A New Era for Tyler, the Creator with ‘CHROMAKOPIA’ (Review)

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Tyler, the Creator has released his latest album, ‘CHROMAKOPIA‘, released on the 28th of October. 

The Californian rapper has been making a big impact on the industry for decades, with every album bringing a new sound and aesthetic. This includes the funk and soul inspirations of ‘IGOR‘ in 2019 and the experimental elements of 2015’s ‘Cherry Bomb‘. Tyler is consistently pushing the boundaries and testing out new areas of hip hop. 

‘St. Chroma‘

I’ve been following Tyler since the Odd Future days and always go into new releases with high hopes. One of the biggest takeaways for me is the honesty and raw emotion woven into many of the tracks. The first song on the album, ‘St. Chroma‘ begins with a heartfelt message from his mother. This to me sets the tone for how personal this project really is.

Daniel Caesar features on this track as well as a later track on the record, ‘Take Your Mask Off‘, adding a nice touch to this opener. His vocals and Tyler’s are on completely different ends of the spectrum yet they can come together and create a really enjoyable song. Elements of the production reminded me of ‘IGOR‘. This is definitely a positive to me as I think that album is one of his best as a creative piece.

‘Noid‘

The third track from the record, ‘Noid‘ is a standout to me. The backing vocals really elevate the sound as a whole and work together with the beat rather than trying to sound above it. His rapping on this single is exactly what I want when I listen to Tyler, the Creator. Vocally he stands out to me as one of the most distinct rappers today. I instantly know it’s him, and I trust he will deliver a really interesting performance, which happens every time.

Interestingly, Tyler directed the music video for this song himself. I think it really shows and I’d highly recommend watching the visuals along with any more releases from this double LP. Once I saw the video for ‘Noid‘ I felt like I had a deeper understanding of the narrative. With its sepia lens and artistic cinematography it feels as though it really wants the audience to take something away from it.

‘Like Him‘

This song was the only one from this studio album I heard before I did a full play-through. It seems like the beginning of a TikTok trend is taking place so expect to hear more from this track if you’re a user of the app.

I enjoy the slower pace and the use of the piano. Tyler is good at using piano as well as other more traditional instruments and incorporating them into highly produced hip-hop tracks. This piece is gentle and emotional and delves into the feelings of an absent parent. It continues the theme of deeply personal narratives throughout the record. Lola Young provides some incredible backing vocals which amplify the feelings in the song for me. She is a brilliant addition and I’d like to hear more from her.

In conclusion, I’m really pleased with this album, but not all songs will make it onto my own playlists. I feel like there are moments where the tracks are enjoyable as background music, yet they didn’t all grab my attention. The only one I’m not too keen on is ‘Balloon’. I’m just personally not the biggest fan of Doechii’s rap style. However, I think this is Tyler’s strongest release in a while. It’s well-produced and carefully thought out and there’s so much packed into this 14-track project.

Rating: 8/10

Tyler the Creator is on Instagram and X. You can listen to ‘CHROMAKOPIA‘ below and read more music reviews here.

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