The long-awaited album draws inspiration from Chroma the Great, exploring themes of identity, fame, and self-reflection through Tyler’s signature storytelling and bold visuals.
Tyler, The Creator’s long awaited seventh studio album has finally arrived – and it’s even better than expected. The artist is known for distinct characters and aesthetics in each of his albums and CHROMAKOPIA is no exception. After the music video for Noid was released, fans speculated that Tyler’s new persona is based on Norton Juster’s classic children’s book The Phantom Tollbooth. The main character, Chroma the Great, brings colour into a monochromatic world. This was additionally adopted into the music video for St. Chroma – the first track of his album.
Unconventionally, this album was released bright and early on a Monday morning (6 a.m. EST). The artist noted how he wanted fans to truly listen to and experience the album (multiple times). It’s been some time since fans heard a new sound from Tyler, the Creator— his last official album release was CALL ME IF YOU LET LOST in 2021. It’s safe to say that fans are not disappointed.
CHROMAKOPIA explores a world of uncertainty and consistent contradictions. Tyler’s mother, Bonita Smith, has played an important role in his life and on this album. The lyricism of this album is particularly strong, and fans are still dissecting the context behind each track.
Despite Tyler repeatedly denying the presence of any features on this release, CHROMAKOPIA holds an abundance. “St. Chroma” is an excellent opening track to this record and features the famous Canadian R&B artist, Daniel Caesar. This leads into “Noid,” a song that is very obviously about Tyler’s paranoia in relation to fame and his worst fears. The song pushes an anxious feeling onto the listener, with lyrics like “keep your business to yourself” and “living between cameras and recorders.”
The track transitions beautifully into “Darling, I.” Featuring Teezo Touchdown, the song has already had tremendous growth in popularity across Instagram and TikTok. Truly, this album has a song for Tyler fans of all era’s while also maintaining a new outlook on the artist’s life.
The album ultimately moves into a more toned down sound, with tracks like “Hey Jane” and “Judge Judy.” Hey Jane sheds light on how much Tyler has been thinking about fatherhood, which is also a theme touched on later on the album. Things pick up with the track “Sticky,” featuring Sexyy Red, GloRilla and Lil Wayne. Many fans have stated that this track brings them back to Tyler’s older music (such as his album Cherry Bomb). “Thought I Was Dead” was also a key part of this observation.
Undoubtedly, the most emotional piece of this record is the song “Like Him.” In Tyler’s past music, we’ve heard him repeatedly slam his father for being absent for all of his life. The song is a beautiful, yet jarring angle on the life of Tyler Gregory Okonma. It delves into the complex emotions surrounding his father’s absence and the profound effect this has had on shaping his identity. In introspective lyrics, he wrestles with the notion of bearing similarities—both in appearance and character—to a man he hardly knows. CHROMAKOPIA showcases Tyler’s artistic evolution but also invites fans to explore his most vulnerable reflections yet.
