“Can you feel that light, inside? / Can you feel that fire?” — St. Chroma
Set in a rustic, black-and-white video, viewers witnessed artist Tyler, the Creator lead a series of soldiers into a cargo box labeled “Chromakopia” with lyrics being chanted in the background. Tyler then detonated the box on an energetic beat drop, converting the video to color and setting the stage for his next studio album.
“Chromakopia” was released on Monday, Oct. 28, going against the conventional Thursday-night release, as Tyler hoped for listeners to digest the music and relish it throughout the week. Tyler, the Creator released a snippet of new music on all of his platforms on Oct. 16, titled “St. Chroma,” named after the first track on the album. Following the release of “St. Chroma,” Tyler announced his 8th studio album, following it with excerpts from other tracks on the album. Breaking his trend of releasing albums every two years, his last album being “Call Me If You Get Lost: Estate Sale” in 2023, the rapper released his self-produced and self-written album. Compared to his previous projects, “Chromakopia” is Tyler’s most mature and earnest record to date, featuring intricate production and showcasing an emotionally vulnerable side of him that hasn’t been seen before.
Teased with the reveal of the album, “Chromakopia” introduces itself with its most anticipated song “St. Chroma,” which depicts a new side of Tyler, inspired by Chroma the Great from The Phantom Tollbooth. Featuring R&B artist Daniel Caesar, the song serves as a beautiful introduction to the album. “St. Chroma” perfectly showcases the experimental nature that Tyler enjoys indulging in, doing so with everlasting style. The song dips in both R&B and hard rap, which encapsulates the various different songs on the album and adds a refreshing feel. As the soft vocals grow increasingly louder and the hollow instrumental builds upon itself, it is clear that “St. Chroma” encapsulates the entire album’s essence — a large project that doesn’t hold back.
Tyler has always sported a unique, grandiose imagination which he utilizes in his music, experimenting with sounds and pushing the boundaries of music genres. He often blends genres like rap, hip-hop and R&B to create his own trademark sound, notable in his more recent records such as “IGOR” and “Call Me If You Get Lost.” “Chromakopia” is no exception, as Tyler returns with his layered production — he features sounds like synth waves, which he would commonly use in older albums such as “Cherry Bomb,” as well as newer sounds such as blaring trumpets and distorted guitar on the song “Noid.” The sound design is sharper and more refined, and the album shines as one cohesive production, notably in the first three tracks as they seamlessly transition into one another.
The quality of “Chromakopia” doesn’t halt at its production — Tyler gradually introduces featured artists such as Doechii and Teezo Touchdown on various songs, providing another heavily anticipated aspect. Additionally, Tyler chose to hide the features during the first few days of the album’s release. This further increased the excitement that came with listening to the album for the first time, as it surprised many listeners with their favorite artists. Tyler, the Creator’s choice of features on specific songs helps contribute to the all-out quality of the album.
“Sticky” is an excellent example of features done well, while also changing up the pace of the album by including a more upbeat, hype track following a series of slower ballad-like tracks. Featuring three separate artists, GloRilla, Sexxy Red and Lil Wayne, the song takes advantage of listeners’ anticipation beautifully, slowly building up the hype of the song with each feature. GloRilla’s verse brings a unique timbre that makes the song feel alive and diversifies the sound from the rest of the album. While Sexxy Red’s verse may be a little cheap, detracting from the mature element of the album and lowering the quality of the song, not knowing who might drop a quality verse in the coming seconds made “Sticky” and the rest of the album extremely fun to listen to.
The production and performances wouldn’t be what they are if it weren’t for the extremely personal lyricism that Tyler includes. It feels as if Tyler is able to capture the confusion, lust and identity crisis of our generation on one record. Tyler sings about a variety of topics in his album, ranging from his past relationships to his fear of growing old. In “Hey Jane,” he sings about him and his former girlfriend and what to do about her pregnancy. In “Take Your Mask Off,” Tyler introduces various characters such as a middle-schooler forced to conform to societal standards, a homophobic priest, and a tired housewife. He discusses how they put on false personas and implores them to essentially “take their mask off,” going on to reflect on how his audiences see him in pop culture, distinguishing between an artist and a human being. However, his most thought-provoking track is “Like Him,” as he questions his physical resemblance to his father, whom he has never met, when he asks, “Mama, I’m chasing a ghost / Do I look like him?” Tyler backs up the familial aspect of the album by including snippets of his mother talking to him, through the form of voicemails in tracks such as “Like Him” and “I Hope You Find Your Way Home.”
“Chromakopia” meets the criteria for a well-thought-out album: clean production, an abundance of features and a variety of songs each with a unique quirk to them. Despite this, “Chromakopia” suffers due to another factor — Tyler’s previous albums simply set an unbeatable precedent. His previous hit songs such as “See You Again,” “ARE WE STILL FRIENDS?” and “WUSYANAME” have cemented themselves as some of the most iconic songs of all time, which inevitably put immense pressure on “Chromakopia” to present a similar quality. Furthermore, it feels as if the album veers on the safe side, not experimenting with sound quality as much and taking limited risks compared to his past work. While it might be that “Chromakopia” needs time to grow and develop for listeners, the album overall seems slightly lackluster when compared to his previous albums.
Ultimately, “Chromakopia” stands as a solid reminder of Tyler’s inner thought and attention to detail; the depth of the album’s concept in conjunction with its soothing vocals, deep lyrics and diverse features all prove that the album is worthy of its anticipation. While it struggles to stand against its predecessors, the album is just as rich in quality as its name — ”Chromakopia” is a work of varying color, and Tyler, the Creator proves this unique vibrance in his newest album.
RATING: 4/5
