CHROMAKOPIA

Album Review

With Tyler, The Creator, everything is intentional.

Crafted to the highest standards of sound, lyrics, and production design, Tyler’s  albums require several listens to fully grasp the depth and nuance of his self-referential work.

Tyler often designs alter-egos and characters to masquerade behind in a parade of violence, drug use, and sexual debauchery. Through its music videos and extravagant promotion, CHROMAKOPIA continues this trend, while also featuring his trademark profanity, descriptions of murder, rape, and mental instability.

But you don’t need several listens through CHROMAKOPIA to grasp the album’s sheer, unremitting vulgarity.

To readers familiar with Tyler’s history this should come as no surprise. After all, this is the same artist who was banned by the U.K. and New Zealand for “posing a threat to public order and the public interest.”

Both nations cited the rapper’s dangerous alter-ego and lyrics containing references to murder, rape, sexual abuse, and drug use, and lyrics that glamorize these behaviors.

The themes at play across CHROMAKOPIA range from relatable questions about parenthood and discovering one’s true identity to more troubling ideas about paranoia and suicidal ideation that give credibility to these nations’ concerns.

Yet, something about his music resonates with audiences. 

The violent nature of CHROMAKOPIA does little to push away mainstream critics and fans. Tyler’s growing fanbase clearly connects with his brand of profane introspection.

What has been true of his previous albums remains true here. It is easy to notice that beyond the facade of Tyler’s creations, the way he handles life’s difficulties reveals a wounded soul in search of relief who ultimately ends up consumed by his inner turmoil.

POSITIVE CONTENT

Tyler, The Creator’s absent father has been hanging over the lore and themes of his music for more than a decade now. At once a symbol of both his anger at his upbringing and motivation to change his family’s history, his father’s absence fuels several songs across CHROMAKOPIA.

Entering his mid-30s, Tyler seems as though he is having an early midlife crisis. On several tracks, he mentions friends getting married and starting families. He feels left behind and alone. His family history weighs on him, as well as the pressure to change the trajectory of his life. “Take Your Mask Off” features Tyler at his most honest, pleading with his alter-ego to take his mask off and be honest about who he is.

Nearly each song mentions the role and value of family in Tyler’s life, which is made clear on its opener, “St. Chroma,” as well as “Hey Jane,” which discusses the possibility of how to move forward after an unplanned pregnancy.

The first voice heard on the album is Tyler’s mother, Bonita Smith. She is featured throughout the album as a guiding voice of advice and wisdom in Tyler’s life. Her first words on the track, “St Chroma” are initially encouraging, “You are the light. It’s not on you, it’s in you.”

CONTENT CONCERNS

Any sliver of hope that Tyler’s mother’s encouragement will outweigh the profanity in this album quickly disappears in her third sentence. Her initial encouragement quickly becomes tainted with a call for violence mixed with every combination of the f-word imaginable.

Across the album’s 14 songs, hundreds of f-words and racial slurs, as well as combinations of the two, appear in his lyrics.

“Sticky” features Tyler rapping about his fame and warning others of the difficulties that come with popularity. He repeats the phrase “B–ch, it’s gettin sticky” throughout the song, referring to how things get messy when you become famous. The phrase also serves as a double entendre for sex and drugs, with further lyrics underlying the connection.

“Judge Judy” contains several vulgar descriptions of sex with multiple partners.

“I Killed You” starts with an X-rated version of the children’s song “Wheels on the Bus” and quickly turns into a profanity-filled tirade against nameless individuals who don’t let Black people express themselves in public. Addressing his critics, Tyler repeatedly says, “B–ch, I killed you,” inviting listeners to join him in his opposition.

“Thought I Was Dead” continues this trend with the repeated refrain, “You n-ggas thought I was dead” referring to Tyler’s ongoing public persona in the rap industry and the criticism he receives from listeners.

“Noid” reveals his ongoing paranoia regarding his relationships or having an unwanted pregnancy. He says, “Never trust a b–ch, if you good they could trap you./So just strap it up, fore they f— around and strap you, b–ch.” “Hey Jane” continues on the topic of unwanted pregnancy referring to abortion as Tyler raps, “Look, Jane, it’s your choice at the end of the day./Just know I’ll support either way, no pressure.”

“Darling, I” unveils how little Tyler, The Creator thinks of commitment when it comes to relationships. He sings, “I love this girl, I hit the gold mine,/I’m thinkin new crib, I’m thinkin two kids, / Until I get infatuated with a new b–ch.”

“Take Your Mask Off” is a song centered on Tyler criticizing the hypocrisy of several figures in religion, namely Christians and pastors who preach messages of hope and grace and, in his perspective, offer the opposite to their followers.

Several songs contain references to giving and receiving oral sex as well as other sexual acts in ongoing relationships with several partners.

ALBUM SUMMARY

CHROMAKOPIA opens and concludes with the same line: “The light comes from within.”

Listening to Tyler, The Creator grapple with his fame and relationships clearly reveals an aching soul.

On his recent albums, Tyler has expressed anger and confusion towards those who do not understand him and would otherwise see him fail in his career. It is on this album that he claims to have finally discovered the light that will satisfy him.

CHROMAKOPIA unveils a Tyler who, in his own words, is “chasin a ghost.” At times, that ghost is an idealized version of himself, and other times, the ghost is Tyler’s absent father who has hovered over him for his entire life.

The song “Like Him” features Tyler’s mother revealing why she has kept so much hidden about Tyler’s father. She admits that Tyler’s father actually “wanted to be a father” to him, and that it is her fault for keeping him away from Tyler for so long.

After this revelation, it is unclear if Tyler, The Creator truly wants to be reunited with his dad. These songs are his attempt to continue to sift through his feelings and philosophies about what it means to live in this world.

Ultimately, his messages should be concerning.

If CHROMAKOPIA is any indication, Tyler, The Creator is still searching. In reality, the light that he claims to have found only produces more hate and anger, unleashing some of his most vile remarks about love, family, and relationships.