CHROMAKOPIA: Tyler’s Album
After a four year wait, Tyler the Creator’s latest album has been released: Chromakopia. However, this project is surprisingly different from Tyler’s more recent works in many ways. Not only in its actual music but in its story. For those who don’t know, all of Tyler’s albums follow a character/personality of Tyler. Yet in Chromakopia, there is no character. It’s an album about Tyler and his life, on how his fame has affected his life.
St. Chroma
The opening track is a message for the whole album. As it starts off with Tyler’s Mom, Bonita Smith, saying “You are the light, it's not on you it's in you. Don’t you ever dim your light for anyone”. This message is for Tyler about his creativity—the light—and for those trying to suppress it should be ignored. This message is even turned into heavily singing later on, and is added onto “Can you feel that fire? That fire inside?” Saying "do you feel that passion in his music?" The sound of marching and the singing of “Chromakopia” is followed, which signifies not only the start of the song but of this new era of Tyler. A much more mature one. One that is willing to talk about his life and not a characters’.
NOID
The third song takes us into Tyler’s mind about his paranoia in his celebrity life and how he feels like he doesn’t have any privacy anymore. Something that is shown in the opening lyrics, “Paranoid, Paranoid, Paranoid, Things feel out of order, look and look around, I’m not sure of a pair of paranoia. Living between camera and recorders”. This last lyric is the most important, it’s Tyler saying that he only feels like his only living when he’s on camera or in his music. That’s all due to his fans and how they see him. In the music video, no matter where he goes there’s always a fan chasing him for one reason or another. To the point where he retreats to his house where he still feels paranoid! “I can’t even buy a home in private. Home invasions got my brothers dying. Notice every car that’s driven by, I think my neighbors want me dead. I got a cannon under the bed..”. This sense of extreme paranoia continues to worsen as the song continues. “Shadow, someone’s keeping watch, I can feel them in my shadow”. However, even as Tyler’s paranoia worsens there's one thing that pulls him out. His mothers words. Telling him to not trust anyone and to keep his business to himself.
Tomorrow
This track drives into a new fear Tyler has developed since he’s gotten older, the fear of raising children. It opens up with another snippet from his mom, “I’m getting old and I need a grandchild please..”. From this the song carries a sort of somber and sad tone, with only a lone guitar and trumpet playing a soft melody. Which is paired with Tyler’s soft almost sad lyrics, “My mother’s hands don’t look the same. These jet strands are turning grey. I’m gaining weight, I’d rather rest. The thought of children brings me stress… worry ‘bout tomorrow”. This one verse shows us some of Tyler’s deepest feelings, something he’d never done before. Showing us this album is about a mature Tyler. One that isn’t afraid to hide behind a character in order to convey his feelings.
Like Him
The eleventh and deepest track on the album is about Tyler’s father. Someone who has been referenced in past projects but not in a good way. As Tyler’s father left his mother early in his life. In his song “Answer” from his 2013 album, Wolf, Tyler resorts to basically yelling at his father, calling names and blaming him for problems. But in this song, that hatred is gone. Replaced again with a soft tune and gentle piano. “She said that I make expressions like him. My legs to my shoulders and my chin like him… like him”. This is mother saying comparing Tyler to his dad in their looks. But again there is no anger but confusion. As seen in the second verse, “How could I ever miss something, that I’d never had… cause everything worked out without him (like what?)”. Tyler is confused why his mother is comparing as he’d never grown up with his father and doesn’t understand why she brings this up. He’s gone through his life without him to the point where he doesn’t care anymore. His father caused him problems earlier but as he’s grown he’s matured out of it. Tyler doesn’t want to look like him but as myself.
