Tyler, The Creator’s latest album, “Chromakopia,” marks another notch under his belt as a musician and rapper, and continues his two-year cycle of releasing music with a central theme of reflecting on life and what the future holds. The album features many artists including Daniel Caesar, GloRilla, Lola Young and Sexyy Red, among others.
Like in his prior works, “Chromakopia” features a new persona that Tyler adopts as a conduit to explore his feelings and the themes on the album. That persona is known as Saint Chroma, inspired by the character of Chroma the Great from the novel “The Phantom Tollbooth.” In the novel, Chroma the Great is a music conductor whose symphony brings color to the world.
In the album, Saint Chroma represents the idea of keeping color in your world despite the responsibilities and sacrifices that come with aging. This persona can also be seen as the physical manifestation of Tyler’s musical side; in the music video for the track “St. Chroma” he gathers the album’s collaborators into a trailer only to blow them up, which restore color to the world and suggests that music is what keeps his life from becoming monochromatic.
A major theme of the album is Tyler’s enlightened outlook on life and the changes that come with getting older. His last album, “Call Me If You Get Lost,” was essentially a victory lap for his previous album, “Igor.” This album switches out the loud and proud sound for a more calm and introspective one.
The album features many introspective songs like “Darling, I,” where he examines his views on relationships and what it means to love somebody. Other songs offer emotional bombshells like “Judge Judy” and “Like Him.” Spoiling what makes these songs hit with such emotional weight would be a disservice, but the feelings of loss and longing they illustrate are ones that are almost universally understood.
This album features a lot of guitars, synthesizers and soft drums. The vocals follow a similar style, as the album is full of lows and falsettos. That isn’t to say that this album only features slow jams. “Rah Tah Tah” is a high-energy track evocative of Tyler’s old work that brings a lot of swagger with its sinister synth line and heavy bassline. “Sticky” is a curveball, and plays right after an emotional bombshell from “Judge Judy.” The song is in stark contrast to the previous song as it goes all out with punchy drums and a fat, rumbling bassline supported with peppy backing vocals and horns.
Something to note is that Tyler’s mother is actually featured on several tracks to give words of advice to Tyler and the listener, like being your own biggest advocate and being honest and transparent when it comes to your romantic entanglements.
Overall, this album takes another look at where Tyler is at in his journey through life. “Chromakopia” speaks to the listener just as much as it is Tyler talking to himself, confronting the reality of aging and the shift in perspective and personality it brings. This album is one of his best yet, next to “Igor” on my grading scale. I highly recommend “Chromokopia” — and maybe it’ll bring some much-needed color into your life.
