Chromakopia: Tyler, The Creator’s Most Daring Album To Date

Tyler, The Creator’s long-awaited 8th studio album, Chromakopia, has officially been released onto streaming platforms after being teased for the past two weeks. Tyler started the rollout by releasing a teaser on YouTube titled St. Chroma with a single 8 in the caption, hinting towards his 8th studio album. The day after his teaser was posted, he marked an official release date for the album, which would land on a Monday. The release date was the first of many cultural norms that Tyler would break with this album, as most studio albums have been released on Fridays for the past 9 years. Tyler would continue to release two more singles on YouTube titled Noid and Thought I Was Dead before the release of the album. The album itself has incredible production value, which is one of the best parts of the album. Songs to note are St. Chroma featuring Daniel Caesar, Darling, I featuring Teezo Touchdown, and Like Him featuring Lola Young. St. Chroma was one of the teasers Tyler posted on YouTube, yet the album version of the song was longer and featured an extra verse. Daniel Caesar’s vocals are amazingly implemented in the song and provide a lot of replay value to the song. Darling, I is subjectively the sonically best song on the album due to the vocals provided by both Tyler and Teezo during the chorus while having a phenomenal beat that complements the song well. Like Him, featuring Lola Young, is the most emotionally vulnerable song on the album, as the lyrics discuss the similarities between Tyler and his absentee father. Tyler’s relationship with his father influenced many of the songs on his older albums, and at the end of Like Him, his mother states that she created the divide between Tyler and his father. The emotionally raw aspects of Chromakopia really make it different than anything else Tyler has produced in the past decade. This album is one of Tyler’s greatest and definitely deserves its flowers, as there hasn’t been any other album produced by a hip-hop artist this year that was this masterful.