I thought it would be a few months ago but hey, we got another Tyler The Creator album in our hands.
After winning another Rap Album Grammy for Call Me If You Get Lost and also releasing CMIYGL: The Estate Sale a year ago with some new material (one of them being the song “Sorry Not Sorry” where he beats his former personas to death) and maybe something like that in the “St. Chroma” music video leading up to this album in regular Tyler rollout fashion. Like any upcoming Tyler album, there was speculation of how the album is going to be in terms of the structure, what would the segmented 10th track sound like, how Pharrell is going to be involved in there, and what features might be on there.
Well, at first, Tyler put on his Twitter account “FUCK FEATURES,” but most figured he was trolling. Well… just wait and see.
I’m gonna say this for the album, it’s a different beast than prior projects, at least at first glance. There’s no multi-segmented track 10, and as for the no features thing most speculated, well, Tyler said it best but I’ll get to them later.
Throughout the album, we hear advice from Tyler’s mom as the album progresses (as she’s been a big attribute to his success), and the first piece of advice hear on the opening track “St. Chroma” is “don’t ever dim your light for anybody,” as it intros the central character St. Chroma. Now we have a full version of the song, and with Daniel Caesar providing additional vocals. It’s a mix of the softer side we’ve known from Tyler and some experimenting with the sound. “Rah Tah Tah” goes back into that aggressive chaotic rapping Tyler, and there are some good sets of bars coming from him.
Roll my windows up, darlin’, roll them windows up
Biscuit-ass niggas wonder how I got my jiffy up
Crib so damn big, I need a diaper and a sippy cup (Wah)
Someone tell Zendaya she my favorite, can she hit me up?Me and Lionel Boyce in drama class, my boy can act now (Mm)
Was really Odd Future, all them other niggas whacked out
The biggest out the city after Kenny, that’s a fact now
And funny enough, that last set of lyrics lead up to “Noid,” which as you can see is about being consumed by paranoia as he feels like he’s being watched all the time and how that can be scary. The next track ended up being my favorite in the span of 2nd or 3rd time listening to the album with “Darling, I” featuring Teezo Touchdown. It’s got touches of a mid-2000s R&B crooner with the laid-back production and Teezo’s vocals add that sweet spot. Also, I like how in the beginning it’s basically saying “Don’t tell someone you love them if you don’t mean it” and you can notice the clicks and effects sounding very similar to that one Pharrell/Snoop Dogg track, “Drop it Like It’s Hot.”
Well, Pharrell isn’t on the album, but his influence is still within Tyler.
As the last line of that song is ‘Transparency is Key, Be Honest’, that’s followed by the next track “Hey Jane” and it’s everyone’s favorite panic button: an unexpected pregnancy and how to deal with it with all the emotions, conflict, the anxieties of it and facing said anxieties. Then there’s “I Killed You” and no, this doesn’t have shit to do with the Tyler you used to know. It’s mostly about black hair and how most people in the world often frown on it, having being told to cut it off in order to appease what society says.
“Judge Judy” has these very lax and soulful vibes going on, and the track is all about how he met this girl named Judy, how they were having some good times but haven’t communicated much recently. But then he finds out that she has cancer and it’s spread with her eventually passing. …yeah, damn. It’s such a sweet, wholesome yet sad song. I wonder where we’re going to go from there. Thus there’s “Sticky,” the track that features the likes of GloRilla (at least on the streaming version), Sexxy Red, and Lil’ Wayne. This gets very extravagant with the marching band, the horns, drums and of course, people seeing that Sexxy Red is on a Tyler track, and you know what? Everyone here did their thing, even Lil’ Wayne.
I really love “Take Your Mask Off” with Daniel Caesar and LaToiya Williams as it’s still got that smooth soulful sound to it, and the topic of your ‘mask’ hiding your true self or feelings from people does hit in places. It’s a very poignant song that does make you think about you are perceived to your peers.
“Thought I Was Dead” was something I think Tyler has been aching to put out as we get lyrics like:
White boys mockin’ this shit and y’all mad at me? Y’all can suck my dick (Suck my dick)
Pull up old tweets, pull up old t-shirts, all that, I’ll moonwalk over that bitch (Hee-hee)
See, T changed like the ‘fit got dirty
I was young man, then a nigga hit thirty
I was one mil’, then a nigga hit thirty
Some say that was aimed towards rappers like Ian and other white rappers who often mimic rappers like Future, Gucci Mane, Young Thug among others and don’t respect the culture. Tyler did make some light of that, and people got pissed at him for that comment (even though Tyler wasn’t wrong in my opinion, and it actually holds up). Not to mention people often still pull up old tweets and lyrics from his Goblin era even though he’s matured since then. Oh, and also Schoolboy Q is a feature here and delivers a solid verse.
Get love in the hood, but I must leave (Yeah)
Born way in the hills where they can’t see (Can’t see)
Swear I burned twenty M’s, 2018 (Yeah)
Like I play for the Bills, goin’ OD (They thought I was dead)
Niggas tend to get rich and they act weird (Weird)
How you welcome at the party with your butt pierced? (Come on)
Shit, I’d rather play golf ’til the check clear (Yeah)
Niggas turn thirty-five, now they out here (They thought I was dead)
In the penultimate track “Balloon,” it has this whimsical sounding beat that reminds me of something Tierra Whack would rap on, and Tyler goes on about his success and ambition. Not only that, Doechii delivers a fire verse out of there, too. It reminds me that I need to check out her mixtape Alligator Bites Never Heal from the glowing reviews I heard of it. Then in the final track, “I Hope You Find Your Way Home,” it’s more of a continuation of “Hey Jane” with him explaining why he’s not ready for a kid along with thinking that maybe he should have one before it’s too late, just a bunch of thoughts going on in his head. It ends with his mother saying she’s proud of him and how far you came.
It’s hard to describe how I feel about this record other than just me liking it. It continues to delve more into Tyler’s emotional psyche and development and growth in his content with some hints of that past Tyler without the problematic elements. The production still manages to be interesting with some cuts having ethereal and smooth vibes like on “Darling, I” and “Take Your Mask Off” (aka my favorite beats on here). He still manages to do something different from the last project he does and as usual, it’s still excellent.
FINAL VERDICT: BUY IT. You got to be (para)noid to not check this album out.
CHROMAKOPIA is on Columbia Records and is available on CD, vinyl, digital download and on streaming services.