?/Gang this and you gang that/Don't let 'em know that you regret how you became that/A good kid, fine home, mom and dad in the pic'/A little middle class money, every Christmas legit,” Tyler raps.
The tenth song on this album, “Tomorrow” is intriguing. The production of the song transports you into a relaxation of sorts. Listening to the song feels almost like you are laying on the beach on a hot summer day, and you are just looking to turn your brain off for a little while. It is probably the most underrated song on this album. “Tomorrow” is also the most personal song Tyler has ever written. In the first verse, he raps about his struggles with aging and the fears that come with it.
“My mother’s hands don’t look the same/These jet black strands are turning gray/I’m gaining weight, I’d rather rest./The thought of children, it brings me stress./Because time is changing,” he raps.
“Thought I Was Dead” is the eleventh song on this album and was the final song that was teased during the rollout for this album. The song displays Tyler’s boastful side of his personality and takes shots at certain white rappers, like ian, who he believes diminishes the value and appreciation for the rap genre as a whole. “Thought I Was Dead” also has an incredible ScHoolboy Q feature that has great rapping throughout.
“Like Him” is the twelfth song on this album and is probably one of the most likable singing tracks that Tyler has ever put out. Tyler pours his heart out into this song, and it is one of the more emotional songs he has dropped. The content is about Tyler reacting to his mother, who is featured many times on this album, talking about how Tyler looks like his father, who is not in the picture. In this song, Tyler is disappointed in his father for never showing up for him, but Tyler has also made peace with that decision because everything worked out in the end.
“I Hope You Find Your Way Home” is a solid finale to this album. During the song, Tyler becomes introspective again and dives into his goals and what he wants to do with his life moving forward. Specifically, he does not want to have a child at this point in his life. He then ends off the way he started the album, bragging about his riches and talks down on anyone that is disrespectful to him. But, the star of the show was the production. The synths near the end of the album were like they came straight out of a song that Mike Dean would produce for The Weeknd or Travis Scott. They take you to a whole other place and are a representation of Tyler’s improvement over the years when it comes to production.
However, there were some songs on this album that were some of the worst I have heard from Tyler in his new era. They include “Judge Judy,” “Sticky,” and “Balloon.”
“Judge Judy” (not the famous courtroom show) is the seventh track on this album. The content matter and lyrics were not really anything to grab on to or relate to, and the song is definitely out of place from the rest of the album. The beat on this track was some of Tyler’s best producing, but it deserved better lyricism. Lastly, he reused a lyric on this song that he used in “DOGTOOTH,” which was on “The Estate Sale,” which is Tyler’s deluxe album to “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST.”
“Sticky” is the eighth track and easily the worst song on this album. The beat seemed like it was scrambled together and rushed. Also, who would have expected Tyler, the Creator to have two of the most popular female rappers in the rap game right now, GloRilla and Sexyy Red, on his newest album? Tyler has worked with artists that do not typically fit his artistry, and the feature was successful, including an NBA Youngboy on “WUSYANAME” from “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST.” However, this was one of those instances where those features were not great and did not fit the scope of the album. The Lil Wayne feature was satisfactory, but even then Tyler only gave each artist four bars instead of an eight or 16 bar feature that you would normally see on rap songs. Finally, Tyler’s lyrics on this song did not seem to make sense with the overall theme of the album.
“Balloon” is the penultimate track on the album and is one of the more middle-of-the-road tracks. The production was very hyper and jittery and, once again, felt like an outlier from the theme of this album. The Doechii feature was not particularly outstanding either.
Tyler, the Creator’s album “CHROMAKOPIA” became one of the most highly-anticipated rap projects of 2024 in such a short amount of time. Tyler executed the album’s rollout to perfection and left fans excited for what was coming. However, this album still left a lot to be desired. The first five songs on the album are some of Tyler’s best that he has ever made. But, once you get into “Judge Judy,” “Sticky,” and “Balloon,” all of that hype and that excitement is thrown out of the window. The second half of the album saves it from being a mediocre project in Tyler’s discography, but it does not return to the excitement of the beginning part of the album. However, even though this was not his best project ever, Tyler, the Creator is still one of the best and most experimental rappers out there. If you take away one thing from this album, let it be this. You never know what Tyler Okonma has up his sleeve next.
You can read the rest of the lyrics and more from this album here.