Tyler, the Creator is no stranger to the music industry. The Los Angeles County native has been a big figure on the charts for years now and his fame is only growing. For someone so famous, it’s interesting that a lot of what we know about him is his different personas.
Ace, Wolf Haley, Chur Bum, Flower Boy, IGOR and Tyler Baudelaire are Tyler’s main personas that have taken over his previous albums. They each tell parts of his own story from a different perspective, but we have never really gotten a tell-all from the Creator himself. With his new album “CHROMAKOPIA,” released on Oct. 28, we are finally getting a glimpse into his life through his own eyes.
Still, the rapper’s critically acclaimed eighth studio album is an amalgamation of all his previous work. If you are a longtime fan, you can see elements from his older albums. This album goes back to the “Goblin” days and satisfies fans with looks into his upbringing and emotional and sexual endeavors. His honesty about his feelings is parallel across his albums, and though his sound has changed, we’re still getting beats reminiscent of “Flower Boy” and “IGOR,” lyrical prowess similar to “Call Me If You Get Lost,” and vibes that bring back the nostalgia of “Cherry Bomb” and “Wolf.” Not to mention that he, once again, has some insane features lined up for these tracks.
Not only is Tyler putting his own best foot forward in this discography, he also brought a stacked roster of D1 players to the album. Vibe lists the lineup as: Daniel Caesar (“St. Chroma”), Willow (unofficial feature on “Noid”), Teezo Touchdown and Tyler’s mother, Bonita Smith (“Darling, I”), Childish Gambino (“I Killed You”), GloRilla/Lil Wayne/Sexyy Red (“Sticky”), ScHoolboy Q (“Thought I Was Dead”), Lola Young (“Like Him”) and Doechii (“Balloon”). These features could bring the upcoming artists and old-timers into the spotlight.
Tyler’s features have always been great choices and it’s done very deliberately. He knows how to use voices that will complement his own and how to find the right artist to match the vibe he wants for a certain track. It’s his album but he never has a problem sharing the spotlight with artists who can provide the vocal support he desires, and historically, it’s created some legendary tracks.
The album opens with “St. Chroma,” a song that introduces the album’s new persona, Saint Chroma, the masked man depicted on the cover. Daniel Caesar joins Tyler on this track about his road to success. “St. Chroma” solidifies the difference between this album and Tyler’s previous works: This persona is a realer, more open and free version of Tyler himself.
“Balloon,” featuring Doechii, also shows Tyler taking his time to reflect on his successes and his career. This road to success is given a darker side in “Rah Tah Tah,” where Tyler talks about his fame and how it makes him feel paranoid.
“Noid,” the album’s first commercial single, illustrates this theme of paranoia through the lyrics and the music video. The music video depicts Saint Chroma being followed and chased, but it’s all just paranoid delusions. This could be demonstrating how Tyler’s fame makes him paranoid about divulging his true feelings and secrets, so it’s easier to hide behind his characters and play make-believe. “Thought I Was Dead” plays into a mood of paranoia and frustration, with artistic ramblings of rapper mentality and culture-vultures encroaching on hip hop.
This mask that Saint Chroma is wearing symbolizes Tyler’s use of alter egos to “mask” his real emotions. He’s used all these different characters to distance himself from these different stories in his life, and now, he just wants to come clean to himself. The song “Take Your Mask Off” addresses this covered past with the lyrics, “Now go and stand in the sun, and use some fake tears to water your roots/Take that mask off and tell ’em the truth.” It touches on themes of parenthood that are mirrored in “Hey Jane,” “Tomorrow” and “I Hope You Find Your Way Home.”
But this discography doesn’t only discuss harsh emotional discoveries, it also delves into the more fun and confident side of being yourself. The song “Sticky,” the album’s eighth track, brings some of the most iconic features on the album, with artists GloRilla, Sexy Redd, and Lil Wayne. Genius states that “Sticky” is all about the rappers “staying true to themselves, standing up to anyone who doubts them, and embracing their success and individuality.”
Another song that plays into the theme of self-acceptance is “I Killed You,” which plays on the idea that, to conform to beauty standards, people of color often “kill” their hair. “CHROMAKOPIA” even ventures into the less talked about world of Tyler’s love life and commitments. “Darling, I” talks about love in his life and his struggle with making long term commitment, where he raps “Perfect for the time being, y’all ain’t do nothin’ wrong/Life is short, but forever is so goddamn long.” The seventh track on the album, “Judge Judy,” talks of similar themes of flings and fun times with a lover.
Tyler’s sound may have morphed a bit throughout the years, but he still stays true to his roots. His lyrics hit hard and hit home, and for all of the fans that want to get to knowe their muse better, this album lives up to their dreams.
Ava Hebenstreit can be reached at [email protected]
