Tyler, The Creator is an artist who doesn’t just release albums — he has eras.
Who could forget the dreamy, lush Flower Boy with the forest-style stage set during the accompanying tour? Or the love triangle and fright wig that accompanied Igor? Or the return-to-raw-rapping feeling of Call Me If You Get Lost, with its DJ Drama ad libs?
After all the places Tyler has been in the decade and a half since his debut Bastard was released, what could possibly come next? Which musical direction will he take? How will he respond to the world now that he’s a massively successful 30-something entrepreneur, far removed from the out-to-shock-the-world teenager we first met in the heyday of Odd Future?
When Tyler announced his new album Chromakopia, and preceded it with videos where he was wearing a bizarre dual-pointed hairstyle and a blank-looking face mask, surrounded by a giant group of men marching in and out of a shipping container while hanging out on a bomber that he then blows up with explosives, all of these questions and more ran through the minds of fans.
Finally, with the album’s release on Monday, we have some answers — or at least some clues. Read on for a recap of Chromakopia, and what his first album in three years says about Tyler, The Creator's new era.
Tyler, The Soloist
Tyler has long been in control of his musical and aesthetic presentation. But never before has he made it such a centerpiece of his album rollout. He exclaimed, "F— features" on X, before telling social media just days before the album’s release that Chromakopia has no features. The album’s banner on his YouTube page has the Prince-like caption, "All songs written, produced, and arranged by Tyler Okonma."
The "f— features" language is, in true Tyler fashion, a troll — the album has rap verses from ScHoolboy Q, Lil Wayne, GloRilla and others. There’s a whole host of guest vocalists singing both background and, occasionally, lead parts.
But still, the spirit of Tyler’s comment is true. This is his album from the beginning to the end — his lyrical themes and obsessions, his harmonic sensibility, his often-daring arrangement choices. Chromakopia shows his growth, his ambivalence (about which more later), and his vision.**
Tyler, The Empathic Storyteller
There are several examples of Tyler expanding his palette into full-on storytelling on Chromakopia. Most central is "Hey Jane," a song about him and an older girlfriend discussing what to do about her pregnancy. Tyler raps from both perspectives perceptively and empathetically.
This quality comes back on "Take Your Mask Off," where he tells the stories of a number of characters who put on false fronts: the middle-class drama school kid masquerading as a gang member and facing the consequences; the homophobic priest disguising his sexuality; an exhausted rich housewife who has given up her dreams and personality in exchange for comfort. Finally, Tyler turns inward, berating himself for his selfishness while simultaneously worrying about whether his clothes will sell or audiences will rate his live show highly enough.
"And I hope you find yourself," he ends each verse. "And I hope you take your mask off."
Tyler, The Ambivalent
One of the album’s biggest themes is Tyler’s ambivalence about parenthood. There’s the aforementioned "Hey Jane," of course, which ends without resolution. But other references to the decision about whether to have children are littered throughout the record.
He berates himself on "Take Your Mask Off": "Boy, you selfish as f—, that's really why you scared of bein' a parent." "The thought of children, it brings me stress," he admits on "Tomorrow." And on the album’s closer "I Hope You Find Your Way Home," he refers back to a "Hey Jane"-esque situation: "Almost had a mini-me, I wasn’t ready."
There’s a revealing moment on "Tomorrow" that sums up his ambivalence and self-questioning. Tyler hears about a friend having a child with his partner. "They sharin' pictures of this moment, shit is really cute/ And all I got is photos of my 'Rari and some silly suits," he raps.
Tyler, The Sophisticated (And Aggressive)
Two sides of Tyler’s musical personality have long been apparent: the jazz chord-loving muso and the minimalist, Neptunes-loving aggressive rapper. Both are in fine form on Chromakopia, often in different sections of the same song.
Even "Noid," a dark track about paranoia that features suitably a Black Sabbath-like guitar part (though more "War Pigs" than "Paranoid"), changes quickly into something more melodically and harmonically adventurous.
American R&B songwriters have complained in recent years that the genre is too stripped down and doesn’t take any risks — there’s no room for bridges or harmonic sophistication. Tyler seems to be on a mission to single-handedly bring all of that back to popular music.
And yet his Pharrell-influenced minimalist side is there as well. "Sticky" is a capella for a solid minute before drums kick in. "Rah Tah Tah" has a beat that wouldn’t be out of place on Hell Hath No Fury. Chromakopia has plenty of all musical sides of Tyler.
Tyler, The Paranoid
As mentioned, "Noid" is about paranoia. But, perhaps inspired by real-life stories last year when he bought a new house, intense worry is seemingly everywhere on the album. It pops up on "Rah Tah Tah," where it cuts through the otherwise over-the-top boasting ("Crib so damn big, I need a diaper and a sippy cup"). "Y’all want to take what I got," he raps on "Thought I Was Dead," in a line that could either be about his status in the rap game or, perhaps, something more sinister and invasive, "But y’all do not got what it take.
Tyler, The Son
Tyler’s mother has repeated interludes on Chromakopia, as she has on past projects. But there’s more than that. On "Tomorrow," Tyler talks about his mother’s aging — a thought intimately tied to his musings about fatherhood mentioned above.
Nowhere, however, is the record’s parental theme more heartbreakingly treated than on "Like Him," a piano-led ballad where Tyler puzzles over his physical resemblance to his father, who he has said he never met while growing up.
"Mama, I’m chasing a ghost," he sings. "Do I look like him?" It’s a far cry from the vicious anger at his father he expressed a decade ago on "Answer." The Odd Future provocateur has embraced uncertainty, and listeners are the richer for it.