Tyler the Creator Lives In His Own Technicolor Universe Called Chromakopia

Tyler the Creator’s Chromakopia traverses the deep personal, trenches inside his warm soul. Incorporating distinct instruments and long-winded rap verses, the noncomformist leans heavily into human mortality, hubris, love, and family. The spacey arrangements and funky production were all imagined by the artist, Tyler as he transparently raps about the innate aspects within the human condition. His eighth album, Chromakopia, is the most tell-all album the 33-year-old musician has released-to-date.

The first track, “St. Chroma,” opens with Tyler the Creator’s mother, Bonita Smith, who reminds her famous son of the light he has always had within — “It’s not on you, it’s in you.” This sets the scene for Chromakopia which is a musically, adventurous world that Tyler has manufactured for his longtime fans but mostly for himself. His voice enters with an ongoing chant of “Chromakopia”, he whisper-raps while reciting some of the most cocky verses he has written. Then, the chorus and bridge lift the song to a spiritual place when vocals from Daniel Caesar become the true nucleus of the album: “Can you feel the light inside? Can you feel that fire.” 

The 14 uproarious tracks of Chromakopia serve to be candid words that exist within Tyler the Creator’s most introspective journal. Becoming new-aged rap’s most promising supernova, the star knows what it is like to fly too close to the sun and the pupils in his bright eyes are sparkling with glory and rage. The second and third tracks, “Rah Tah Tah” and “Noid” (samples the 1970s Zambian rock band, Ngozi Family), are direct target hits at the current state of rap and fame. 

With Odd Future and Loiter Squad, Tyler grew up like most of us online. The experimental yet blaring siren sounds embedded in “Rah Tah Tah” are a lead-up to the artist admitting he feels he has zero protection, safety, or privacy. “Was really Odd Future, all them other niggas whacked out,” he raps, “the biggest out the city after Kenny, that’s a fact now.” He acknowledges his career accomplishments and aligns his come-up in Los Angeles with the likes of Kendrick Lamar. Then, the climactic entrance to “Noid” features Tyler shouting “paranoid”, he states he is as the last song ends with “I’m”. The rush of the strummed electric guitar mixed in with Zambian langauge really honors the rapper’s Nigerian roots. Tyler’s extensive mental library of music reaches international corners and this refers to his never-ending knowledge and love for sonics.

Inside the world of Chromakopia, Tyler the Creator is a sergeant who wears an electric green full-out military uniform. He debuted this unknown all-powerful leader for the first time in the music videos for “St. Chroma” and “Noid” but in the format of black-and-white cinematic vignettes that explode into technicolor. Through the released visuals, Tyler is telling a story of an unstable pariah who has a personal vendetta against the world. But, he explains why through the depths of storytelling in the music he arranged himself. 

Lyrically dense with revealing anecdotes, the rapper makes sweet songs about his experiences with love and the act of falling head over heels with someone. The next three tracks, “Darling, I” (featuring Teezo Touchdown), “Hey Jane” and “Judge Judy” are about the fun of romance and acceptance. Except this time, Tyler paints such detailed tender, synth-heavy dulcet portraits of his most heartfelt life moments. While “I Killed You” has backing vocals from Childish Gambino and Tyler the Creator uses wordplay to go back and forth about feuding with your lover.

In “Darling, I”, the rapper samples the mouth clicks from Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot” and he sings over Teezo’s harmonies. Using sonic textures created with drums, tambourines, and an electric piano, Tyler the Creator hypes up his milestones but always returns to verses about feeling love in his music-making, “darling, keep falling in love.” Then, “Hey Jane” carries an intimate friend-to-loves story about Tyler hypothetically becoming a father over a sensual lo-fi beat and percussion breakdowns — he surrenders to adoration the most on this stripped-single off Chromakopia.  

Throughout the entire album experience, Tyler the Creator speaks about being raised by a single mother who nurtured his creative spirit and how that has impacted his worldview. In “Sticky”, he opens the track with a growl and adds hype women Glorilla and Sexyy Red. The “Sticky” chant is a smack-talking drumline anthem with Lil Wayne adding to the bridge where Tyler wants the listener to dance to a rotating band of hip-hop symphonic beats and trumpets.

The ninth track, “Take Your Mask Off” is an uplifting tune that repeats, “I hope you find yourself, take your mask off.” Tyler the Creator preaches about the silver linings in his life even though he has struggled with feeling outcasted and developing confidence over his manhood. 

With a sample of “Summertime” by Rosinha De Valenca, Chromakopia’s “Tomorrow” mentions concerns about running out of time and his mortality. Entering his mid-30s, Tyler the Creator raps “fear it, face clear, few wrinkles on my spirit”, to show off he is accepting time passing but is cognizant of knowing he doesn’t have forever. 

“Thought I Was Dead” and “Like Him” contrast each other in many ways. The preceding track is a hyphy, sassy song about Tyler wanting to be completely away and people perceiving him as absent from his craft. Tyler sings with fragility in “Like Him”, he discusses not knowing his father and how finding him would be like chasing after an apparition. This track is where Tyler shares his family life the most. The dichotomy of the song’s contents with the upbeat instrumentation refers to Tyler the Creator always finding a light at the end of every tunnel. Lola Young’s bold vocals close the bridge and Bonita Smith’s voice full of regret enters as she asks for her son’s forgiveness for leaving him. 

The “Balloon” track featuring Doechii is a youthful track where he and the Swamp Princess go head-to-head in the rap ring. They answer each other’s retorts about what makes them heated and Luke and Rob Base’s “Don’t Stop” motivates the rappers to go even faster and harder. The released weight of being truthful makes them feel lighter just like a balloon. The concluding track, “I Hope You Find Your Way Home,” is a gospel swan song to close the audacious epic narrated in Chromakopia. With his mom’s motivating speech that ends with “keep shining”, Tyler astral projects into the stars where he belongs and a lingering voice occupies the starlit space with a soft chant reciting Chromakopia.