November 11, 2024 by Elias Prodger (‘26)
Tyler, the Creator has never been afraid to reinvent himself. From his early days as an Odd Future edgelord, to his expansive and conceptual album Igor, Tyler appears to be fearless. He portrays such confidence to each one of his records and I feel as though every move is so strategically made and thought out.
It became clear a new chapter in his story was imminent after the death of his previous persona, Saint Baudelaire, in the music video for the B side of his previous record, Sorry Not Sorry. In the video, we watch the albums main protagonist, Saint Chroma, murder each of his previous personas in front of his own mother, who’s voice opens the record. Right off the bat in the first 20 seconds, we know we are in a different universe from the previous records. We hear the militaristic stomps with the ominous and firm chants of the album’s title with Tyler’s aggressive whispers. The beat slowly builds up adding a heavy dose of distortion added to the drums and bass.
Released on October 28th, Tyler released his 7th studio album Chromokopia. The best adjective I could label this album is distorted. Not only in the literal with the production’s heavy dose of vocal distortion and layers of fuzzed out instrumentation, but Tyler’s outlook on life feels quite fuzzy. Tyler sounds fearful and paranoid, especially in the record’s most popular song, Noid. During the track, Tyler touches on the idea of his experience with fame and the increasing trend of parasocial relationships. He feels as if his life has been completely left in the limelight “living between cameras and recorders.” He explains his fear about potential home invasion, the idea of modern stalkers who obsess over celebrities they have never met. He muses about these feelings as he shares them with the millions who have heard the song.
This album shows us a more exposed Tyler. Tyler’s last couple records didn’t shy away from vulnerability or honesty, but Chromokopia feels like the most direct look into his psyche that Noid feared so much of. His lyrics1 explore concepts of love, paranoia, fear, hatred, and the extremes of the human condition. If his early records felt like a bombastic plea for attention, and Igor and Flower Boy felt mature, Chromokopia feels like a midlife crisis record. It’s brutally mature in its honesty .
Despite its vulnerability, to me this is not a straight up sad record. We still have songs like Sticky featuring Lil Wayne and Sexyy Red that are essentially written for the crowd at his upcoming arena tour. The lyrics are meant for when you listen to the record by yourself, but the music can be blasted in cars and at parties without any regard for his message. I would argue this was done intentionally to add another level of commentary, to prove a point that even at his most vulnerable, so many people will just care about the catchiness or accessibility of his tracks.
To put it as bluntly as possible, Tyler hit another home run with this album, continuing a streak of absolutely stellar releases. Tyler’s distorted perception and existential musings are very well delivered and well-conceived and produced. Yes, there are absolutely some tracks I will return to much faster than others, but this is undoubtedly one of his strongest bodies of work.